Emotion in games: Heavy Rain

After seeing the trailer for this game on YouTube, I had to look further into exactly what it was about. Would it be a game that looked good but failed to deliver? Looking at the reviews, I see amazing phrases like

…if you stick with it, Heavy Rain will give you a ride like you rarely see in games.

This sounds like an experience and another shift in the advancements into the games on these consoles. It is describe as a game that is completely story driven and you have consequences.

This “interactive drama” style game is said to be emotionally engaging. Looking over the history of gaming, this completely amazes me. to go from what could be called ‘time wasting’ by many, goes to engage us on so many intellectual levels, with hand eye coordination, puzzle solving etc. that we now have games that engage us on far deeper levels.  Also that it has replay value because there are different endings to it. This review here http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/106/1067755p1.html explains, without spoilers, about how unique this really is.

There are four main playable characters. You control one character at a time for different chapters of the game. The characters were voiced, motion captured and modelled after several actors. Will this be pushing these intense realistic styles of games forward more, and will we be more demanding of our user experience? Are we playing games to escape our realities and have relaxation, to enter fantasy worlds? If so, will there be a point where the games are so realistic that it is far more engaging than our own surroundings?

Another amazing thing about this game is to think of the team that has actually developed it. Although there is a lot of talk at the moment of a return of the “bedroom” developer, clearly there is still a lot of scope in the big game houses publishing what looks to be an amazing new experience.

Where’s my controller~