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Heavy Rain review by Stefan Hogan

Quantic Dream returns for their 3rd outing to give us a unique gaming experience. Heavy Rain is a cinematic thriller with a “very dark film noir” feel to it which deals with a lot of mature themes. The game is revolved around a strong storyline which an outstanding narrative which will have you as a gamer questioning your moral positions.

Plot
The message of this game is “How far are you prepared to go for love”. Confused? Well let me explain why. A killer known as the “Origami Killer” is creating a frightening experience for parents as the killer kidnaps children between the ages of 9-13 and kills each of them in the same fashion: drowned in rain water. The story revolves around the character Ethan Mars, a successful architect who seems to have the perfect life: a lovely house, a beautiful wife and two sons Shaun and Jason. However soon enough, Ethan’s life turns into a downward spiral, his son Jason tragically gets hit by a car and is killed whilst wandering off in a shopping centre and walking outside. Ethan now loses a son, his wife and has moved into a grim and dull house living with a sad Shaun. Ethan’s life can’t get any worse you say? Well Ethan’s other son Shaun has now been kidnapped by the Origami Killer. The player takes the role of four characters, Ethan Mars, journalist Madison Paige, FBI profiler Norman Jayden and private detective Scott Shelby. Each character is trying to track down the location of Shaun before it’s too late and each character’s story will cross over with the other characters at points creating a strong and powerful story throughout.

Gameplay
Now this is a Marmite type style of gameplay: you either love it or hate it. I always hear people saying “Heavy Rain is just a movie” which is just something you would hear from someone whose not willing to try out a unique experience from all the FPS’s that are constantly get churned out. The game revolves around QTE (Quick Time Events) in which you are presented by actions up on screen requiring the player to either press or hold down numerous buttons , move the right stick in a certain way or shake and tilt the controller. Although, it’s not just constant QTE’s as you can freely walk around, talk to your son, watch TV etc. Failure to complete the on screen QTE’s will result in the story taking a different path, and the worst thing that could happen is that it leads to a character’s death.

For example, I’ll create a scenario completely from my head to give you an idea of how the QTE’s work. You are controlling Norman Jayden investigating a dodgy looking premises and the owner doesn’t look upon Norman sniffing around so starts to attack Norman. A series of buttons, directions and SIXAXIS motions will come up on screen. To dodge a fury of attacks you may have to press square, spin the stick and tilt the controller quickly. If you fail to dodge the punches you will obviously get a few knocks to the head and may be knocked unconscious and the story would then take a different path.

If you’re wondering, the QTE’s relate to the action your character is performing. So if the character was to duck and dive out the way you would have to push the right analogue down and swing it around. It’s not just press circle to run away, that would just be boring. Whereas if you wanted to run away in the game you would have to keep on pressing the triggers in quick succession which imitates the real feel of running. As you know your character can die, if this does happen it’s not game over. The game continues on with the story with the other surviving characters and this will affect the outcome of the storyline. The best part of this is that the game has a lot of replay value as you can play out the 50 or so chapters in a load of different ways. One time you may escape with the information you needed, another time you may get caught and end up in a fight. With 22 endings I think this game will keep you coming back for a long time as by the end of your first playthrough you will be wanting to see what would happened differently if you changed that one decision.


Your decision. Do you try to be the hero, or just wait it out and see what the robber does? Your decision can change everything.

Graphics
The graphics in this game are just simply outstanding; the attention to detail is just absolutely stunning. Each character’s face is detailed right down to the last details of wrinkles, scars and muscle flexing in the face, in other words ‘Phenomenal’. The environments are also detailed down to the last detail. See that bean bag in your son’s bedroom? Well that’s the best looking bean bag I’ve ever seen. Although, after all this praise it seemed Quantic Dream didn’t want to detail every item down to that last detail as some things such as the mobile phone which is significant to the story doesn’t stand up to the rest of other items and the food is quite poor to be honest. Since when has scrambled egg looked like a pancake? Now I admit I’m just nit picking now because as I’ve said before the facial detail of characters still steal the show (see picture below). Now you must admit that’s one the best, if not the best computer generated face you’ve ever seen in a game.


You could almost mistake it for real life...

Sound
The musical score also deserves a lot of praise and I mean a lot. Normand Corbeil has given us a truly atmospheric experience by constructing a score which aids the playable chapters a whole lot. You would have never felt so connected to the characters from the effect of the musical score. One moment you may be a having a depressing moment between Ethan and his son Shaun and the music will just come in at the right moment and make the scene even more emotional.
On the other hand, I have a gripe with the voice over’s. They seem to be at an average quality and at some points they sound damn right odd but this doesn’t happen that often so it’s not all doom and gloom. At the end of the day this doesn’t take away from the enjoyment of the game but if the voice over’s were at let’s say Mass Effect’s standard, this game may of been the best ultimate single player experience rolled into one in my opinion.

Online
N/A – There is no online in Heavy Rain, just a solid and outstanding single player experience. There are just some games that should remain single player only and this is one of them.

Final thoughts
After playing through the game three times with each playthrough lasting around 10 hours each time and still enjoying it every moment of the way, it seems to me to be far more than your average single player experience. It’s a unique and fresh breath of air. As I’ve said before the gameplay style of QTE’s are like marmite, some gamers will love it, some will stay clear. The artistic detail and sound deserve their own award; it really sets a precedent among other new games in the works.
If you’ve got a PS3 this game is a must have title and with multiple DLC coming out which will further extend the experience its well worth the investment. I really believe ‘Interactive drama’ is the new way forward of story telling in games.

Positives
Amazing graphics
Phenomenal musical score
One the best storylines ever in a game

Negatives
Voice over’s could of been better
Marmite type style of gameplay


Overall – 92%