Now the games that I'm reviewing today, aren't your typical games. In fact, many people would call them interactive dramas more than video games, and I agree. While they may not be up to the standards of what games like Uncharted and Mass Effect are at, one thing that is good about these games, is that it shows innovation. Innovation in graphics and innovation in the gameplay. With that in mind, let's go and review these two games that were made by French developer, Quantic Dream (who are known for creating interactive dramas like these):
I should point out, that there were other games that were made by Quantic Dream before these two came out, but because of the new technology coming out, it's very unlikely that I'll ever get a chance of playing and reviewing those games any time soon.
Heavy Rain
This game takes place in the present day in a place where it seems to always rain (as described by the title of it) and we have four playable protagonists. The first one is an architect called Ethan Mars (voiced and modelled after Pascal Langdale), a father of 2 boys known as Jason and Shaun and had a happy life until Jason died in a car crash, forcing Ethan to separate from his wife, but is always watchful over his other son, who gets kidnapped and forces Ethan to rescue him before its too late, but must follow the guidelines given by Shaun's kidnapper which he must do in order to find him, the majority of which, have him going through a series of unpleasant tasks among other things. Our second protagonist is private detective, Scott Shelby (voiced and modelled after Sam Douglas), who is conducting his own little investigation on a killer known as The Origami Killer (who is a very clever and unique kind of criminal who kidnaps young boys at aged 10 or 9 (might have got that wrong, but that's how I remember this game) and drowns them in rainwater and has their guardian go through a series of tasks that are explained in origami models, which they have to unwrap) and visits the victims former houses to speak with their guardians/parents and to remove any evidence of the whole horrid thing. Protagonist number 3 is FBI agent, Norman Jayden (voiced and modelled after Leon Ockenden), who is sent from Washington to work with the police to find and take down, the Origami killer, Norman has a distinct advantage over the police in that he has some gadgets that the FBI gave him, which he can use to scan the crime scenes for any evidence and anything else in between. Our last protagonist and also our only playable female character (who is also the only one that bares all, if you catch my drift) is young photojournalist, Madison Paige (voiced by Judi Beecher and modelled after Jacqui Ainsley) who lives alone in the city and after coming across a badly beaten Ethan Mars in a motel somewhere, chooses to do her own investigation, while also helping Ethan with his wounds and the tasks he gets given which even goes as far as them becoming friends and maybe more than friends. Our 4 protagonists do whatever it takes to find the Origami Killer and his latest victim before its too late. The game follows a familiar game mechanic used in games like Mass Effect and GTA4 where it's up to the gamer to decided how the game ends, the fates of the characters (which can be determined about halfway through the game), do the characters fail or not in finding the Origami Killer and his or her latest victim among other things too. During the course of the game, the controller controls will appear which will help with quick time events and to explore the environment you're in and with puzzles too. You can even hear the character's thoughts as well. Each of the characters are great, but the ones I see being the best in this game (the experience in particular) are Ethan Mars and Norman Jayden. Ethan because of the tasks you get to do with him, and Norman because of the gadgets you get to use with him. I feel more emotional to Ethan, especially as he has to go through so much, just to get his son back. Overall this is by far, one of the best games that I have played, not only in this generation, but in games period. The story as a whole is great, all the mechanics work well, the characters are some of the best you'll see in any game to date and it makes you all emotional towards the end of the game and that is a big thing in any game. But as I said, its not up to the standard of games like Uncharted and Mass Effect, but its a great game regardless. 9/10
Beyond: Two Souls
3 years after Heavy Rain, we get QD's next game which possibly may be the last ever PS3 game published by SCE before the launch of the PS4. It follows in the same footsteps as Heavy Rain in terms of graphics and gameplay, but adds some more things as well. The story follows the life of a girl called Jodie Holmes (played by Ellen Page and when I say that, she is actually performing in this game using special equipment that most games these days, tend to now use) who has a connection with a strange entity called Aiden. After an incident where she uses Aiden to nearly kill a child, Jodie's parents go to seek help from doctors Nathan Dawkins (played by William Dafoe) and Cole Freeman (Played by Kadeem Hardison) in the department of paranormal activity in the military base that she and her parents live in, and also the place where her parents leave her in the care of, indefinitely. For the majority of the game, we go through Jodie's life as she tries to maintain control of Aiden and use his powers for things that can be usful to both of them. Much like with Heavy Rain, the game shows the controls that you need to use for particular events, but tones down some of them like the directions which will be shown to you during the first playable chapter of the game. In addition to playing solo, you can also play in co-op where each of the 2 players will take turns with being either Jodie or Aiden. While Aiden is given free roam of the areas you go to, Jodie is restricted in a similar fashion to the playable characters in Heavy Rain. Like with all entities, Aiden is able to move things about when needed and can also heal Jodie, again when needed. It has a lot of similarities to Heavy Rain like altering how the story will end, but for the most part, its very different to that game. The graphics are possibly the best I've seen on the PS3 so far. Everything looks very detailed and its clear that QD did a lot of work to make the graphics as great as it does in this game. It is a great game and does have some similarities with Heavy Rain, but with new features like co-op as well as a longer story and some of the best graphics on any PS3 game to date, it may have surpassed Heavy Rain. Only problem that I have with the game, is that much like with Man of Steel, it can be very hard to connect with Ellen Page's character as you go to a random point of her life in every chapter which in all honesty, can make things quite hard. Aside from that, its a great game that anybody who enjoyed Heavy Rain, will love a lot. 9/10
Its very clear to me that QD like to innovate with their games and while their games are more interactive dramas than actual games, I do think there is a future for them and I look forward to seeing what they have next in store for us. 9/10
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