Heavy Rain

Heavy Rain has to be my favorite game of all time, awesome story telling, the atmosphere of the game is to die for. The storyline is absolutely immersive. Towards the mid-end of the game I felt like I was constantly on the edge of my chair. 1000/10.

Pros:

• Great story & characters
• Challenging choices
• Pretty good graphics
• Great plot twists
• Great music

Cons:

• Slow start to story
• Some story plot-holes
• Few bugs and glitches

Verdict: Another Quantic Dream game that conducts a great story with sympathetic protagonist that keeps you glued to the game. Thou with a slow start may push people away, the game delivers soon after.

8.5/10

Before it's release in March 2010 there was already a massive amount of buzz to the release of Heavy Rain, impressing at video games conferences, including E3 when it's film rights in 2006. This was a game that promised a truly interactive experience.

In an unnamed Eastern American city, the Origami Killer is stalking the streets. His modus operandi

is to kidnap young boys in the autumn and place them in a well until their drown from rain water: so they usually have about 3 to 6 days to live. In 2011 he continues and the games focuses on 4 characters. Ethan Mars (Pascal Langdale) is an architect whom oldest son died and lives a depressed live. He is distant to his younger son Shaun. But when Shaun is kidnapped by the Origami Killer Ethan has to go through a series of Saw like trials set up by the Killer for clues to his son's whereabouts. Norman Jayden (Leon Ockenden) is an FBI profiler sent to help the police with their investigation. He has to find clues and suspects as he battles against his police partners and his own drug addiction. Madison Paige (Judi Beecher) is a journalist who suffers from insomnia. She befriends Ethan and conducts her own investigation to help him, using her contacts and journalistic instincts. Finally there is Scott Selby (Sam Douglas), a private detective who has been asked by the victims' families to investigate the case. He asks the parents of the victims questions and suspects the son of a powerful millionaire. He is also befriended by the mother of one of the victims, Lauren Winter (Aurélie Bancilhon), who forces herself on Scott as a partner. They all race against time to save Shaun Mars and find the killer.

The big selling point of Heavy Rain is that the player makes their own way throughout the game, with every decision he/she makes will have an influence on the outcome. If a character dies in the game their stay dead, there are no extra lives. This is a game where you have to conduct actions for the investigation, sometimes, you it won't let you move forward until you do a certain task, but also miss things that could have consequences afterwards. The other part of the gameplay are real time action scenes where you would need to do the right command in the middle of say a fight or a chase scene. If it goes wrong then you character may die. The gameplay was very similar to Shenmue, one of the best games that was made for the Dreamcast; but there is more threat in Heavy Rain and some of the interesting aspects are hearing the characters' thoughts and taking a conservation in a different direction. The game also has multiple endings, depending what happens to the characters, on whether they live, are arrested or pick up enough clues. It a good reason to play the game many times over.

The other excellent element is the story, which could have worked as a film. It is dark, violence, but mostly has a good combo of down-to-earth realism to more over-the-top elements you would expert in a computer game, e.g. the electric maze. The tone is much like a film noir, with dark complex characters with interesting backstories, particularly Ethan's. Many cut-scenes in games annoy some people, but in this game they are important and it adds to the cinematic nature of the game. There is a great voice acting in the game. Langdale is the best as the emotional depressed but driven man who feels the guilt of loosing both his sons. Hopefully his live-action acting is just as good.

But there isn't complete freedom that is promised. There are still scenes that you are forced to go through and there is not much change in the outcome of some events. If the game was able to combine Shenmue's fights, Heavy Rain's multiple ending and storyline and the Sandbox environment of the Grand Theft Auto and other Rockstar games then you would have the perfect game: besides the Football Manager and Total War series.

Let's figure this: you have been dreaming of become a a movie star for a long time, and then someone offers you to star in his adventure movie, and you accept it. This is the case of Heavy Rain.

Heavy Rain is a video game - and a movie at the same time, with brilliant combinations of drama, action, adventure, and thriller elements. It has gorgeous graphics with amazing attention to the smallest details, terrific atmosphere, great audio, and one of the most sophisticated storyline ever released as a video game, no one even comes close to it. And get this: no superhero, no alien, no monster, no future setting, no demons, no magic spells - it is about several (well, OK, four) ordinary people deal with extraordinary situations, set in our time.

Well, honestly, Heavy Rain may not be the game for everyone. If you're more into shooting and slashing spree from the start (Ninja Gaiden, everyone?), this game might bore you as hell because it does have its slow-paced moments, especially at the beginning. But now I'm talking movie here, and since I said that this game qualifies as a movie too, let me remind that even fast-paced action movies may be slow at times, so it might be a good excuse to give this game a go.

The actions are simply based on moving and quick time events. No worries of memorizing combos and complicated button assignments here...you will spend more time watching than actually pressing the buttons to play...well, that's one more reason why I call this game a movie.

If you plan to grab a copy, pick the Heavy Rain Move Edition. It is basically the same game with tons of extras: PS Move support (as the title says), nice theme for your PS3, bonus tracks, some behind the scene and promotional footage, and the biggest one - in my opinion that is -, Taxidermist side-story (originally released as DLC) to feed your adventure fetish a bit more after you finish the game - that's ALL in one box.

So adventure PS3 gamers (if you don't have a PS3 then it is not your lucky day) rejoice, for you're on one - no - two really nice treats this time: it is a great game as well as a marvelous movie. What are you waiting for? Go to the nearest store, pick a copy,provide a nice couch along with some snacks, spare some times, and get ready to star in your own movie!

It might leave you baffled, elated or just plain determined not to like it because you aren't blowing up people every five seconds. Yep Heavy Rain will (as expected) not be for everyone, which should be mentioned now as this game isn't for the young or inpatient. But it is everything that was hoped for and oh, so much more.

We play as four characters who are all centered around one particular lunatic who has a hobby of killing people in rain water - hence the title. Ethan Mars, is the character who seems to have the most obvious and complex problems and has to undergo some serious exertion throughout the game to the point where you think what else can they throw at him?! But obviously this is a spoiler-free review so I won't ruin the experience he can choose to take or not. The other playable characters include Scott Shelby a street hardened private detective who surprise, surprise is looking for the killer; Norman Jayden (FBI this one) also investigates the killer, mostly with his superspecs that could make Sherlock Holmes jealous. Madison Paige is our last individual who suffers crippling insomnia and finds solace by sleeping in motels, she finds herself drawn to investigating the killer.

The story is in a word: phenomenal, truly addictive gaming (take that Call Of Duty) as long as your willing to be submerged by it's complexity. But the best thing that really astounds is the huge amount of choice and the sometimes fatal repercussions it can have, it makes the game feel a lot less linear and really does ask 'How far are you willing to go to save someone you love'. Graphically it also exceeds - just take a peak at the loading screen if you are doubtful, I only found the odd hiccup while playing such as the audio occasionly stopping or the love scenes which could have been pulled off by Quantic Dream if the people didn't look like they were trying to suck the air around each other's mouths rather than kissing.

It sometimes feels hard to believe that you can be playing a game that is hugely refreshing and enjoyable despite some of the extreme lengths you have to take. The introduction and end are both oddly satisfying, it uses a cinematic start and knockout finish (no matter which one) with beautiful cut-scene's throughout. Heavy Rain is easily one of Playstation's best exclusive and a style that will hopefully inspire many more to follow its lead. To David Cage I say 'Bravo' on this masterpiece and greatly anticipate the DLC.