So I played the heavy rain demo (purchase soon to follow) and it got me thinking. It reminds me of when I'm watching a movie and something is happening, normally something undesirable, and it makes me feel tense inside, like I want to help or stop the situation but I can't because its only a film. Some would say that a game that is like one very long cutscene with quick time events would not be immersive, but I found the exact opposite in the case of heavy rain. Actually this didn't become apparent to me while
I was playing it (because while I was playing it I wasn't actually playing but over analyzing like I always do) but while my room mate was playing. She got so worked up during a fight scene that to me it looked as if she was taking part in an actual struggle. This made me laugh on the inside, and then it made me ponder; what if we
could help that person on the other side of the silver screen?
I'm a little wary to even call heavy rain a video game. Yes, it is on the tv, and yes there is some element of fun involved, but I feel like that fun comes from the experience of being able to live a Hollywood fantasy rather than playing with some nifty core mechanics. In game design class we once discussed the difference between a movie and a game and we concluded that since you could not alter the outcome of a movie in any way, it was not a game. That is kind of an incorrect statement considering that most games are linear and you can't really effect what happens in the end, but the point is that now we can and I don't think that necessarily fits the definition of a game either. The way I look at heavy rain is as an interactive film. You are not in the story, but you can control the characters that are, therefore altering the world and the outcome of the story, especially since when you kill someone off, they don't come back. The stage and the players are all layed out for you, you simply must play the puppet master. I suppose if you look at it that way, like a little girl
playing with dolls, the definition of a game would still apply here. I guess I'll play the rest and see how I feel then.
On an only slightly related note: L.A. Noir needs to come out NOW. That game looks so amazing. Just the fact that they turned facial animation into a mechanic (yes, you have to read faces to see when people are lying to you) just blows my mind, not to mention that they completely, practically one to one, recreated 1940's LA with over 100 indoor areas. Man I would have loved to be on that research team. See, this game fullfills my hollywood fantasy while still giving me the kind of play I'd expect from a video game. DO WANT NOW!
On the topic of rain and so I don't disappoint here's a preview of an image WIP from my design doc for game design class thats due on friday. The finished version and everything will be up sometime after that.
