http://www.ps3informer.com/playstation-3/games/5-reasons-not-to-get-excited-about-heavy-rain-yet-009196.php

5 Reasons Not to Get Excited About Heavy Rain (Yet)

Is it just us, or is the incredible amount of hype for Heavy Rain a little bit puzzling? Sony clearly believes in the project, having allegedly cancelled some other very high-profile projects (The Getaway, 8 Days) to devote more attention to this game. What is it that the company sees in this title? Ever since its announcement at E3 2006, we have been fed a series of trailers that look intriguing, but don’t really tell us much about the nuts and bolts of the mysterious project. Of course, all of this might change as we get closer to the game’s release and we get a chance to learn more about the exciting new features that it brings to the table. In the meantime, here are 5 reasons that we are holding back excitement for Heavy Rain.

1. QuickTime Events

For a game that is meant to “redefine cinematic realtime entertainment” in this console generation, Heavy Rain is making use of some decidedly last-gen gameplay ideas. In the only actual gameplay footage we have seen so far, the action appears to play out through a series of quicktime events, in which players must tap the appropriate button at the appropriate time to get the heroine to do something important (like stay alive). We have been saying this for years, but it bears repeating: There is absolutely no way to make quicktime button pressing fun. Stop making these kinds of games, please, thank you.

2. The Graphics

In the trailers that we have seen so far, the graphics for this game, which by one account “sets a new standard for current gen,” look like many of the other titles we have seen for both the Xbox 360 and PS3 so far. In some ways, PS3 titles like Drake's Fortune already surpass the graphics seen in Heavy Rain. We like the cool depth-of-field effects that we have seen so far, but in other ways the graphics appear drab and gray. Heavy Rain appears to feature a lot of low-res textures, which undoubtedly contribute to the “uncanny valley” feeling that many current-gen games still suffer from.

3. The Story

Graphics might not be the best way to sell this game to the masses, anyway. What we really want is a compelling story, hopefully one that is exciting enough to get us through all of the quicktime events the designers have planned. So far, we have a somewhat shy and depressed girl running away from a serial killer in a suburban house. We have seen this movie already folks, and it was called Halloween 2. Not to say that a good slasher flick isn’t entertaining, but if you are going to make the claim that your game breaks new ground in cinematic storytelling, you might want to shoot for something a little more highbrow.

4. The Studio

Heavy Rain is in development by French studio Quantic Dream. Their last game, Indigo Prophecy, was plodding, expensive, pretentious and littered with – you guessed it – quicktime events. The title did fairly well in Europe, but failed to sell enough copies to recoup the heavy amount of investment that publishers Atari put into the game, and this helped to contribute to Atari’s near-bankruptcy in 2007.

5. The Gaming Press

The gaming media and even the mainstream media are extremely excited about this game. Journalists have been shown a closed-door demo of the title, and have reported extremely positively on it. Does that portend good things for gamers when the much-hyped final product eventually arrives? Maybe, but just as likely, it will increase the expectations of gamers to unnecessarily high levels. A year ago, Sony needed a blockbuster game to really show the world what their console was capable of. These days, it is doing just fine without a massively-hyped title like Heavy Rain to provoke interest in the console. The problem with hyping a game too much is that even if the game is good (which we hope it will be) it risks disappointing fans who have been led to expect perfection.

Overall, we think that Heavy Rain shows a great deal of potential. If nothing else, Sony and Quantic Dream have mastered the art of marketing, by withholding as much information about the title as possible and allowing fanboys to fill in the blanks with their wildest speculations. Based on what has been revealed to the public so far, however, we will remain cautiously optimistic about the game. We hope that a playable demo or some more detailed gameplay information will be forthcoming soon, to help dispell any remaining skepticism.

I agree with Quicktime Events, but if the rest of the game is half as good as it seems it'll be, I will put up with that bullshit for ten hours to get a killer story out of it.

the person who made this article is so full of fail, but however i agree with the quicktime events if it happens too often. if they just use the quicktime events in cut-scenes then it will be great

Anyone who implies that Indigo Prophecy is a negative to have under you belt, shouldn't be writing about gaming.

They pay these people because they can write well, not necessarily because they know what they're talking about.

Points 1. and 2. are right. One of my complaints from the video they showed of Heavy Rain was how underwhelming the graphics and textures were. The QTEs are also not the best idea to convey action in a game without combat, but atleast it didn't seem as bad as it was on Indigo Prophecy.

The Story is hit and miss. They are capable of making a great story: Omikron had a good one, and IP had it until halfway when everything turned to crap.

Quantic Dream really has talent. Omikron is one of the best adventure games I ever played, and Indigo Prophecy had potential (although unfulfilled) but it still was a decent experience. It is true that it seems they are spending way too much money, especially when they're making an Adventure game on Consoles!!! They better hope that Sony's money hat was big enough.

The person who wrote the article isn't saying anything bad about the game itself(because if he actually did he'd be crazy) rather the sales and what it cost to make.

I meanw hile that game was amazing it didn't really make that much money and it did lost he devs and publishers quite a bit of money.

In Indigo Prophecy, all the gameplay was quicktime events, even the minigames. If you don't like em, I'd steer away from this game, because the entireity of the gameplay in their last, very similar game, was alternately pressing R and L, or pressing the sticks in the appropriate direction when they pop up on screen. Besides moving, your gameplay is entirely quicktime events. Period.

If you guys hate them, then you hate Quantic Dream and you hate Indigo Prophecy. Nevermind that it has one of the best stories in gaming, a cool sense of realism, adult themes, and a very mature and realistic world to take part in where your decisions matter.

The only problem is the gameplay amounts to pressing buttons as they appear on the screen, in an attempt to get enough correct to earn you a pass rating in battle, playing basketball, playing guitar, conversation, or whatever activity you are currently doing.

The author complained about the slasher story presented in the trailer. Problem that segment isn't part of the main game. It's supposed to be some kind of side event. This isn't going to be Halloween 2. Idiot.

i just ment for general people, me i dont mind quicktime events.

pluss anyone who says this game does not have the best graphics so far this gen are just plain wrong and just hating on a good looking game.

There was a money hat involved? I thought Sony is publishing it themselves.