Rather than concentrating on the positive aspects of a different form of delivery, a lot of publications seem to have pigeon-holed Fahrenheit and Heavy Rain as ‘interactive movies’. So you’ve probably read a lot of “It’s not really a game, it’s an interactive movie, but…” which probably sells both experiences short. Sure, you’ll spend a lot of time watching dialogue scenes and not a lot of time ‘playing’ in a traditional sense, but that shouldn’t be held against this unique form of delivery, which actually works quite well and does exactly what it should do. Heavy Rain shouldn’t be dismissed just because it tries something different.
While it would be unfair to say too much about the story, it has to be mentioned that (thankfully) there is no sci-fi twist this time around despite a few early events that had us worried a twist might transpire. Otherwise, the game has you playing as four different characters: architect and family man, Ethan Mars, journalist, Madison Paige, FBI agent/drug addict, Norman Jayden and Private Detective, Scott Shelby. The game starts off very idealistically: a seemingly mundane day in the life of Ethan. After helping show off this nuclear family setup, the game takes a tragic turn when one of Ethan’s sons is killed in a car accident, while Ethan ends up in an extended coma.
It all starts so idealistically, before going to heck...
Fast forwarding a few years, the fates of all four characters intertwine with that of the ‘Origami Killer’, a serial killer who murders 9-13 year-old boys, and later dumps their bodies with an origami figure and an orchid. The story really ought to be played through to be fully appreciated, but it’s an excellent effort and succeeds at what it sets out to do. From beginning to end, many of the themes throughout the game explore content that is only really suitable to a mature audience. Each of the characters has a heavy past and is 'damaged' in one way or another. And while not everyone will have a happy ending, you'll feel something for everyone that you encounter throughout the game. While the game isn’t ruined by the any stupid sci-fi twists, under close scrutiny, there are some plot holes that don’t really hold up. Still, it's not quite Swiss chess and it becomes apparent that some (though not all…) of them are necessary for the gameplay to hold up.
It’s very rare to find a game that is this involved with its story, which has an overall theme: How far are you prepared to go to save someone you love? Rather than playing a game and having the story progress either in the background or between cut scenes, you’re in the thick of things most of the time. Sure enough, it starts off very slowly, as you’re somewhat forced into going through some mundane activities: taking a shower, setting a table, putting your son to bed and rocking a baby. However, these are all just precursors to invite you in and getting you to ‘feel’ like you’re in the game. About a third of the way through, the game almost literally explodes as your reflexes are tested and you’ll have to make some endearing decisions. The action scenes come thick and fast, while you’ll be shocked at how long you’ll spend on the edge of your seat.
While overall, Heavy Rain is best described as an adventure game, some players may shudder at the possibility that the game is an extended quick-time event. However, Heavy Rain handles them superbly, as you never miss a second of the action by looking for button prompts. Furthermore, the vast majority of the sequences won’t punish you for missing one. The course of events will be merely altered. Admittedly, they don’t really alter as much as you’d probably expect them too, given the hype behind the game, but they will indeed make an impact. Just not always a large one.
Save him? Or leave him? The choice is yours.
No other game makes you feel like this when it comes to making decisions. This isn’t a contemporary western RPG, where your decisions work on a pendulum scale. No, it’s very likely that you’ll make a decision and be thinking about it two or three scenes later. The themes that these decisions cover are very mature and confronting. But it’s not just the big decisions that make an impact, as you’ll be left wondering if you said the right thing, when your speech options are swirling and flashing over your character’s head. That, and while some of your latter decisions will drastically alter the course of the game, it’s the progression allowed through all your choices that makes the game special.
The variety of scenarios that you encounter is quite remarkable as well. As mentioned, they start off rather mundane, but as you play, they advance to aspects such as evidence collection and analysis and become rather exciting, shocking and endearing. Sometimes all at once. Aside from the ease of getting through them, what makes your first play through special, is that it’s your story. You really shouldn’t be perturbed when something doesn’t work out the way you wanted, you should really keep playing through regardless. The story will keep going, and even though the characters can die, in truth, they only will really die late in the game. As said from the outset, there probably isn’t as much choice in the game as was originally advertised, but through the course of the 9-12 hour experience, you’re still playing something that is essentially of your own making.
The majority of the control choices make this a game that is accessible to just about anyone. It’s the choices and themes of the game, along with the accessibility that deliver what is really, a casual experience for the mature market. It is almost a choose-your-own adventure game. Maybe it’s an area that developers ought to explore? While some may not like the lack of interactivity, there is only one aspect of the controls that ruins what is otherwise, the ideal gaming experience for a non-gamer – the movement controls. They’re unnecessarily stiff and hard to use. Sure, you can somewhat get used to it over the course of play, but in truth, it was a poor decision to retain them, as everything else in the game is so easy to do and use. So much so, that this is a major blight that smears over the shine of just about everything else. And while we didn’t come across any in our play through, there are wide reports of game-affecting glitches.
Heavy Rain. Serious business.
Heavy Rain really cranks the PS3 hard. The level of detail in the characters, the natural animations, water effects (it’s raining through the entire game) and performance really immerse the player in a well crafted and purposefully dull world. The well orchestrated and deliberate camera work does wonders as well. There are a few funky VR sequences that will really get you involved, visually and through breaking up the game. However, the moments of immersion are occasionally broken by the errant technical glitch that breaks the seemingly realistic scenario. It’s always a danger with realistic looking games, as the more realistic it tries to be, the stupider it looks when something goes wrong. The use of sound in Heavy Rain is quite excellent as well. The mood never misses a beat and compliments the immersive visuals extremely well. The voice acting is actually pretty good as well, even if there aren’t any big names behind it. However, some will argue that the script slants to the generic side.
Heavy Rain is much more than simply an interactive movie. There is no other game out there that will challenge the decisions that you make through the course of play, and despite the prevalence of quick-time events, you will not miss a single beat of the action. Sure, it may not quite deliver everything it promised, but had it not been for the completely ridiculous choice of movement controls, it would have been the ideal game for a mature audience that don’t often play games. That said, gamers with an open mind in need of an endearing and unique experience, needn’t look any further than Heavy Rain.
Try the demo, you might just like it.
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