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

SchollA from Console ControllUs pronounced control-us writes:

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:

[pr0t0typeknuckles]

okay, seriously i thought i was the only person on earth that thought that how can you hate heavy rain but love the walking dead ilove both because their adventure games, but really people, double standard much.

[GribbleGrunger]

My GOD! I can't believe this is here. I've been trying to wrap my head around the idea that this game got so many plaudits and yet when I played the game it felt like a poor man's Heavy rain (play wise). Why is it ok for this game to give you prompts and not Heavy Rain, that gives you hundreds of options and lot's of different outcomes? And let's not even talk about graphics. No one seems to be mentioning it though. That's really odd because that's the immediate impression I got from playing the demo. Weird, it plays like a very simple version too.

[Convas]

"And let's not even talk about graphics. No one seems to be mentioning it though."

Mayhaps that's because it's not all about graphics? Imagine that. Also, The Walking Dead universe is a very compelling one and it had zombies, which as you know, are very in right now.

[Ezz2013]

@convas

no no no that was never the case dude
it was never about gfx or story

the non-ps3 owners used to bash the game way too much and called it a
"movie...no gameplay ..etc"
even though it scored very good and sold very well

but as soon as every one got TWD a game that ripped off HR gameplay ...it all praise and love and no one said any thing about the gameplay
(BTW i have no problem with that ..loved TWD very much too)

this only show the hypocrisy of the fanboys in this gen

[Root]

Want to know why it got good scores and most likely won GOTY

The Comic fanbase

The TV Show fanbase

The Game fanbase

THREE Fanbases combined into one...all together it's an army

Seriously though I can't get into the Walking Dead

I mea they said it had good characters for example, yet they were alright, nothing special. Hell I found the characters and their character development better in Uncharted for example then the ones found in the WD game.

[ChrisW]

"The Comic fanbase
The TV Show fanbase
The Game fanbase"

Root is right! Those 3 fanbases are rather strong.

Heavy Rain has two closed niche fanbases that rely strongly on each other. One is that you like such games and the other is that you like Playstation.

[TheRealSpy]

Frankly, the entire time i played walking dead i thought "so this is why i would have hated heavy rain."

the only reason i kind of enjoyed the walking dead game is because i like that universe. heavy rain offers me nothing and the child voice acting makes me want to kill children.

video games don't make me violent. bad video games make me violent.

[Jobesy]

This is simple, HR is a PS3 exclusive, TWD is not. Exclusive will always get hate from fanboys, regardless if it was for the PS3, 360 or Wiiu. Granted, there are a lot of PS3 players that don't like HR, or any QTE heavy game, but I'm sure they don't throw the insults that HR gets. I'm sure if HR was a multiplat everything would have been different.

@ Theangrybogan, it has nothing to do with storylines. HR got a lot of hate because some people said that due to QTEs that it wasn't a game, more an interactive movie, or even just a movie and not a game at all. As far as stories go, both of them are cheezy and cliche as hell, but are still fun "games" to me.

[Theangrybogan]

SHAUN!

SHAUN!

It's because the walking dead has a better story, and in a story based genre it makes a big difference.

[kneon]

You missed the key difference, one was a Sony exclusive and therefore must be criticized and put down beyond all reason, especially by those that had never actually played the game.

[TheRealSpy]

this is complete BS. it's the opposite. the only reason people even still mention heavy rain is because it was a sony exclusive.

otherwise, everyone would have dismissed it for the crap that it is and it would never be mentioned again.

[s45gr32]

Nothing to do with one being an exclusive, is just the story of heavy rain is heavily disjointed along with poor facial animations. Second the gameplay is not very responsive. In contrast twd may lack near photo realistic visuals but its characters, story, and voice acting are top notch compared to heavy rain......

[classic200]

I think heavy rain and walking dead are categorize like this. Both are interactive drama and adventure, but like a movie just because they are both watched in cinemas does not mean they both carry a story you like.

its no different than a lot of people liking GTA 4 and red dead but some people love GTA and hate red dead and some live red dead and hate GTA.

[JP1369]

Haven't played Walking Dead yet, but I thought the plot in Heavy Rain was terrible. Plot holes galore and just boring. Obviously there are plenty of people that feel different than me and loved the game and to them it may seem to be a double standard, but if you think about it there's none to speak of. In games like these, plot if paramount. If that fails, the game as a whole starts to go very steeply downhill. Those of us that weren't impressed or interested in the plot would express that in our assessment of the game.
Of course, there are people who never played Heavy Rain but felt the need to bash it simply because it was a high profile Playstation exclusive with gorgeous graphics. However, these people are idiot fanboys and their opinions shouldn't even be considered part of the equation.

