Heavy Rain Review

Heavy Rain is the long awaited title brought to us by developer Quantic Dream on the Playstation 3 console. Has the 4 plus year wait been worth it? Well, this past week when it came out we were all able to find out if it was able to live up to the hype. In my eyes, it has delivered on every front that it said it would, and I was extremely pleased with the way it came out.

That being said, what kind of game exactly is Heavy Rain? Well, to quote the game's director David Cage, Heavy Rain can be described as "A very dark film noir thriller with mature themes, and the real message is about how far you're willing to go to save someone you love." That still doesn't describe what type of game it is. There are very few games like this out there. It is a more of a "interactive movie" kind of genre, if one exists. Quantic Dream's previous game Fahrenheit (or Indigo Prophecy) is also in the same category. Many other mainstream games include elements that are used in Heavy Rain, but not solely built around it. It incorporates action, drama, investigation, and many other themes, many of them very adult.

As a matter of fact, I really liked how adult this game was. It is by no means for children, so if you have any make sure they are not home, or in bed when you play this. There is a lot of violence, nudity, drug addiction, & foul language. It's not done in a cheesy sort of way. All of it felt very real, as many of the situations could happen to anybody. (If they were investigating a serial killing case I should add) At no one point did I ever think anything was overdone. It felt like just the right amount of aforementioned topics. I am willing to place money on certain news channels and anti-game enthusiasts will have a field day with this game trying to say that it promotes all these things, but we all know they are just out to make a name for themselves and do not know the product at all.

The story of Heavy Rain is a very good one, and as engrossing as creator David Cage said it would be. The game follows a series of events that unfold surrounding the Origami Killer, a criminal who is wanted for the murder of 8 children. It follows 4 main and playable characters, who are all somehow linked one way or another with the Origami Killer. The 4 characters are all very different, and each one plays out in a different style.

Ethan Mars, an architect, who is married with 2 children. Events suddenly unfold however, and he is soon on his own with his marriage in shambles, and looking to rescue one of his sons who was taken by the killer. Madison Paige is a journalist looking for her next big story, which just happens to be the Origami Killer. She suffers from insomnia and most times when looking to sleep, stays in various motels. Scott Shelby is a retired police officer who is currently a private investigator looking into the Origami Killings by the request of the families involved. Lastly there is Norman Jayden who is a member of the FBI looking into the serial murders. He is also a drug addict. There is also a heavy supporting cast who are all equally as well done as the main characters.

What Heavy Rain sets out to do is craft an engaging story where we care about the decisions that we make, and deal with the consequences of those decisions. I really felt throughout the entirety of Heavy Rain I could probably relate to them if I was in a similar situation. There were times in the game where I was literally sitting in my chair, wondering what choice to make. There really were some tough choices to make for the characters we are controlling. It really succeeds in immersing you in the story. While it is somewhat a short one, it is very powerful. There is one plot hole that I noticed dropped about 3/4's through the game, but it is still a fine story with that one inconsistency.

As far as the voices of the characters go, they are really hit or miss. Some of them are very convincing, while others like almost every child character just sounds unnatural. I really don't know what other way to put it. The kids sounds really weird at times. Other characters at times don't know how to properly pronounce certain words. One that immediately comes to mind is origami. Many characters pronounce it as 'origammy' which sounds terrible. Maybe they did this because different people say things other ways in everyday life. I think it was just looked over though. It could have benefited from a little more voice actor direction. One last thing I noticed is that a lot of the characters have this French-Canadian accent which at times can get annoying for characters that are all supposed to be in the US. With all this nitpicking, it makes it sound like I hated the voice acting, but as a whole I enjoyed it a lot. A lot of the work comes off very convincing and dramatic when it needs to be. The soundtrack is also very well done with a wide variety of music, depending on the given situation. During an intense scene, the music is as equally intense at some points giving you an almost frantic feeling. Other miscellaneous sounds are all good, with nothing sounding too fake or manufactured. The sound as a whole compliments the graphics very nicely.

Let's get this out of the way. Heavy Rain is one beautiful game. Probably one of the best looking that comes to mind in the past few months. All of the characters are very realistic looking with facial animations and body motions that all seem very natural. They seem to put in a good amount of work to the actors making sure there were not jerky movements or anything that looked too out of place. The scenes that the characters are in are equally impressive. A lot of the scenes are almost photo realistic. So much detail was put into everything to make it look as real as possible. Even character animations with items looks very good. Some games just have an item as a static object, whereas this game animates those objects giving the game life.

That being said however, there are some obvious shortcuts with certain things. Character interaction with clothing is still "hidden" in a clever way. I guess there is no real easy way to have a character put clothing on or taking it off without it looking too unnatural. It doesn't hinder the game in any way, just something I noticed. Another glaring problem with the graphics is the constant anti-aliasing. It is very noticeable on HDTV's, while it didn't make me enjoy the game any less, I would have enjoyed it a lot more if things didn't look like the were cut in half whenever the angle suddenly changed. If you're not looking for it, you probably won't notice it. I happen to be a bit of an audio/videophile so I tend to notice these things more than other people might. I know a lot of people that just ignore it completely. How lucky for them. Overall though it is easily one of the best looking games on the market and proves yet again we do not need another game system for many years with graphics like these.

Gameplay is where Heavy Rain becomes hard to describe. As I said earlier, it really is not similar to anything else on the market. You navigate your characters around the scene, and find clues that lead you to the next scene. It doesn't sound interesting on paper (or on a web page?) but it does work for the game. You move your characters using the R2 button and navigate them with the left analog stick. It's a bit awkward at first, but you get used to it very fast. Other actions are handled with a combination of movements on the right analog stick as well as the 4 shoulder buttons and 4 face buttons. At many times you must combine these movements and buttons making for some awkward finger placements, but it compliments with how tense the scene is.

