Let me get this straight you love The Walking Dead but hate Heavy Rain?

So The Walking Dead took home Game of The Year at VGA 10 huh?

First, this is no knock on The Walking Dead or the gamers that love it. I respect anyone who loves this game I actually haven’t played it myself yet, (*update I’ve played the demo and liked it) but looove the Zombie culture so maybe one day I will need not only to get into the game but get into the TV series as well; long overdue I know, shame on me (*update I’m all  caught up — loved  it lmbooo). No, this more goes out to same people who hate Heavy Rain but love TWD.

THE Complaints of Heavy Rain:

When Heavy Rain was first introduced to the public a lot of gamers praised its graphics (near photo realistic) and adult storytelling; addressing a serious topic  – a serial killer who targets children. But gamers were skeptical, mainly of the direction Quantic Dream chose to go in — in terms of gameplay, a quick time fest is what worried us the most, the idea of watching more than playing scared some. When the gamers and I’ll throw in journalistic reviewers were actually able to get said product in hand some complained, belittling it to quick time and even went as far as calling it not a game not the good version either (Why I say that is because some felt Quantic Dream changed the game — in a good way).


Now fast forward, the same type of gameplay (The gameplay btw that Heavy Rain received criticism for) and same type of storytelling TWD presents not only gets itself a nomination for the most prestigious award  but actually wins the award!!? What part of the game is that? Wasn’t TWD described as a point-and-click adventure? Essentially making it a step down from quick time actually, with quick time being an evolution of point and click. So how is it TWD, as I call it a less sophisticated version of Heavy Rain in the gamplay and storytelling department heaping awards while Heavy Rain receives criticism?

Now if you hate both this is not for you and if you love both of course this is not directed at you either. Even if you like one and hate the other that’s actually cool too. I’m again addressing those who loves one, in this case TWD and hates the other; Heavy Rain, but not only just hate the other but hate the other for the same reasons the one you like implements. You’ll take a point-and-click adventure all day but disregard a sophisticated version of the utilization of quick time events? All I’m asking for is consistency people.

Heavy Rain is one of my favorite titles this generation, I felt it hit on most, if not all cylinders and is a disservice to call it a “quick time fest”. Could it have stood for more traditional gameplay? Maybe, but again I found attack of its gameplay (not all of you) and praise of TWD a bit off.

In the end this probably will be do some good for anyone who skipped over Heavy Rain but loved TWD if your a gamer that doesn’t mind pointing-and-clicking then you probably won’t mind quick timing.

On a side note, Back to the demo,  I actually feel since TWD has the spirit of Heavy Rain that TWD would work lovely as a Triple A title. What do you gamers think? CCU wants to hear from you.

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  1. 1) Your writing style is atrocious. This could have benefitted from another five or six hours of editing.

    2) If you really can’t see the difference between the idiocy that was Heavy Rain and the goodness that is The Walking Dead, I don’t know what to do with you. One was heavy-handed, slow-paced, with two-dimensional characters that you almost have to hate and almost completely nonsense in its contrived story, and the other was a heart-touching story about interesting characters with a cool art style. Plain and simple- one was a good story, and one was not.

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    • SchollA

      This article is not about which is better nor is it a bash on the Walking dead see paragraph 1 more than its about the argument over quick time events and how Heavy Rain got slighted for the very thing gamers didnt seem to mind in TWD.

  2. First of all I’d express an objection to your view that somehow the Walking Dead was a less sophisticated game. (The fact that you hadn’t played it yet notwithstanding)

    The execution and pacing of the two games are entirely different. The problem with Heavy Rain wasn’t that it was a quick time event fest, it was that it was a boring quick time event fest. There were events for starting your car on a totally average day, events for putting your child to bed, events for damn near everything. The Walking Dead HAS QTE gameplay, but it’s all used in far more appropriate moments. It paces these events, giving weight, involvement and drama to the scene. Like kicking zombies in the face while struggling to crawl away from them.

    This comparison is like expressing confusion about not liking Call of Duty but loving Counter Strike or Battlefield. Come on, guys! They’re all First Person Shooters! How can you like one but not the other?
    Execution is why. And if you want to have it put in pure, simple terms here it is: The Walking Dead is a Video Game that tells a good story. Heavy Rain was a story that someone tried to retroactively make into a video game.

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    • SchollA

      I wasn’t saying TWD is less sophisticated overall (even though it may be – haven’t played through it) I was talking more from what I could see and thats presentation (graphics) and the implementation of quicktime (point-n-click).

      IMO quick time is an evolution of point-n-click and what Quantic Dream did is an evolution of quick time they found a lot of interesting ways to use the controller so it wasnt a tap x tap square tap circle tape triangle affair. TwD was more to the point (no pun) a throwback if you will of pointing and clicking..thus the sophistication observation.

      As far as boring yeah I heard that before but I personally loved doing the mundane things…think about it they’re trying to sell a family man a humanistic element the grind of getting up daily as a human, taking a shower, eating, taking your kid to school and I felt it worked in glorious fashion. But in a world of just give me gun so I could shoot the baddies your comment doesnt surprise me.

      As far as comparison thats y I say a key to this whole argument is why? The why is everything in this occasion. If you love TWD because it had a better story I’m not talking about you. It specifically comes down to gameplay mechanics. The parallel you used is wrong the exact parallel would be if you took the same games and said I love Cod but hate lets say battlefield and I asked you why and you said “cause its first person I don’t like the stupid view and thats stupid to just have a stupid hand and a gun onscreen show me the whole character” (Thats a huh moment). Hence the article.

      • I think gameplay is not just examined in terms of how events on screen is manipulated through your input. In the Walking Dead game, your goal was to survive in a zombie apocalypse. Everything you did in game went towards achieving this goal. That’s where the gameplay is. It’s like a combined effort between story and your control that gives you a more unique gameplay experience.

        Heavy Rain was about solving the murders of the origami killer. The problem there is that a lot of the things you do, like playing with your kids and the entire scene in Madison’s apartment, do nothing to achieve this goal. Those scenes take place before the plot gets underway, but they don’t do wonders for the gameplay at all. I didn’t pay $60 just to have Ethan take a shower and make structure drawings, you know?

        Heavy Rain definitely picks up the gameplay a tenth of the way through once the stage is set, but people (especially reviewers) tend to remember the bad as well as the awesome. The reviews were actually pretty good regardless and the game won it’s fair share of awards. It was even nominated for best PS3 game at the VGAs 2010. It lost to God of War 3 because GoW’s gameplay is a little more consistent. A game about killing gods that has you working to kill gods. Shit like that sells.

        Reviewers who say nothing about the gameplay except that it’s a QTE-fest is not really saying anything at all. At the end of it all, it comes down to whether you really care about what the reviewers think. In which case if you did, I’d tell you to stop it.

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