Heavy Rain was simply a fantastic game. The wonderfully crafted script mixed with stunning acting performances made for an emotionally moving gaming experience. I felt so much heartbreak for the virtual characters, to the point I shed a tear in sorrow.
Then there was Kara, a short seven minute tech demo that managed to leave you with a real sense of urgency and worry for the robotic Kara. It was mind blowing that even a short script could start off an emotional journey of fear and intrigue. The idea left unanswered questions and it could easily be developed into a fully fledged game.
From then on I fell in love with Quantic Dream. I’ve been dying to know more about their next project, Beyond, and whatever ideas David Cage has planned for the future.
Everything I’ve seen of Beyond: Two Souls has me very excited. A cast lined with Ellen Page and William Dafoe, both performing from a script and idea nurtured by the hailed genius David Cage, is a promising prospect.
[drop]We can also expect a game with the capacity for stunning visuals. Quantic Dream, post Heavy Rain, have upgraded their performance capture devices. As a result they claim that we will be able to see the feelings of the main character just from a single stare in their eyes, something Cage was keen to talk about at the recent PlayStation 4 announcement.Despite the surface similarities, Beyond: Two Souls isn’t anything like Heavy Rain. This new story offers a supernatural element and a change in direction in terms of gameplay.
You follow the life of Jodie Holmes for fifteen years, from the age of eight until her mid twenties. There’s something strange about Jodie though, she is protected by an entity, named Aiden, giving her supernatural powers. During this time frame we form a relationship, as Jodie, with Aiden. From early footage it is clear this bond doesn’t receive a good reception from the world at large.
You’ll play as both Jodie and Aiden, the latter allowing you to interact with the world in a way no human can. The way these two characters will work together and interact is made visible by the fact that the adventure will more closely resemble modern day action games, with less focus on QTEs.
We haven’t seen a huge amount of the game, but what we have seen is reason enough to get excited. The footage of Jodie’s time in the Sheriff’s office from E3 shows Quantic Dream’s story telling brilliance. The narrative was strong and I was left feeling tense from the strange situation we were witnessing.
As a result Beyond: Two Souls is no doubt my most anticipated title for this year. Forget about the PS4, I need to experience this first, before any next gen upgrades. A promising story, different to anything we’ve seen, and innovations in gameplay and cinematic experience has made me one very excited gamer.
This is what I really love about Quantic Dream – their approach to development sets them apart from other developers. They showcase original and risky ideas. To put it simply, Heavy Rain was a risk. We hardly see quick time event focused gameplay in modern gaming, and its role in Heavy Rain put off many potential players. Quantic Dream knew this before release, they must have, but they went ahead with the game anyway.
Moving on from Heavy Rain, Quantic Dream could have easily developed a sequel with a new cast and new setting. They would probably have seen more copies sell. Instead they’ve focused on something entirely different with Beyond: Two Souls. That change in direction is certainly another risk to take, but the question is whether or not it will pay off? Personally I’m hoping that it will.
Risk aside, this change in IP and story is what draws me in the most. I feel we’ll always be able to rely on Quantic Dream to provide fresh and imaginative cinematic experiences in a gaming world overrun with prequels, sequels and spin offs. We only have to wait until October to see just how many new experiences and ideas they can throw at us in Beyond.
bunimomike
Very exited about Beyond as it’s great to see Cage forging ahead with strong narrative and/or story. Something the industry sorely needs as we still have a lot of maturing to go through.
Lovely article, fella. A few typos here and there, though, if you don’t mind me saying.
• “til” not “till” (abbreviation of until)
• Might’ve been worth saying QTE (then bracketing QuickTime Events for the folk who don’t know what QTE means but see it used in countless game articles).
