Thu, Aug 21, 2008 | 17:18 BST

New Heavy Rain information coming to you live from GC08

We’re seeing a closed demo of Heavy Rain: Origami Killer at Games Convention. Quantic’s David Cage is walking us through a huge part of the game that continues on from and includes scenes from yesterday’s video demonstration.

After the drop.

By Mike Bowden

  • First Cage has told us that you only control the head and shoulders on the character, you just press a button to move forwards.
  • The main character is investigating a series of disappearances and is going to the house of a taxidermist – hence the birds hanging in the ceiling in the video footage.
  • Everything in the game is context sensitive, we are told.

  • “Everything in the interface is design for emotion, to make you feel what your character feels,” said Cage.
  • Then we’re shown some plot: your character finds some burnt clothes on the fireplace, she goes upstairs; floorboards are creaking. She smells something nasty. She turns, opens a door and finds a woman’s body in a bath tub.
  • We are then told that the protagonist is in fact a journalist who is on the hunt for a story and after she inspects the house some more, she finds dead women strewn about the place stuffed like animals.
  • All of a sudden the killer comes back. He’s this ugly, fat guy. She can’t get out, she’s trapped in the house.
  • Then the game goes into split-screen: him advancing, her creeping around the house trying not to get caught. The killer then simply sits down and watches TV. Your character manages to get outside, escaping through the garage. She gets on a motorbike, and speeds off.
  • More feature description now: you can use the Sixaxis to open windows and look through keyholes. In fact, everything you see “in the set” is interactive. You can sit anywhere, turn on the TV, open all the doors in the house – which incidentally was created by an architect who is part of the development team.
  • We then see that self same scenario but showed differently. Instead of creeping in order not to be heard when the killer is in the house, she runs, thus making noise. The killer hears the creaking floorboard and reaches for a knife.
  • He finds her and tries to stab her on the bed. You use QTEs to avoid attacks.
  • She falls down the stairs. “I’m the big bad wolf,” howls the man. She tries to open the window. He chases her round the kitchen table.
  • Your character manages to get out to the garage after running through the house. You again get on your bike and drive off. The killer walk back into the house and you hear a gun shot. End of the demo. Still more to come from Cage.
  • Cage tells us you can use chainsaws and screwdriver to kill him. He could get arrested etc. Loads of possibilities. There are over 60 scenes like this, he says.
  • “This is not GTA,” says Cage in a short Q&A. “This is not an open world”
  • That’s it. We’re exhausted. That. Was. Awesome.

26 comment-trail-alt Posted in: Hot, PS3, Sony
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26 comments

#1

Blerk
21/08/08, 2:19 pm

Interesting. It sounds sort of like a point-and-click adventure, with everything just popping into context-sensitive ‘push this button to interact with that object’ as you get close to it.

Again, though – how this actually turns out will very much depend on how much of it is ‘on rails’ and how much interaction the lack of an interface will allow you to have with the environment. It’s all very well being able to sit on a chair, but could I shove it behind the door? Or throw it through the window?

#2

Blerk
21/08/08, 2:21 pm

Whoops! Didn’t realise this was a ‘live blog’. :-D

#3

Whizzo
21/08/08, 2:22 pm

This sounds terrible.

#4

Quiiick
21/08/08, 2:24 pm

This game is now #1 on my most wanted list! :)
Can’t wait to play “Heavy Rain” …

I’m old, I played so many games and finally there’s this new game which promises to do what I always wanted games to be:
Realistic 3d Hollywood-style action but NOT controller-skill driven NOR stats driven!

I really, really hope this will not turn out to be a disappointment …

#5

Blerk
21/08/08, 2:24 pm

It’s sounding worryingly like that first batch of CD-ROM ‘interactive movies’.

#6

Whizzo
21/08/08, 2:27 pm

“Night Trap : The Next Gen HD Experience”

#7

Robo_1
21/08/08, 2:34 pm

I’m certainly intrigued. I do like the idea of there being a multitude of possibilities for how to deal with the situation. Escape, kill, get him arrested, how will that effect the overall story arc?

I like the freedom of narrative you’re getting, even if the price is a closed world.

#8

ecu
21/08/08, 2:35 pm

Wow, sounds really good after that. Colour me interested.

#9

Psychotext
21/08/08, 2:42 pm

Kill everyone. It’s the only way to be sure.

#10

TJ
21/08/08, 2:45 pm

Sounds like Fahrenheit 2.

#11

XDamage
21/08/08, 2:49 pm

Nice! This must be the bastard child of point & click games, all grown up. :D
If the story is really engaging and keeps up the interest of the player, then I’m all for it.

#12

No_PUDding
21/08/08, 2:51 pm

‘She smells some nasty’ XD

God, the immature humoru will never run out.

#13

Blerk
21/08/08, 2:53 pm

It depends. It depends very much on how much interactivity there is, like I said above. The thing with point n’ click was that you could take something from somewhere and use it to interact with something else in another location – puzzles. But they’ve said that there won’t be any puzzles. If everything you can do is already laid out for you in the room and all you can do is push a button and watch what happens it’s less point n’ click and more like one of those ‘get the sequence right’ flash games.

#14

No_PUDding
21/08/08, 2:57 pm

I already voiced my displeasure, I’d like to do it again. I shan’t becuase I still thinking about it as a game.

#15

DrDamn
21/08/08, 3:26 pm

You could do with doing a EG here Mike. It’s no longer live so put it in order top to bottom. It reads confusing as hell if you just stumble into the new story like I did now.

#16

morriss
21/08/08, 3:54 pm

Good idea.

#17

morriss
21/08/08, 3:59 pm

Done.

#18

patlike
21/08/08, 5:30 pm

Just a note on this. I’m back at the hotel now. This was far and away the best thing I’ve seen this week. It made everything else look very creaky. The Sixaxis stuff may be a bit daft, but in terms of atmosphere and “next gen” feel this really is it. I was knocked out.

#19

No_PUDding
22/08/08, 12:28 am

Really?

I am one of the few people who don’t get this. I am very critical about lots of thigns, but this is the title, I am most cross about.

#20

Psychotext
22/08/08, 12:33 am

It should be impressive. It’s like watching a movie vs playing a game. That said, by concerns are about the gameplay, not the top notch presentation.

#21

No_PUDding
22/08/08, 12:44 am

Exactly.

This whole R2 thing adavnces… are we on rails, and get to slow the character down, or do we actually control the character?

QTE’s = the most unimaginative thing since unsliced bread

#22

Quiiick
22/08/08, 12:48 am

Well, it won’t be “game”-play, I guess. The “play” part will be more like “acting”.
So I hope people will not try to compare it with standard games too much.

Besides: The fact that you obviously can still DIE in “Heavy Rain” makes gameplay very old-fashioned … :(

#23

No_PUDding
22/08/08, 1:07 am

I give in… sounds awful. Glad we still have other unnannounced games to rely on from Sony.

#24

Psychotext
22/08/08, 1:09 am

I don’t know how you can be so definitive on it. Fahrenheit worked much the same way and it was still a really good game.

I’m concerned, for sure. But I’m not writing it off by any means.

#25

No_PUDding
22/08/08, 1:31 am

Well, I am a pessimist.

And I never played Fahrenheit, so I ahve vague reasons.

#26

Quiiick
22/08/08, 7:21 am

@ No_PUDding
Then, what’s a title you really are looking forward to?

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