This week is all about Heavy Rain on PS3.
Its Quantic Dream’s third attempt to make you question everything you think you know about narrative in games – and it’s going to be massive. Being the final part of David Cage’s personal ‘Thriller’ trilogy, it could be the last game we see of its kind for a while.
The demo, in my opinion, was in equal measure the most progressive and the most regressive game I’ve played. Where it innovated in cinematography and storytelling, play was an orthodox series of very fiddly Quick Time Events (or QTEs) – including a memorable five button sequence to get your asthma inhaler out!?
The rain effects are spectacular. That matters!
It’s a very primitive form of gaming, but then by Cage’s own admission, he doesn’t consider Heavy Rain a ‘game’. It’s an interactive experience. Which makes me wonder if a console is really the right place for it? Certainly the people I sat play the demo with found the controller was a barrier between them and their participation. The mind was willing, but the hands couldn’t follow through.
Still, you’d be mad to miss this one.
If that doesn’t sound like your thing and you have a monster PC at your disposal, then you might consider Napoleon:Total War, the latest installment of Creative Assembly’s untouchable epic strategy franchise. This series has long defined our expectations of the strategy genre and this new episode is likely to raise the bar once more.
An IN-GAME Screenshot
In Cinemas this week is Micmacs, the long awaited new film from the visionary mind of Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the creator of off-the-wall classics Delicatessen, City of Lost Children and Amélie. Micmacs tells the story of Bazil, a man who, after being hit by a stray bullet, teams up with a group of bizarre misfits to wage a war of vengeance against the arms company responsible for manufacturing it.
Stew (@chicknstu)
This week is all about ‘Heavy Rain’, on PS3. Its Quantic Dream’s third attempt to make you totally rethink everything you know about narrative in games, and it’s going to be massive. Being the final part of David Cages personal ‘Thriller’ trilogy, it could be the last game we see of its kind for a while. The demo, I believe, was in equal measure the most progressive and the most regressive game I’ve ever played. Where it innovated in cinematography and storytelling, the whole game is a series of very fiddly QTE’s (a five button sequence to get your asthma inhaler out).
It’s a very primitive form of ‘gaming’, but then by Cage’s own admission, he doesn’t consider Heavy Rain to be a ‘game’. It’s an interactive experience. Which makes me wonder if a console is really the right place for it? Certainly, with the people I sat with to play the demo, the controller was a barrier between them being able to participate. The mind was willing, but the hands couldn’t follow through.
‘Shenmue : Press the ‘A’ button to not die!’
Micmacs, in Cinemas this week, is the long awaited new film from the visionary mind of Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the creator of off-the-wall classics Delicatessen, City of Lost Children and Amélie. Micmacs tells the story of a man, Bazil, who after being hit by a stray bullet teams up with a group of bizarre misfits to wage a war of vengeance against the arms company responsible for manufacturing it.
Stew (@chicknstu)
Xbox360
Lips: Party Classics
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing With Banjo-Kazooie
Superstars V8 Racing: Next Challenge
Crash Time III
PS3
Heavy Rain
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
White Knight Chronicles
Wii
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
Water Sports
The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces
Pop N Rhythm
Rune Factory Frontier
DS
Heroes Of Might & Magic: Clash Of Heroes
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
Clueless
Puzzle Chronicles
PSP
Dante’s Inferno
Adventures To Go
Undead Knights
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
Puzzle Chronicles
echoshift
PC
Napoleon: Total War
Anno 1404: Venice
Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter
DVD / Blu Ray
Michael Jackson: This Is It
Jennifer’s Body
Sons Of Anarchy: Season 1
9 (Nine)
Cabin Fever 2
Cinema
Capitalism: A Love Story
Everybody’s Fine
Extraordinary Measures
Freestyle
From Paris With Love
Leap Year
Micmacs
She A Chinese
The Crazies
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This week is all about ‘Heavy Rain’, on PS3. Its Quantic Dream’s third attempt to make you totally rethink everything you know about narrative in games, and it’s going to be massive. Being the final part of David Cages personal ‘Thriller’ trilogy, it could be the last game we see of its kind for a while. The demo, I believe, was in equal measure the most progressive and the most regressive game I’ve ever played. Where it innovated in cinematography and storytelling, the whole game is a series of very fiddly QTE’s (a five button sequence to get your asthma inhaler out).
It’s a very primitive form of ‘gaming’, but then by Cage’s own admission, he doesn’t consider Heavy Rain to be a ‘game’. It’s an interactive experience. Which makes me wonder if a console is really the right place for it? Certainly, with the people I sat with to play the demo, the controller was a barrier between them being able to participate. The mind was willing, but the hands couldn’t follow through.
‘Shenmue : Press the ‘A’ button to not die!’
Micmacs, in Cinemas this week, is the long awaited new film from the visionary mind of Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the creator of off-the-wall classics Delicatessen, City of Lost Children and Amélie. Micmacs tells the story of a man, Bazil, who after being hit by a stray bullet teams up with a group of bizarre misfits to wage a war of vengeance against the arms company responsible for manufacturing it.
Stew (@chicknstu)
Xbox360
Lips: Party Classics
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing With Banjo-Kazooie
Superstars V8 Racing: Next Challenge
Crash Time III
PS3
Heavy Rain
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
White Knight Chronicles
Wii
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
Water Sports
The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces
Pop N Rhythm
Rune Factory Frontier
DS
Heroes Of Might & Magic: Clash Of Heroes
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
Clueless
Puzzle Chronicles
PSP
Dante’s Inferno
Adventures To Go
Undead Knights
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
Puzzle Chronicles
echoshift
PC
Napoleon: Total War
Anno 1404: Venice
Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter
DVD / Blu Ray
Michael Jackson: This Is It
Jennifer’s Body
Sons Of Anarchy: Season 1
9 (Nine)
Cabin Fever 2
Cinema
Capitalism: A Love Story
Everybody’s Fine
Extraordinary Measures
Freestyle
From Paris With Love
Leap Year
Micmacs
She A Chinese
The Crazies
