The PlayStation Move motion controller brings you closer to the action in Heavy Rain Move Edition, as the game’s producer Mark O’Connor explains.
Heavy Rain Move Edition is an update to the best-selling and much lauded title from renowned French developer Quantic Dream which has struck a chord with players worldwide with its intriguing story and groundbreaking visuals.
Available as a software update for existing owners at no extra cost, and in a boxed edition which includes tons of extra content, Heavy Rain Move Edition will be released around the time of the launch of PlayStation Move. Heavy Rain Move Edition is compatible with the PlayStation Move motion controller, the navigation controller and a PlayStation Eye camera.
During a walkthrough of the Sleepless Night level at E3 2010, Mark O’Connor, producer of the game, demonstrated the range of new interaction possible with PlayStation Move.
“There’s a new menu in place that’s gesture based and means that you use PS Move throughout the title. You use the left stick on the navigation controller to move the character and the main motion controller to look around.
“Everything is geared towards what’s in front of you as you’re now looking straight at the screen when playing and not looking down to see what your thumbs are doing with the Wireless Controller.
“There’s a new dialogue system and mechanic for choosing which option to take, meaning that none of the options are mapped on the action buttons. To interact, you walk up to a prompt, hold down the T button and then perform the action as directed on-screen with the motion controller.
“You’re effectively mapping everything to the character’s motions, so you’re pulling, pushing, opening and closing doors, and even twisting the motion controller to unscrew a bottle top on-screen.”
To cater for new and existing players of Heavy Rain, the game features two levels of difficulty, “There’s an easy mode which is more gesture based and then a harder mode, for people who’ve got Heavy Rain and would want a bit of a challenge and generally those who want a harder experience.”
Sleepless Nights, a typically atmospheric scene set in Madison Page’s apartment, is perfect for showing off how you use PlayStation Move in a third person action adventure game.
It’s an unsettling scene in which the young reporter’s casual wanderings around her own apartment soon become replaced by the frantic gesturing of a desperate woman as she tries to evade the clutches of two intruders.
“The first part is all about navigation and exploration, while the fight scenes are more dynamic and immersive. You start off milling around, getting cups of coffee, getting to grips with the basic movements of the character using PlayStation Move. Then it ends with a fight sequence that’s more interactive, fast and furious, and that’s when you use your hands more; all of a sudden you’ve got to make fast decisions to stay alive.”
This new way of playing is quickly embraced by those already familiar with playing Heavy Rain using a Wireless Controller.
“The main feedback I’ve had is that they’d play it again. It just makes it a lot simpler and provides a new experience, getting the player more involved and connected with the game. It pulls you more into the title.”
Similarly, the game uses the motion controller’s vibration function to heighten your feeling of involvement.
“Any time your character’s in danger or there’s a sense of tension or anything else that we want to feed back to the player, it helps to give a bit of physical stimulus by using the vibration function on the motion controller.
“Heavy Rain is all about immersion, it’s all about empathising with the characters on-screen and now you’ve got physical activity to back that up. Once people get used to it, they find that playing Heavy Rain Move Edition is intuitive, user-friendly and fun!”
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