[grailly]

the writing, story telling and voice acting were way better in the TWD than in heavy rain.

that said heavy rain did great things, I think that the "no fail-state" system is one of the best features in any game this gen and hope more games would have it.
edit: also in a few parts of the game you could find more clues if you looked around more, that is GREAT! but I can only think of one instane where it was well implemented.

I also think TWD has been praised to much. It's entertaining and the story is great, but it really didn't give players choice at all, and the gameplay was clunky.

[JP1369]

I agree that Heavy Rain did have problems and that may be the issue. For me at least, it wasn't an issue of genre, but rather the specific qualities of the game. It might be that I'll like The Walking Dead and if I do it will be because it's an engaging experience, not because I'm purposely holding on to some double standard. People are so sensitive about their hobby that if someone doesn't share their affect for a product but like one that is similar they become convinced that some malevolent force is working against them.

[mayberry]

Not double standard, but Sony exclusive biased. Or to a less 'conspiracy theory observation', it could be the 'higher Sony exclusive standard' alot of reviewers have burdened this generation with.

[Abdou23]

Despite the gameplay being similar, some people prefer the story of TWD better.

[mushroomwig]

I love both games.

[bessy67]

In a game that relies so heavily on story the story actually has to be good. Walking Dead's is, Heavy Rain's isn't.

[the worst]

walking dead is way overrated

[bessy67]

So is Heavy Rain.

[kreate]

i thought heavy rain is under-rated?

[Ezz2013]

is that an opinion or a fact ?!

[dgonza40]

Heavy rain is all about story...

[bessy67]

Exactly, and the story's full of plot holes. Walking Dead's story is better than Heavy Rain's.

[s45gr32]

True actually both games are but is just heavy rains' story is disjointed and the cast is not strong enough plus the voice acting is a little off compared to the walking dead.

[TheRealHeisenberg]

Hmmm, some good points there. Guess I'll give Heavy Rain a second look.

[soultecc]

i never got the chance to try heavy rain

[Scholla]

Try it its phenomenal! Especially if you like TWD.

[FragMnTagM]

Even though they play similar, TWD actually made me care about the characters within the game. Even though the graphics were not even close to Heavy Rain, not that that matters anyway, the characters felt more human if you will.

I don't think the story was better, rather on par, but the emotional attachment is what suckered me. Heavy Rain had emotion for sure (beautifully animated facial animation and such), but the whole experience felt like a dream. TWD, on the other hand didn't have beautiful facial animations, but it did a great job of making you care about the characters.

I enjoyed both games, but like someone said above, TWD has a few different fanbases behind it, whereas Heavy Rain was a new IP.

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Even though the choices really didn't matter all too much in TWD, (you can make it through no matter what you choose, pretty much), it was the way that they were presented that made them carry weight.

Even though Heavy Rain ultimately had a lot more choices and different endings, it failed to get me to play it more than twice.

I have played through TWD about 4 or 5 times now and I still would play it through again.

Again though, both games were great, but that is just my two cents on how I feel about the two.

[BitbyDeath]

Both games are great but Heavy Rain's gameplay is far deeper than the Walking Dead. Most people simply overlook it cause the graphics make it look like a movie.

[s45gr32]

No it has to do more with the gameplay mechanics. TWD has a very similar gameplay mechanics; however, the walking dead has a better story, characters, voice acting, and facial animations than HR.

[BitbyDeath]

Played the PC version of Walking Dead.
It comprises of selecting what you are to say, using the arrow keys and occasionally being required to tap the Q & E buttons. Very much an A -> B game.

Heavy Rain on the otherhand makes use of almost all the buttons on the controller. You have full control of your surroundings and can generally do whatever you want (within reason).

So the big difference in gameplay is that TWD very much acts on text selection as opposed to Heavy Rain which responds on physical actions and interactions. This then leads to multiple storylines so you don't end up with the same game everytime you play.

[Scholla]

Exactly! Way more than a QTE fest I felt like I was playing twister with my fingers at some points (remember the hill?).

[konnerbllb]

I thought heavy raid was ok? Both are good games

[SolidDuck]

I loved heavy rain and the walking dead. And yes I think there very similar. I don't see how u can love one and not at least like the other. Both were great games.

[Sp1d3ynut]

This is just dumb. The difference is, TWD didn't have you doing stupid things like pressing 3 different buttons/triggers on the controller at once, just to perform a single action...that didn't even contribute to the gameplay (i.e. using an inhaler). TWD has far more in common with an old-school PC point-n-click than HR. Plus, TWD was made on a MUCH smaller budget than HR.

[SpinalRemains138]

I found both games to be a lot of fun. Both wonderful stories and an emotional response.

