Heavy Rain – PS3 Review

Reviewed by AceGamez on February 15, 2010

Heavy Rain - PS3 Review  | read this item

When a game comes along and does something outside of regular conventions, it will often spark a pandemic of navel-gazing across the world. You maybe know a few of these people, the kind of gamers who wax philosophical over time-bending puzzler Braid as if it was a life-altering experience, or claim that Final Fantasy VII is art because it made them cry. As much as these people would like to believe it, Quantic Dreams’ long-anticipated Heavy Rain will not change the world, nor will it change the definition of what constitutes a game. What it does do however, is deliver an interactive experience that will have you gripped from start to finish despite offering one of the most scant gameplay mechanics ever seen. You will either overlook this fact and enjoy the ride or conclude that the game is little more than an interactive movie. But whatever your poison, Heavy Rain is a tricky one to pigeon hole and is sure to garner split opinions across the board.

While it depends on contextual motions and prompts, this is far removed from ‘one-track’ interactive movie games like Dragon’s Lair or Space Ace. There are multiple ways to approach most situations and your actions throughout will bear a consequence on the final outcome. The interesting hook is that the plot will shift if one of the four playable characters dies, placing further emphasis on your motivation and decision making skills. Although some choices are aesthetic, such as opening a cupboard to look at clothes or turning on a light switch, others will shape the story and have knock-on effects that may only become clear later on down the line. The plot is mature and incredibly well written, interlacing the journey of all four characters in a way that never gets overly complex or pretentious.

The plot opens on Ethan Mars, a happily married, wealthy architect with the world at his feet, a typical, pristine picture of upper-class Americana. Following a series of misfortune and tragedy, Ethan is left poor, depressed and irreparably distanced from his son Shaun. When Shaun becomes the latest target of ruthless murderer the Origami Killer, Ethan rushes head first into a race against time to rescue him.  With a myriad of demons on his back, he is perhaps the most sympathetic character of the bunch, completely broken and without the will to live. These opening chapters are easily some of the most emotionally diverse in a game as he descends from a life at the lap of luxury to rock bottom, made all the more compelling as you are the one pulling the strings. The much-touted control scheme is laid out during a tutorial that sees Ethan helping out around the house in preparation of his son’s birthday party.

As the analogue sticks are mapped to contextual motions, you must make characters walk by holding R2. It’s a similar system to Suda51’s Killer7 and for the best part it works well, but an abundance of static cameras hold it back somewhat. By pressing L1, you can cycle through alternative camera angles to get a better sense of your surroundings but regardless, walking into walls and scenery is a regular occurrence. Contextual motions appear when you move near an interactive object, designated by a square depicting the required button press, Sixaxis motion or stick direction. Sixaxis control rarely stands up in PS3 games, but the developer has been wise to restrict these movements to up-and-down or side-to-side gestures that work perfectly every time. For example, opening Ethan’s fridge will allow you to pick up a carton of orange juice by moving the right analogue stick upward, then shaking the juice via Sixaxis before drinking it.

Other actions will require you to hammer buttons until a process is complete or hold them until the command pane fills up. Perhaps most interesting are the tilt commands that require you to either move a stick fast or slow. The now-infamous convenience store hold up demo is a superb showcase of these commands put into practice. The scene focuses on Detective Shelby, a private eye working the Origami Killer case using a gumshoe methodology, patrolling the streets looking for leads, questioning locals and roughing up anyone who gets in his way. He is also arguably the most likable character out of the bunch. While Shelby is at the back of the store, the cashier is held up at gunpoint by an armed robber. Hidden in the back aisle, you must cautiously make your way to the front of the shop and confront the assailant using a variety of strategies. For example you can grab a frying pan off the shelf and attempt to clobber the criminal or simply stride up to him and attempt to resolve the situation peacefully.

This is where tilt control really comes into play. When reaching out for a blunt instrument to strike the robber, you are required to softly move the stick to the left. Do it too fast and Shelby fumbles with the frying pan, dropping it with a loud clatter and alerting the criminal. Alternatively, you may grab the object correctly, walk up to the robber and perform the attack command too softly, giving him a slight bop in the head instead of knocking him out. Speech between characters is initiated by pressing L2, which brings up a range of dialogue options that can be selected using the face buttons, or in this instance, Shelby becomes locked into an automatic dialogue with the criminal until the situation is resolved. It’s a gripping scene that sees a plethora of control methods come together wonderfully.

FBI agent Norman Jayden is perhaps the most diverse character out of the bunch, thanks to his nifty Augmented Reality Interface glasses, or ‘ARI’ to you and me. By pressing R1, Jayden can use the device to scan the surrounding area for evidence and this throws a neat puzzle element into the mix. These almost sci-fi moments break the sense of reality the game is aiming to establish, but admittedly, they are certainly a lot more fun that turning on a TV or changing a baby’s nappy – it happens trust me. The monkey on his back is a drug addiction that will complicate matters at unexpected and often shocking moments throughout the story. The fourth and final character is Madison Paige an insomniac journalist looking to expose the Origami Killer for reasons unknown. Her opening scene is striking and almost leans towards horror movie territory, but as she is the last character players get to grips with, meaning her place in the grand scheme unfolds a lot later than the others.

Dialogue is well written but the acting could have used a bit more punch. Again, Shelby is the stand out character here with a tone somewhere between world-weary and hopelessly optimistic, he is a deep character that unfolds slowly throughout the story. One of the darker, more emotive chapters sees him rescuing a downtrodden mother from a suicide attempt and looking after her baby. In a sense, this sums up what playing Heavy Rain is like; executing pre-determined motions as a device to get to the next shocking plot point. It’s often engaging at an emotional level sure, but the simplicity of the control system often will undoubtedly serve as a counter-balance for some gamers, with some of the more calm moments leaving you too comfortable in your seat.

If you stack this against another game that fell under scrutiny for its emotional impact, let’s say Shadow of the Colossus, there really is no comparison between the button mashing, dizzying spectacle of a Colossi battle and the often-overly long QTE fist fights in Heavy Rain. Suddenly, all the flashy graphics and state of the art facial animation in the world suddenly seem nothing more than window dressing to paper over what falls dangerously close to being a wafer thin package. But to judge this game on gameplay alone, arguably the most important component of any game, is to overlook how effectively it delivers its powerful story via bold new methods. The impeccable delivery sucker punches you repeatedly with unexpected plot twists and graphic scenes.

Enter Heavy Rain with an open mind and no expectations and it will grab your attention from start to finish. Although its sentiment will fail to hit home with everyone, this is a game that should be experienced by anyone with a love for gaming. It will be interesting to see how other developers respond to and borrow ideas from its template, or indeed if it spawns a whole new genre.

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Tags: adventure, control, david crane, ethan, Heavy Rain, jayden, madison page, Mars, origami killer, PS3, PS3 Review, qte, Quantic Dream, shelby, shop, sony