BBC's secret game

by Nicholas Gasse - 2008/07/20 11:48am

At E3 '08, Sony unveiled Zipper Interactive's latest project, MAG. Featuring 256 player battles, the game would appear to push the technical limits of the PS3. A game this massive has never been done on consoles before. Many were quick to say that this must be the 'secret game' that the BBC was raving over months before. But anyone who read the original BBC article could clearly tell that MAG obviously did not fit the bill. The BBC writer that saw this mystery game, Darren Waters, said the game was "on the brink of a step change in what games consoles are capable of in terms of storytelling and immersion". No offense to Zipper, but their past games have never been heavily story based. And true to that, Darren Waters has also just recently commented that the game he saw was in fact NOT MAG. So that leaves us with the question, what IS this secret game?

It has become plainly obvious that if the game is something that gamers have at least some knowledge of coming out, its Heavy Rain. Heavy Rain is being developed by Quantic Dream, the studio behind Omikron: The Nomad Soul and Indigo Prophecy(or Farenheit, to those outside of the US). Both of these games are shining examples of great storytelling and immersion. The both place you into a dynamic world, where your actions affect what happens in the story.

Omikron was one of the first games to put the player in a free roaming, 3D world - predating even Shenmue and Grand Theft Auto III. Omikron also was unique because it allowed players to reincarnate themselves into different characters, allowing them to take advantage of the assets of different people. Also, by selecting different dialog options, the game could take many various paths.



Indigo Prophecy, Quantic Dream's second project, focused on another element of immersion - allowing the player's actions to change the direction of the story. The story begins with the protagonist waking from a black out state, only to find he had just murdered someone. The player can chose to either clean up the body or just make a run for it out of there, and everything in between. Did you touch the sink to wash the blood off your hands? Then you just left your fingerprints for the cops to find. Did you bolt for the front door? You should have sneaked out the back, you now have 5 or 6 eye witnesses that caught you fleeing the scene. Situations like this play out throughout the entire game.

Quantic Dream's previous projects have both showcased both great storytelling and intense immersion in the in-game world, and there is no reason to doubt that their PS3 project would be any other way. Heavy Rain seems like the obvious answer. But then, Waters mentions "... it still hasn't been shown publicly. And so I still can't talk about it. Or even tell you what it's called". Heavy Rain was unveiled 2 years ago, and shown this year at E3 and even mentioned specifically by Newsweek's N'Gai Croal. Doesn't this rule it out? Not exactly.

Officially, Heavy Rain WAS announced 2 years ago. However, Heavy Rain is merely a working title for the game, a place card for publications to put news under. The Casting, the teaser shown 2 years ago, had no relevance to the game, it just showed off the engine that the game would be working on. The title, Heavy Rain, is a direct reference to how the character in the tech demo meets her husband, and should further disprove that the title is actually the title of the real game. Thus, Heavy Rain hasn't officially been announced yet. No one has talked about it because it actually isn't called Heavy Rain, it goes by an altogether different name. And when it was shown at this past E3, it wasn't shown publicly, it was shown behind locked doors.



Nonetheless, this is just another theory. The other game that many mention as a possibility is team ICO's new project. This game hasn't been announced yet. However, if Ico and Shadow Of The Colossus are anything to go by, while they are beautifully brilliant games, the storytelling in both titles is specifically vague, with emphasis more on the gameplay then anything else. Everything STRONGLY points to the Heavy Rain project being this secret BBC game. If it isn't Heavy Rain, we haven't heard of it yet. With only a month left before Leipzig, we won't have long to wait. N'Gai Croal specifically mentioned Heavy Rain will be shown there. If that is the BBC title, we will find out then.

Resistance100: I suspect it isn't heavy rain. It will be a new IP which will be developed by London Studio since they aren't doing alot now with Eight Days and Getaway 3 canceled