BioShock 2 does Parenting Better than Heavy Rain

Jeffrey Matulef of TheGameReviews writes: "What do Heavy Rain and BioShock 2 have in common? Aside from lots of water, they're both about the same thing: fatherhood. Though the two games go about it in very different ways." (Challenging Conventions #10)

[Haly]

I'm not so sure if I'd say BioShock 2 did it better. A combination of the two would have worked well though.
Heavy Rain didn't explore the relationship as deeply as it could have, despite starting very well. Shaun did feel more like an object than anything else in the end.

Then again I wasn't a big fan of BioShock 2's way of focusing more on the action than the emotional connections that could have potentially been there.

I felt more for Shaun than I did any of the Little Sisters.

[Ixon]

Even Eleanor?

[Haly]

Yup! Was strangely unphased by Eleanor :/ Maybe it's just me being odd though ;)

[tehk1w1]

That little kid in Heavy Rain was a retarded brat. NO I WANNA RUN OUTSIDE INTO TRAFFIC. SPLAT.

[shoinan]

Stupid kid.

[SlamVanderhuge]

JAYYYY-SON

Yeah...that kid was annoying, and a terrible sword fighter.

[Darkfocus]

if it I probably would have just let him die :/

[morganfell]

Heavy Rain does innovative storytelling better than Bioshock 2.

[creatchee]

The storytelling in HR is great, don't get me wrong - but it's the connection that you get with the characters that makes it work. They could've taken the same exact plot and went about the interactions and such completely differently and the game would have not had the impact that it does. Credit to Quantic Dream for realizing that plot isn't the only thing that drives a story...

[CadDad]

I don't think Heavy Rain was trying to get you to connect with the son. I think the connection was supposed to be with the father and his emotions in a time like that. At least that's who I connected with, projecting the feelings I'd have if one of my kids were in a similar situation. The connection with the kid was really quite irrelevant to the game.

-caddad

[maniacmayhem]

i agree with Caddad, it was the Father that the developers wanted the user to feel emotion for.

[proudly_X]

..

[dkgshiz]

That kid in HR was an idiot.

[maniacmayhem]

I have to agree.

That Jason kid not only takes off from his dad but walks all the way out the shopping mall AND across a busy street.

[GiantEnemyCrab]

Last night I changed a diaper with QTE events in HR.. I'm glad I didn't have to change any baby sisters in Bioshock 2.. lmao

[modernwcagrl]

The story telling aspect of heavy rain would have been okay if I had liked the boy a little more. Overall, I though Bioshock 2 was more fun.

[Cenobia]

Really? Bioshock 2 was all rinse and repeat in my opinion.

Capture Little Sister, follow her to 2 spots, save/kill her. Then they threw in a Big Sister to mix it up like 3 times. That was all the game was until the last hour.

I found Heavy Rain to be a much better experience. A way better story with more than just one interesting character, and it had a lot more suspense. It also definitely has real "choices" gameplay where Bioshock is just black and white.

Imo, HR was the better game, but I didn't think Bioshock 1 was what it was hyped up to be either.

[mr durand pierre]

I agree that much of Bioshock was rinse and repeat. Perhaps what made me like Bioshock 2's portrayal of parenthood better than HR's was that Heavy Rain starts off strong, but never follows through. Bioshock 2 is very rinse and repeat as you say, but the last quarter really ends on a high note and disarms you. In other words, it left a better aftertaste.

[danielle007]

I really only cared about Ethan in Heavy Rain.. Like, with the storytelling in Heavy Rain and the character development, I knew how much Ethan loved Shaun and I knew how much guilt he had over Jason's death.. So, I played Ethan the way that I thought his character would behave, and said those things, did those actions, etc. I mean, I did care about shaun in the beginning, I tried to make that kid happy, and especially in the park I thought Ethan and him really connected, but then he was out of the picture.. So, yeah, in the end I didn't care about his son as much as Ethan did, but I cared enough about Ethan to care what happened to his son.. So, I think Heavy Rain does parenting justice, even if I didn't feel like I was personally in the role of a parent..

[N4G4L]

im still confused about some things in HR. i beat the game but still have a question yet to be answered, *SPOILER* when ethan "blacks out" and has his little crazy dream thing. they never explained any of that. why was he "blacking out". someone plz explain.

[Braid]

They want you to buy their upcoming DLC of Ethan.

[BetaChris]

A lot of people are calling the lack of explanation for Ethan's blackouts a plot hole - I don't see it that way. Essentially, they are used as what would be called a MacGuffin in cinematic terms.

From wikipedia:

"Sometimes, the specific nature of the MacGuffin is not important to the plot such that anything that serves as a motivation serves its purpose. The MacGuffin can sometimes be ambiguous, completely undefined, generic or left open to interpretation."

So, in that sense, not a plot hole, but an intentional ambiguity.

[mr durand pierre]

BetaChris, A MacGuffin is not only something left unexplained, but specifically something characters are trying to attain. The classic example would be the briefcase in Pulp Fiction. Everyone wants it, though no one knows why. The blackouts aren't an object, but rather an event and a key aspect of a character, thus requiring explanation.

[Kakihara]

there's one thing Heavy rain did far better than any other game and that's asses. Madison's ass is a thing of wonder and I say that as a devout boob man.

PS. Ethan had a nice ass too.

[CadDad]

Ha ha, that cop Blake was quite the ass as well!

-caddad