Heavy Rain is really a game full of nothing but Quicktime Events or QTE's that Shenmue made famous, and seemingly every game since then has incorporated. Heavy Rain's QTE's are so well done though, it never feels gimmicky. I guess it would be in a lot of trouble if it did, as that is really the only thing you're doing the whole game. It may not be every body's cup of tea, and some people might get outright bored with it. Every scene in the game to me was fun. From playing with your children as Ethan in the beginning of the game, to having gunfights or escaping a burning car, pressing a series of buttons never felt as important to me in a game before Heavy Rain. At numerous times your characters lives literally hang in the balance depending on what buttons you push, which brings me to my next topic.

I think this is the first game I've seen where a main character can die, and the story can flow completely like nothing ever happened. Sure you might miss out on some scenes and information as that character who died, but you still get the feeling of a complete story even if you don't experience it. You can always go back and play through again trying out different options and ways through a scene to get a different ending. I believe Heavy Rain has 6 endings in all, some of them very different from others. Actually, I believe all of the main characters can die, and you'll still get a conclusion to the story. This is the kind of game that benefits without reloading though. Just play it out as if you couldn't stop it. Much like you can't change a movie's script. Just let it play out, and once you finish it go back again and try it a different way.

All in all, I would call Heavy Rain a big success in what it tried to accomplish. While the game is a bit on the short side (8-10 hours) it was well worth the money spent, and you'll certainly not have played anything like it yet. I'm sure if this game does well enough we'll see a string of clones as the market tends to follow with whatever sells, but Quantic Dream certainly has their format down pat. I hope we get another equally riveting game from them and we won't have to wait another 4 years to play it. They could easily take the engine they built, modify it and make a completely different game. We'll see I suppose.

Out of 10, I would give Heavy Rain a 9.5

This Week in Games...

...We have only have one big release. That release is Heavy Rain for Playstation 3. Due out tomorrow, 2/23, I hope it proves all it was hyped to be. I have a feeling it will deliver. You can find extensive Heavy Rain demo impressions here.

Secondly due out tomorrow, we have the 3rd DLC pack for Borderlands. Entitled The Secret Army of General Knoxx, this expansion will add almost double the playtime of the first DLC pack, Dr. Ned's Zombie Island. The story takes place after the close of the single player game and continues the adventure. This expansion also raises the level cap to 60 and adds even more weapons and enemies, and various other changes.

I should be picking up both of these releases tomorrow, even though I'm still occupied with Ace Attorney Investigations at the moment. I will make sure to find room for all 3.

Updated impressions on all of them later in the week, I hope.

Heavy Rain Demo, How You Can Get It, And Some Impressions

The hotly anticpated Playstation 3 Game, Heavy Rain produced by Quantic Dream, is not available until February 23rd, but you have your chance to play it now. Earlier yesterday, Sony published a new viral website over at Precinct 52. You need to register first over here, but once you are done, you can head on over to Precinct 52 and click a certain 4 objects to get your promotional code you can use to download the Heavy Rain demo on the PSN Store.

Once you're in the Precinct 52 main site, click the following four objects:

- Coffee Shop C (towards the bottom, also says "Diner")
- Cigarette Butt B (click the cigarette, then click the short one)
- Oragami Bird
- Tyre Tracks (click the "tyre" tracks, then click 117h tracks)

Once you select the four of those items, you are prompted automatically to present them. Do as such, and you should be presented with a redeemable code for use on the PSN Store for the download of the demo. Enjoy!

All that being said, I had the opportunity to download and play the demo a little earlier. There was a lot of website traffic, and the site was extremely slow, but things are back to normal now it seems. I've been waiting for a trail of this game for quite some time, and it does not disappoint.

The demo gives you the opportunity to play as two separate characters. You first get control of Scott Shelby. The first thing you will notice while playing this game aside from the absolutely gorgeous graphics, is the unconvential controls. You do not use the d-pad or analog sticks to move. Instead you use R2 to move forward, and the analog stick to change direction. The face buttons, right analog stick, as well as the shoulder buttons are used to control characters actions. It is quite strange to get used to the different control scheme, but once you get it down, it is pretty easy.

Scott Shelby is an older, retired heavyset private investigator who is searching for any clues regarding the Oragami Killer. He seemingly suffers from chronic asthma, which factors into the gameplay. You need to occasionally to use your inhaler to keep him under control. After walking through a rainy alleyway, you go into a cheap motel and proceed to question a prostitute. She's not too helpful, but you can approach situations in different ways, and the characters will react differently. After leaving, another of her callers goes to her door, and it is up to you to save her. You engage in a particularly intense battle. Shelby is obviously no brawler, and it shows. The fight is very hectic with the control scheme setup as it is. It is very fun and creative and that is all that matters.

The second character you control is Norman Jayden. He is a FBI agent and seemingly a drug addict. He arrives to a recent murder site and is very shaken up. Jayden has this really nifty pair of glasses and a crazy futuristic glove that both allow him to identify potential evidence on the scene of a crime. Even though the game is set a year from now, the technology is really cool. This part of the demo requires you find evidence and check out the surrounding area. There is not much to it, but it really shows you how different the 2 characters are.

Overall I was very pleased with this small taste of the game. The graphics are extremely good, and it definitely shows they've taken care over the past 3.5 years developing this. Some of the characters seem to suffer a little bit from "dead eye syndrome" which is common in a lot of CG/movies today. It's not too bad, and hopefully will clear up with the remaning time. It is only a demo after all. The voice work is also very well done, and I was left very impressed. Personally I cannot wait until the full game comes out later this month. Expect a full review when it does hit.

In case you haven't seen the game in action, below is a trailer for the game.