Boomp3.com (Run time: 7:22)
In an effort to keep the ‘ish going on a semi-regular basis we invited (read: hassled) a Texas friend of the show, Jeremy Lowe, to talk some games with Carlos today. They dig into some LittleBigPlanet, Tekken 6, God of War “sacrifices” and bunch of other Tokyo Game Show related news. Also, notice how we disregard Jeremy’s daughter, Victoria, first podcast appearance in the background.
It is said that “journalists” in the music industry, movie business or gaming community are just failed artists who never really succeeded with their own work. I fall into that category regarding music, but games I have never attempted to explore artistically and don’t plan to in the near future. However, playing games, watching movies or listening to music automatically makes you a critic, and you just can’t help but think about the things that you might have done differently.
Seeing the first actual gameplay of Heavy Rain disappointed me. The extensive use of QTE (quick time events), that so heavily burdened my experience of Fahrenheit, made a triumphant return in what could be considered the latter’s “spiritual successor”, albeit in a much more elegant presentation.
The QTE’s in Fahrenheit got extremely bloated about half way through the game when the story also took more and more turns for the worse. I actually dreaded the experience by the end and uttered a helpless sigh when the text “Get Ready!” appeared on the screen. Seeing that Heavy Rain employs the exact same gameplay mechanics leaves me distressful.
Reading Matt Leone’s preview of the game on 1Up made me think about how you could implement contextualized QTE’s, using the same elegant presentation they appear in. The game is about choice, according the director David Cage. You impact the story by making meaningful, moral choices. Leone describes, “…tap Triangle to run down stairs, tap Square to hurdle a ledge, jam on Triangle to try to open the garage door, etc.” The first time I read that as there actually were contextualized options for the QTE’s. If you want to hurdle a ledge, you tap Triangle. However, in my fantasy version, you can here choose to either hurdle the ledge with Triangle, or, for example, slide under the table instead, putting you in direct control over your actions, in the action sequences.
Of course, this presents tremendous difficulty to “level” design and combat situations. The player needs to be perfectly aware of his/hers surroundings, and be able to make the right choice at the right time. Not every “wrong” step will send you into danger, but some will and others will put you in quite different situations. My impression of Matt Leone’s impression is that Heavy Rain will very much control and behave like Fahrenheit, and not in the manner I just described, as something that could be interesting to explore.
QTE’s (please count the use of that abbreviation, because I won’t bother anymore) puts the player and his/hers avatar in the safe-zone, and to me they have yet to be notably implemented in games to evoke that sense of accomplishment (God of War got close, but still employed the natural disconnect between the player and his/hers avatar that comes with using the technique) that the very definition of a game nowadays so heavily rely on.
David Cage and his presentation of Heavy Rain made me, however, even more excited for the title. Even before its release, Heavy Rain has stirred a lot of questions regarding the very nature of interactive art, and that more than well merits excitement.
[ad#ps3-games]
When you mix Clash of the Titans, Jason and the Argonauts and God of War what do you get? Well, I’m putting myself out on a limb here, but I’m very excited about this mythological adventure game ‘Rise of the Argonauts’. Coming to PC, X360 and PS3 this Fall, why not take a chance on this one? The trailer alone has me sold. I know many God of War fans, myself included, are antsy for their upcoming title, but I think Rise of the Argonauts will hold its own.
Via Gametrailers
God of War 2 has finally joined the PS2 Greatest Hits titles. That means that you can pickup this instant classic title for the great Price of $19.99. God of War 2 will also play great on the PS3, and don’t forget to try out my God of War 2 Easter Egg.
Recent Comments