Pads & Panels

Heavy Rain Director’s Cut makes a lot out of a little

By Bill Jones

It’s no secret that I love Heavy Rain. (Read the Pads & Panels review here.) I found it to be one of the most innovative games of the last decade, and it earned a prominent spot among our Best Games of 2010. But did it really deserve a “Director’s Cut,” as Sony Computer Entertainment recently gave it? Well, I ask – What else does it offer that the original did not already? Sony’s answer is as follows…

In addition to the original game, the Heavy Rain: Director’s Cut comprises Heavy Rain Chronicles: Episode 1 – The Taxidermist DLC, the Heavy Rain Original Videogame Score, new front-end menu and interface with built-in Move support, a series of eight “making of” bonus videos, three dynamic themes, 15 additional pieces of concept art and two bonus trailers. Let’s break this down. (more…)

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#3 Heavy Rain (PS3)

Publisher: Sony – Developer: Quantric Dream

Our Review

Heavy Rain is daring. It’s inventive. It takes the ideals gamers have grown accustomed to for years and spins them to the game’s advantage. It is an experimental form of storytelling, and it all works so very well. Heavy Rain may have its faults, but it’s easier to overlook them when the results are so often pushing gaming’s boundaries. In an era when the industry is as sequel-riddled as with film, with titles generally fitting nicely into a short list of genres, Heavy Rain is refreshingly and hauntingly something unique. (more…)

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Title: Mafia II

Platform: 360 (PS3, PC)

ESRB: M

Publisher: 2K Games

Developer: 2K Czech

Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

More than three years after the first trailer was released, Mafia II is finally on store shelves. And while Mafia II gets a lot of things right – mostly on the storytelling side – it’s going to leave a lot of people wondering what 2K Czech spent all that development time doing on the sequel to Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven. But despite that, Mafia II still has a few fun tricks up its designer sleeves. (more…)

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Title: “The Taxidermist” DLC for Heavy Rain

Platform: PS3

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment

Developer: Quantic Dream

Review by: Bill Jones

Almost everything there was to absolutely love about Heavy Rain is missing from its first “Chronicles” downloadable content, “The Taxidermist.” It follows the game’s investigative journalist, Madison Paige, as she follows up on a lead involving a suspect known as the Taxidermist. He’s not home, so she can choose to explore his house on her own. Of course, he comes home during the investigation, and it culminates in an intense scene. It can be replayed for a total of seven endings, extending the playthrough, but many gamers won’t care. It essentially serves as a deleted scene from the game, but offers nothing back to the story. The smooth controls of the core title are missing, as the confined hallways of the home make it a clusterfuck of shoddy controls where the mistakes are more attributable to poor presentation than gamer fault. As it stands aside from the game, there’s not much of a set-up or closure to the DLC, and thus it loses the emotional resonance of the game somewhere in the mix. All in all, this one was better left on the cutting room floor. (more…)

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Title: Heavy Rain

Platform: PS3

ESRB: M

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment

Developer: Quantic Dream

Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

Heavy Rain is, without question, the most interesting gaming experience I’ve had in years. At every turn, it pushes the boundaries of what we know as a video game…

NOTE: Heavy Rain is a psychological thriller, and has a heavy mystery aspect to its plot. Also, it’s a game geared toward the experience and, in many cases, surprises in its mechanics. I’ve tried to discuss the title in a way that avoids too much in the realm of spoilers, either of story or gameplay, but certain things must be discussed to critique it properly. I’ve marked two points in particular as SPOILER ALERTS. Where they appear, those wishing to experience the game untainted should skip to the next paragraph. (more…)

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Ponderings is a new idea we’re testing out for the site, so please feel free to give us your feedback. Consider it a behind-the-scenes look, or a more direct line to the personalities of our writers. The purpose of ponderings is to provide an avenue for our writers to casually address some of the games and comics they’re playing, deliver opinions on recent industry news, and maybe even get a little off-topic here and there. We’ll be taking turns writing them, and it’s a chance for the readers to get to know the staff a little better, and maybe even strike up some conversation. We hope you’ll enjoy it and join in the discussion.

The last few weeks have been interesting to say the least. John, our former deputy editor, is no longer with the site. Don’t ask me why. I’m not sure. At the same time, we’ve got a new guy named Jason King, who I think really knows his stuff when it comes to comics and games, so I’m excited about that. I think he’ll also be great for helping to bring back our board game presence, which is the thing I still want to see our site do more and more of, because we’re all into gaming, be it video or otherwise, and I want to see that other side get bigger. (more…)

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From Comic-Con Part 11 – Sony Cocktail Party

By Bill Jones

Not wanting to be outdone by the Microsoft Party covered in the last Comic-Con post, Sony threw a cocktail party of its own July 23 at the Hard Rock Hotel, with a slew of games to play, along with the requisite food and drinks. Pads & Panels had a chance to go hands on with Fat Princess (review coming soon), Heavy Rain, and God of War III. (more…)

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