Heavy Rain review

Finally. One of the most anticipated games of 2010 was released this past Tuesday, February 23rd. But does it live up to the hype and expectations? Heavy Rain, not only does so but mows down all of those as well. Heavy Rain is the story of a serial killer who is going around abducting young children and murdering them by allowing them to drown. The story revolves around four different characters who are all connected through the murders. And each of them plays out in a different genre of film. No not game, film. To say Heavy Rain is a "Game" in a traditional sense, would be a wrong classification. The developer, Quantic Dream, calls it an "interactive narritive", while this isnt exactly the most sexiest of terms, it is what it is. The entire game is played out through Quick Time Events(QTE) which if you dont know are usually, as seen in Resident Evil 5, are an interactive cutscene that requires you to press a button at a precise time and depending on if you hit it or not, you either succeede or fail. However unlike other games, if you miss a button press, the scene dosent rewind back and allow you to hit it again, in order to get it right, the story keeps going. It keeps going even the event of a death of one of the characters. Quantic Dream's development team has stated that plays should only play through it once, because the character death's are perminant, in the current play through, and playing it once is like life. But you wont want to do that.
With all the different outcomes it makes you want to play it more to see what happens. A friend of mine who has the game, had a different ending, and story all together because we both did different things. I lost a character, he didnt. He chose to shoot someone that I did not, etc. It makes the game interesting. And gives something to players that very few games have, an individual story. It makes it like your own personal game, yours will be different from others, giving you and other plays a unique take on the Heavy Rain game.

As I stated, each character plays out as a different style of a movie.

Ethan Mars an architect whose son has been kid-napped, and hes giving clues on where to go, and things to do in order to save him. Ethan's story plays out a little like a horror movie. Not so much in the slasher style, but more of a psychological theme. He must crawl over glass, walk through an electrical field, kill a drug dealer, etc. It plays out somewhat like the Saw movies, only less gruesome.
Scott Shelby is a Private Detective investigating the case of the Origami Killer, the name of the serial killer. His story plays out more like a old Humphrey Bogart movie. He runs leads, tracks down suspects. Hell his car and house look like they come right out of the fifties. He is joined by a young woman named Lauren Winters, whose child was also kidnapped by the killer, and killed before the events of the game. Together they form a team, bent on finding the killer.

Norman Jayden is a FBI agent who comes to the city to help the local police with the case. His parts play out like a cop movie, something like The Departed. He dosen't get along at all with the people hes working for, and has a nasty run in with a man named Mad Jack. The only thing missing from Jayden's story is Mark Walhberg.

"Maybe, maybe not. Maybe fuck yourself"

Madison Paige is a concerned third party, so to speak, who finds Ethan hurt and helps him get better, while tracking down some leads of her own. Her story plays out like a thriller. And is easily the most intense of all the game.

The gameplay, well isnt as easy as you think for a bunch of QTEs. The button presses sometimes are so far apart from each other when you have to press more than one, making harder. But this only happens in a really intense situation, so its not like walking is going to have this style of button presses; giving you a sense of rewarding. Because when your in trouble, and those buttons come up, well it looks like you wont survive. And when you do, it gives you an overwhelming feeling of winning. And when you dont, well. You feel bad. But there are also happy moments. Especially the ending, which I wont reveal. But its as close to coming to crying that I have come to, playing a VIDEO GAME. Never, ever have I ever thought about doing that while playing a game. But this one evokes that Much emotion. It wasn't enough to make me shed a tear, but still I think you get the point. There are some downfalls however. Sometimes it seems the button presses dont match up when you press them. And it does becoming incredibly difficult in intense situations. It's not something to take lightly like any other game. It's hard, and dosent get any easier as you continue. Overall, this is a reason to own a PS3 I believe. Along with some other games. Basically:

Heavy Rain + Metal Gear Solid 4 + Uncharted 2 = why the fuck don't you own a PS3?

Heavy Rain for the Playstation 3 gets a 5/5.