Review: Heavy Rain – mynameisblair

Developer: Quantic Dream
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment

From the very first scene of Heavy Rain, we are thrown into an immersive journey that most gamers have never experienced before. The start may seem very boring from an objective view, but this manages to engage us directly with the different characters. Before too long we are investigating the mysterious Origami Killer from four different perspectives.

The characters themselves are not just flat avatars that we walk around with while experiencing the game and are arguably the main part of the experience themselves. Ethan Mars is a loving father that once had it all and is slowly losing everything (including himself, as we are led to believe). Scott Shelby, a Private Investigator that has taken the Origami Killer case into his own hands, pushing the law to its limits to save more people. Madison Paige is a Journalist that wants the next ‘big’ story, getting involved in the story of the Killer more than she probably should have. Finally, the FBI Investigator named Norman Jayden will do anything to find the true identity of the Origami Killer. The characters clash through each other’s paths and the focus skips from one to another through this, though not too frequently to confuse the player.

The gameplay is solid, varies from character to character, but the main concept is the same: Listening to your thoughts with L2 and then pressing buttons to interact with things in the environment. Norman uses his ARI unit (a pair of shades) to scan the area for clues and then later studying these clues to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Scott Shelby gathers information from the families of the victims and people who potentially were in contact with the Origami Killer, getting into a few brawls that require quick time events and dangerous situations along the way.

QTE’s are the main focus of the scenes that could actually end up with you dying, whether it is simply getting into a fight with someone, or having a gun pointed towards you as all the characters experience at one point in the game. The controls feel fine, with having to press R2 to walk being an odd choice, but this settles in after the first part of the game and becomes natural. Interacting with everything is mostly streamlined, with only a few flaws preventing you from getting the interactive experience you deserve. The game freezing at some points can really break the immersion, for example, but these are just small flaws in what was a generally good experience for me.

The sound is good, but some of the lip-synching and voice acting altogether can be a pain. This is saved by the amazing soundtrack, with epic pieces being used at the perfect times to convey the emotion and immerse you even further into the world of Heavy Rain. Graphically, it is one of the best looking games I have seen, with the fact that each scene only has small areas that you are able to navigate contributing to this. The rain effects and the textures on people’s faces are amazing, with the intro sequence showing off how pretty this really is from the very start.

The story is very much linear, with you going from one scene to another to collect clues, but the fact that each scene can be done in many different ways is the real achievement of this game. You get to choose who lives or dies, you get to make the story, you get to decide if the Origami Killer can be caught by the characters easily, or if you do not have enough evidence to find out his true identity. This is where the replay value is, as after you have completed a scene you may well think “How would that be different if I had…” and feel the need to go back and play through the game many more times, with it having more than 22 endings. A big negative factor is that if you are paying close attention, you may notice quite a few plot holes in the game. These break the immersion and make you feel as though you have been robbed of some of the story.

Aside from the few technical glitches and plot holes, this is a fantastic, immersive, emotional experience that will have any gamer shouting at their TV screen before realising they are actually playing a game. The possibilities for the scenes are immense and this new take on interactive fiction is one that is unmatched. If you have a PS3 you should get this game, if not, it is probably not worth buying one simply for this.