Heavy Rain lacking innovation, doesn’t deserve the hype
March 2, 2010 by Leroy Ketelaars
Filed under Opinion & Columns
Do you ever feel like you just don’t get it? Like everybody is running around you is going crazy over something, and all you see is garbage, yet you’re staring at the very same thing? Well, that’s the kind of feeling I’ve been getting recently with Heavy Rain. I saw the game at GamesCom, played the demo, read a lot online, and watched a ton of trailers, but I just don’t get it.
Quantic Dream and Sony say it’s a revolutionary game that crosses the definition of a videogame, and arches over into motion picture territory. It’s selling like hotcakes, and everyone around me seems to think it’s the next big thing. And that’s where I go “huh?”. See to me, HR is just another visual novel/classic adventure, of which the Phoenix Wright, and Sam and Max games are more recent examples, but the Monkey Island games also come to mind.
So wait, the Monkey Island games are from the 80s.. so much for innovative HR if you ask me. Of course, credit where credit is due, HR does have a very nice narrative, and yes, it does feature stunning visuals. But besides that, let’s be honest here; a “game” like HR fits perfectly in the classic adventure genre, which is actually one of the older game genres around due to it’s highly narrative-based nature, which made them perfectly suitable for the desktop computers from the old days before anyone ever heard of windows.
That HR is something different from most modern games on the market today, thats a fact, but outside of it’s hype and marketing bubble, HR is still just a stereotype classic adventure with fancy graphics and a €64 price tag.
So I totally respect that some think it’s great, and others think it’s not, but in my opinion it’s not even a videogame by today’s standards, and overpriced piece of interactive narrative.. at that. If I want narrative I’ll go watch a movie, if I want a videogame, I’ll pick up something like God of War 3, if I want a classic adventure.. I’ll pick up a Monkey Island game for a couple of bucks. But I wont.
Tom Kerkhof
freek3dinfo on 
I agree with the price ticket. It shouldn’t be this expensive. As for the rest, play it, then make a new article :p
They hype a forgotten genre as something new. It just didn’t work out for this game because it’s still a genre many people know about and cherish.
I’ve only seen the demo, but judging by the way that looked the game doesn’t even deliver graphics wise. It’s not that special at all.
I heard many positive things though. And with many i mean 1 person. Saying it’s very much like fahrenheit but better.
I guess this article is just about the hype thing though, and not personal opinion. Or only partly.