Starting out with a bang, we first got a glance of Heavy Rain in The Casting, shown at E3 2006. It was a beautiful piece of work demonstrating live rendering, and the visual capacities of the PS3 system. At the time that was all it was, but after a long wait we finally get to experience Heavy Rain hands on. And, in this case beauty was more than well rendered skin deep.
Heavy Rain is hard to classify, think thriller, action, mystery. The developers, Quantic Dreams, have been well known for their motion capture, and facial details for some time now. This shows right away, as all the loading skins are of close up images of the characters’ faces. For those of you who love that kind of detail, no character is flawless. Tiny scars, realistic pigments, and even odd facial ticks help make the characters more human. The setting graphics are just as well done, allowing you to settle into the developer’s world with ease. Then again, we’d expect developers like Quantic Dream to nail the graphic delivery, especially after waiting for a game since 2006.
The game evolves around four main characters who are all trying to save a life. The story is bizarre and entertaining. It has a great way of propelling you into the next chapter. You don’t want to try to sit down and play just a little before bed. The game plays a bit like an interactive movie. You participate as you watch the story unfold. As the details come together, you may find that quick game turned into an insatiable need to play the next chapter.The creators did a good job creating tension and excitement in artful ways. Music, lighting, even back ground noises go into making the experiences in the game enveloping to the player. The story itself is very interesting, though it is not very long (between 8-12 hours depending on some choices, and how much exploring you do.)
The game play is unique. You’ll find yourself in control of your playable character like never before. In the beginning, for example, you can walk around your home and make “la-de-da” choices about whether to grab some orange juice, or make a cup of coffee. Basically, as you approach areas that have an action available a sign will appear showing you what motion on the controller you need to do to access the action. It’s very fun to explore the setting for whatever actions are available. You can also listen to your characters thoughts. All in all it’s a unique experience that I wouldn’t want to miss out on.
Playing through the game the first time is a very new and exciting experience, with some real edge of your seat action. You’ll only notice a few annoying things the first time through. One of my main frustrations was not being able to run when I wanted to. Gamers don’t like to walk, it takes a long time to get where you’re going. In Heavy Rain you only move faster when the game deems is appropriate. Gamers don’t like it when games tell them what to do, this becomes EXTREMELY relevant with the replay value of this game. When you began to test out all of your choices, you’ll find this game gives a great illusion of choice. There are many parts of the game where you have only one choice, and also can not fail the task. This makes it more like watching a movie than playing a game. I even found that up to a certain point it is completely impossible to fail. The reasons are obvious, it would derail the storyline. Still, you can’t help but feel a little cheated. With a game that focuses on interaction with your character, you want to feel like these interactions matter. On replay, you’ll find out how little they actually do. Even more frustrating you’ll realize that succeeding or failing tend to boil down to a very small interaction. Do everything else, and miss hitting X that one time, and you might be done. Then, you’d have to restart the chapter – which leads to my last real complaint. On the second time through, you can not skip all the talking and waiting. You’ll have to play it out the exact way you did with first time. That can get dull right away.
Overall, Heavy Rain is too unique to miss. Because it is a new gaming experience, it will entertain you like nothing else. The graphics and story building will really suck you in, and you won’t want to put it down the first time through. However, the replay value isn’t as good as others have suggested. For me the experience loses value on replay, and the limitations stick out like ketchup on a work shirt. I think it’s worth the cost, but it’s also a great candidate for rental. However you get your hands on it, I wouldn’t miss playing through it at least once.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I know a lot of folks have said that Heavy Rain isn’t really a game, but it looks pretty sweet to me. I used to love playing graphic adventures on my PC and this seems like it could usher in the next wave of that style of game. If only I had a PS3…
Despite most people hating it and finding constant flaws, I think it’s quite enjoyable and am looking forward to replaying certain chapters to see what happens when I don’t do what I’m supposed to.