Sony sure has been on a bit of a tear lately with hit after hit draining our bank accounts and limiting our time spent doing other things. Does their streak continue with Heavy Rain? Read on to see what I thought and rest assured, I’ve chosen my words carefully to avoid any plotline reveals.
The concept of Heavy Rain has been around for a long time coming. Back in 2006, Quantic Dream displayed a technology demo on non final PS3 development hardware displaying a virtual actor who displayed a variety of emotions and some incredible motion capture tech. The character portrayed in this demo would eventually go one to play the character ‘Laruen Winter’ in Heavy Rain.
This technology would eventually power Heavy Rain using incredibly advanced full body and facial motion capture complete with real-time tears, wrinkles and a variety of other technological features that in plain English make the game damn pretty to look at.
Heavy Rain is an “interactive fiction videogame” that centers around 4 main characters (Madison Paige, Norman Jayden, Scott Shelby and Ethan Mars) who are somehow connected to the mysterious serial killer known only as “The Origami Killer”. You will play through each characters interwoven story as the mystery unfolds through a variety of actions, conversations and some good old fashioned detective work.
The game utilizes quick-time events for every action in the game from something as simple as opening a car door to fast action fight scenes. All of your decisions affect the narrative of the game including the game’s ending (Some reports say 9+ endings but I’ve been unable to ascertain the exact number). The use of quick-time events has garnered some negative attention but for the most part I would say that it works. Sure the game itself doesn’t feel as open as it could, but realistically I look at this game as a sort of “Choose your own Adventure” piece that bridges a gap between movies and videogames.
I loved that Heavy Rain presented itself they way they wanted without any compromise. It’s a good M rated title that featured everything you would see in any murder mystery movie on TV or in theaters. I also firmly believe that this title opens up the gates for other companies to produce more M rated games that feature more realism.
Pros:
Cons:
Feed Your Console gives Heavy Rain a 9 out of 10
Developer: Quantic Dream
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
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