Heavy Rain sounds like a very good LARP

[jducoeur]

Interesting review here from Ars Technica about the upcoming computer game Heavy Rain. The upshot is that they are both intrigued by the game and nervous about its prospects, because it is a real, hardcore roleplaying experience. You aren't playing a marine with a big gun or a barbarian with a sword -- you're playing a realistic person trying to survive and help others survive a genuinely dangerous situation.

Throughout the description, I find echoes of old discussions of what makes a good LARP. This game is something that is rarely if ever seen in computer games, but which is a characteristic often seen in well-regarded LARPs: an RPG that is trying to put you deeply in the shoes of a realistic character, and provoke real angst and pain through it. You have to make real choices, which have profound in-game consequences for yourself *and* those around you.

I'm fascinated by the description. I have less than no time to pick up a new game (and don't currently own a PS3 to play it on to begin with), but I have to say, this is one of the most intriguing-sounding games I've heard about in years. Ars may be right that there simply isn't enough market for this sort of thing, but it sounds to me like a game that a number of my LARP-but-not-computer-gamer friends might actually get into...

Comments

[alienor.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the heads up; this sounds more like something for my husband (I like carebear games), and I'll be sure to point it out to him.