Reader Review: Heavy Rain

8 responses to “Reader Review: Heavy Rain”

1. 

   DansDans

   March 5, 2010 at 11:47 am

   One of the things I really hate about this game is the walking! Maybe its just me, but it doesnt feel intuitive at all

   The game, on the other hand, is brilliant

   Oh, and big FUCK YOU to Hyper magazine

   Reply
   1. 

      David Wildgoose

      March 5, 2010 at 12:01 pm

      Why?

      Reply
      1. 

         DansDans

         March 5, 2010 at 4:47 pm

         Sorry David, forgive me because I havent read their whole review yet (so I may be shooting myself in the foot here) but I was a little miffed how they could write something along the lines of – “the game forces you to do one arbitary movement in order to move to the next bit – ie maybe standing up from a table” (again, not a direct quote, but very close to what they said) – essentially deriding the game for at times being linear, which seems odd as other games with the similar styles of linearity (ie an FPS that will force you to go down a corridor to progress the story line) is OK in their books – and then scoring it a 7 out of 10 while giving Mass Effect 2 a 10 out of 10.

         It seems that HYPER deliberately try to be controversial in their review scores to stand out from the crowd. Maybe I am being biased because I enjoy the game, but I do think they should have a few better reasons for scoring the game so low (they also mentioned that input and control by the player amounts to a button press here and there every now and then – but then also deride games for constant button mashing). QD are trying a new type of game here (OK new after Fahrenheit) and I dont think they judged it accordingly.

         But then, this is HYPER. They’ve gone downhill since that current editor came on board. The promised a balanced way of presenting review scores with their new (stupid) out of 10 system, only to fall into the trap of giving almost every game 8 or 9 – check the current issue, there are lots of games with 8’s and 9’s (and there is Heavy Rain with a 7 – which according to the original HYPER scoring chart this should mean its slightly above average, but now it just means its average considering the calibre of games that got scores higher).

         Pah – sorry about the rant. This is why I hate reviews that provide scores – and why the Kotaku system seems the best. List pros and cons and let the reader make up their own mind – rather than some stupid score that someone like me will read the wrong way.

         Reply
         1. 

            DansDans

            March 5, 2010 at 4:54 pm

            Oh – also a big FUCK YOU to Sony Computer Entertainment Asia.

            I bought this game last week in HK (I was over there, and I thought I’d save some $$ by buying it there instead) and it DID NOT come with the paper to fold into the origami when it was installing.

            The game was still factory sealed, so the guys who work in the store didnt take it out.

            I will assume that because if you have a HK region machine the game does the 4Gb install via the XMB rather than the ingame installer. So at the start, when the game asked me what language to display everything in, I selected English and was presented with the origami folding install screen – and no origami paper to do it with.

            I watched the guys at the store I bought it from install HR on their PS3’s and, as I said, it was installing via the XMB (ie screen was black with the white line above and below and the progress bar with the % indicator)

            Fail. Although I think this fail may go to me…

            Reply
         2. 

            David Wildgoose

            March 5, 2010 at 5:05 pm

            I haven’t read the review either, but criticising Heavy Rain’s controls seems misguided to me. (Unless it’s solely in reference to the basic movement controls, in which case the criticism is valid.) Criticising it for “being linear” is just baffling and clear indication that the reviewer has failed to understand the game.

            Reply
            1. 

               DansDans

               March 5, 2010 at 5:21 pm

               I believe the reviewer was Darren Wells. Maybe you know him?

               As I said, I’ve only read about 1/3 of the review, as what I read didnt sit well with me either. But I am prepared to stand corrected once I’ve read the whole thing and I was incorrect in what he wrote.

            2. 

               Darren

               March 9, 2010 at 12:04 pm

               So, DansDans, have you read the entire review yet?

            3. 

               DansDans

               March 9, 2010 at 5:09 pm

               Yes

               And my complaint of the review is still valid. The reviewer mentions “linear actions” and the whole “this is not a game” lines – yet then goes onto review as it was a game.

               I think if the reviewer is going to make a statement that this is not a game, then he/she should not review it as a game.

               Unfortunately, for the reviewer, I disagree. This is a game. I played it, I interacted and I felt emotions while playing it. Yes, I didnt press as many buttons as say Modern Warfare 2, but it was still a game and thus deserved to be reviewed as a game.

               Yet another reason why a subscription to Hyper to becoming increasingly hard to justify.