I did however, find Heavy Rain to be better for a few reasons. One of which is because of the innovation. Heavy Rain is a trail blazer. Secondly, Heavy Rain was a much more polished game. Seemingly more mature, sans the whole 'current fad' theme. It stood on its merits and needed not rely on AMC shows. Heavy Rain using the Move controller was one of my top 5 favorite gaming experiences ever, and I've been playing videogames since 1982.

[mayberry]

The 'MOVE' integration was that good? I know I love the MOVE integration in Killzone 3. I have been wanting to get HR since the realease, but if what you say is correct, I will definitely get it.

[BX81]

Heavy Rain is a classic imo!

[TongkatAli]

Heavy Rain has a European cinema feel. Played it once, but will never forget it.

[s45gr32]

Ummm both games are good but the edge goes to the walking dead not due to one being exclusive and the other a multiplat. Its due to a stronger story, cast, voice acting, ease of gameplay mechanics and better facial animation. Still heavy rain is a fun game the latter is a depressing dramatic game. Not once did I had fun with twd but I did cry at the end of the last episode.

[sparta76]

Lol, this is a great read.
Played both, loved both.
IMO heavy rain was a much better game. In twd no matter what choices you make you still will survive till the last chapter, in heavy rain every choice counts!
I thought the story on heavy rain was awsome.
This gen was about putting down exclusives.

P.s. too bad Hr won't get a sequel. :(

[SAE]

True :( . They act like that because heavy rain exclusive so they can't play it and since they can't play it they will bash it . Also because the walking dead is a zombie. Lots of people like zombie..

I love both but still prefer heavy rain because it's longer, better graphics and gameplay , the story is more serious..

[CGI-Quality]

Last time I checked, by many gamers and critics alike, Heavy Rain was everything BUT hated.

[palaeomerus]

I didn't like heavy Rain and didn't think much of Walking Dead either. I didn't even like LA Noire much. Now what?

[grailly]

you're aloud to not like LA Noire :)

[Sketchy_Galore]

I didn't 'hate' Heavy rain but I hate the fact that Quantic dream come so close to creating amazing games only to ruin them with cheesy writing. The walking dead had a plot, characters and dialogue on par with the amazing comic book series and better than the very good TV show. It had a truly affecting plot that really grabs the player by the heart and squeezes.

Heavy rain had such cornball cliche writing I honestly have to believe anybody who actually considered it deep or moving in any sense has very little cultural education. I appreciate that David Cage wants to create something on par with the work of David Lynch and to truly create an important work of art but his writing is so incredibly cliched that his work comes off more like a late night made for TV erotic thriller.

I don't hate Heavy rain but I'm so frustrated with David Cage's work because he's literally one step away from creating amazing timeless works but ruins it with cheese every time. If he would just stop and realise that he's just not as great of a writer as he thinks he is and that his stuff really comes across as an adolescent's idea of 'mature' or if he would just hand over the writing to somebody else his games could be amazing. As it stands they strike me as a frustrating amount of wasted potential.

The Walking dead game however, you could make minor alterations to the script, change a few names around and film it as the next season of the Walking dead TV show and critics would applaud the huge increase in the quality of writing.

[grailly]

I've always seen david cage as an arrogant prick. I doubt we'll see one of his games not written by him.

[black911]

I said the same thing when this won GOTY and Heavy Rain didnt when it was released.

[TuxedoMoon]

I disliked Heavy Rain mainly because of the entire scenario presented before me. I don't have any kids and the main character (the father) was stupid. First he lets his kid run off. Then he takes the blow of the car and the kid still dies. The wife leaves him and actually leaves the other kid with the father who now has mental issues. At that point I just gave up taking the game seriously. What I did like was the build up, but it seemed a little on the cheesy side in the last act.

I guess the main reasons The Walking Dead won goty was because it hit all the high points in current fads/trends.
Aside from good writing, the game has zombies, blood/violence, and is based off of a popular series/comic. Heavy Rain was an original game with none of those nets to rely on. I still have to play through it to see what all the hype is about.

[SpinalRemains138]

You have just perfectly laid out why many love Heavy Rain. It's target audience is adults. It is less about flashy scenes, blood and gore, and more about real life scenarios and awful decision making. Real life is often, as you put it, "stupid".

Ethan did not have sole custody of the alive son. He was a weekend dad.

[linkenski]

To me, graphics sound and gameplay are all factors that determine how good games are, but overall it's about the experience you get from playing the game, and that's why i think The Walking Dead has gotten the praise. No, it doesn't give you much choice, but it's a hell of a ride.

[BladerunnerZX]

I like both games.

The walking dead is easier to play for most people.

[Emilio_Estevez]

I know I'm the minority, but I didn't like The Walking Dead, but loved Heavy Rain.

Love the show (new ep on Sunday), but the game just didn't do it for me. The story wasn't enough to overlook the gameplay I really disliked.