• “This what I really love about Quantic Dream” (think it’s missing an “is”)
Hope this helps and doesn’t come across too Nazi-like as I very much like your enthusiasm and love of the industry. :-)
Origami Killer
Oops, no matter how many times I read over something there are always a few little mistakes :P
anthro
It’s also “Willem Dafoe” :)
aerobes
Perfect. One of the main reasons why I’m simply just not interested in PS4. With this, my backlog and other great looking titles on the horizon, Sony are unintentionally giving me every reason to shun the PS4 at the moment.
ABlokeCalledDaz
Thank you for mentioning Kara, I got a lump in my throat the first time I saw that but I am a big southern girls blouse.
f4rgo
There are a few of us…
f4rgo
Girls blouses that is….
bunimomike
Same here, fella.
Hannypoppie (TSA member) and I were captivated when we watched it. I think I’ve gone back to see it at least another four or five times since its first appearance.
LTG Davey
The likes of this, GOW:A and LoU have convinced me to just get a cheap PS3 for now to tide me over while I wait for the PS4 to release and get some solid games behind it – Having bought the Wii-U and Vita both at launch and being very disappointed I would rather wait a bit before coughing up large volumes of cash for a console that could take a year or two to really get going.
Taylor Made
First off good article, nice read..
As for me, I don’t know, heavy rain was & is overrated, the first time I got this game I though, the funk, I’m playing a movie, interaction games are cool & everything but the audience ain’t just big, look at Journey who wants to play a floating blanket, the walking dead again similar to heavy rain, the story is what drove heavy rain but game play was pure ass.
Lets hope beyond ain’t no heavy rain otherwise, it will sell more when it’s second hand.
Origami Killer
The thing with Heavy Rain, in my opinion, is that it’s so story driven, and your actions play a large role, that interaction had to be kept to a minimal for the full experience.
I’m not a fan of that type of gameplay usually though.
Taylor Made
I agree the story was emotional & couldn’t help but get involved between Sean & Ethan but what did it for me was th twist of the killer, I mean I made my predictions but was wrong.
Avenger
Finding out who the killer was, was just absolute betrayal on screen. I had high hopes for Heavy Rain, but found myself in a lost cause half way through. That betrayal I spoke of just destroyed it completely because it was at best a cheat, and at worst illogical.
Not trolling or anything though, I struggle understanding why some many people liked it, but everyone to their own likes and dislikes.
Great article anyhow, not abstract, not waffling on, just straight to the point. The story summary was useful as well. Now I actually know the picture rather than the somewhat vague trailer.
Bilbo_bobbins
Heavy Rain was boring for me. Just didn’t like it. It looked great though, same with this.
cc_star
I would agree, totally agree but for me Cage’s end products fall a long, long way short of his overly grandiose visions
KeRaSh
I feel the same way. I’m actually not that excited about this game, mainly because Heavy Rain, while being good, wasn’t what I’ve expected after all the hype that surrounded it.
As far as I’m concerned the PS4 could come out as soon as I’m done with Remember Me and The Last of Us.
ico
Anyone care to add Mr Molyneux to that list?!
ico
That’s aimed at cc_star’s comment by the way. Grandiose visions but not followed up on in reality. Some could argue hardware technical limitations but for these veteran game developers thats not an excuse as they should know inside out what the tech can do. Just my (humble) opinion of course!
KeRaSh
If the hardware is limiting them, then we need the next generation even sooner. More power could only mean that it would be more natural to express emotions through the facial expression of a character.
bmg_123
I don’t like the way Cage uses the word ’emotion’ all the time, but Heavy rain, despite it’s faults was a great game and I’ve played through it about 5 or 6 times so far.
RudeAwakening
Nice article OK. I really enjoyed heavy rain and love what quantic dream do as devleopers, never becoming apart of the sheep in the gaming world, constantly striving to be original in their gameplay and story and this is the reason i will always support their games.
Shalashaska
For me heavy rain was 2/3 great 1/3 frustratedly bad. For me it was down to the writing, starting with black outs with no explanation of them and the reveal of the killer was very poor. Hopefully beyond will have better more consistent writing because the premise looks really good.