It’s dark outside...

Clouds hide the sun, draining warmth from your meagre existence...

The sound is like the constant crackle of an untuned radio...

The rain doesn’t seem to want to stop...

So...

Are you ready?

Can you find it within yourself to follow the path to knowledge?

Would you sacrifice the next 15 minutes of your life for a game review?

That leaves one real question:


Will you venture out into the Heavy Rain?

Or

Will you take the easy way out?

Choices need to be made.......

Heavy Rain is a title that has had me very interested from the moment I saw a clip on a demo disc from a PlayStation magazine late last year. The story looked deep, the graphics looked fantastic, the soundtrack was eerily enticing and the fact that the choices you made had a direct impact on what happens in the story had me at the first raindrop. This was enough to have me throwing my hand up to do the review.... and now here I am... and here we go.


First things first, I have never known a console that needs so much maintenance (in the form of updates) like the PS3 does. It seems that every time I put a new disc into the PS3 it requires an update. This was post ApocolyPS3, and I do own the original 60gb model, but I hadn’t turned on my machine for about a month so I don’t think there was any real threat anyway. But, come on Sony! Why the hell do I to have to wait around for about 40 minutes to play a game? That, my friends, is the epitome of ridiculous. So factor that into where I finally get to play, as my enthusiasm to play anything at all on the PS3 was about as good as the success rate of scoring a shag in a convent.

Come now, tell me a little bit about yourself:


Are you one to seek to take advantage first?

Or

Do you sit back, listen and take everything in?

I was one of the many who followed the Heavy Rain 4 day event that had people traipsing all over the internet, from twitter, to Facebook, to randomly created websites to gather enough clues to get your hands on the Heavy Rain demo. It started quite easily and the first test wasn’t hard to crack, but it all became a little random after that. I’ll be honest with you and tell you that I found the details for the download while reading Kotaku.

The demo gives you the second and third chapters and introduces you to three of the main characters. It shows you how the controls work and how important Quick Time Events are to the game. If you are still yet to play this and don’t have access to renting Heavy Rain, I recommend the demo. You don’t have to go scouring for clues anymore either, it’s readily available on the PlayStation Network now.

Do you think it’s time to start delving into this mystery a little deeper?

Or

Do you want to get inside the minds of your suspects?

The story for Heavy Rain is great, although parts of it do remind me of the WWE/John Cena film 12 Rounds. Makes me wonder if New Line Cinemas (who have jumped on the rights to the HR movie) are going to change the story at all? I mean c’mon.. those of us who have played it already know whodunit. Will it bring a new batch of players to the PS3? Did the same thing happen for Silent Hill and Resident Evil… Personally, I don’t think so. Back to the game, it’s hard to fathom the opening chapter of Heavy Rain, when a gloomy image has been shoved down our throats since the marketing campaign began.

The bright and sunny ‘Happy Families’ setting quickly fades as tragedy strikes. When the sadness kicks in, the visuals really complement it. The town itself is glum, with the architecture and colouring really bringing forward that fact that there is no sun on the forecast.

The characters, too, are dressed according to the mood. The rain detail (obviously essential to the plot) has been carefully monitored as not to miss a beat. Water trickles down faces and windows with realism. It pools and reflects, just like it should. Raindrops bounce and plash off surfaces almost like they do in real life. A picture perfect playground has been created for you.

You now have a choice:

You can get your hands dirty

Or

Wash your hands of this whole affair

The main cast look fantastic, although, as always, their lip syncing leaves a little to be desired. I feel that near perfect lip sync won’t be achieved in my lifetime. Actions by the characters seem quite fluent and I never noticed any environment/character clipping. Movements are surprisingly graceful: the gents walk strongly, with purpose and the ladies have an undeniable swagger about them. There has been an exceptional amount of detail placed in the facial features if the main characters and this is what makes Heavy Rain feel more like an Interactive Movie, than a videogame. There was a load of effort put into the heads and faces and not so much in the bodies, although shower scenes could possible be excluded from this last statement. With such focus on faces, I often found the skin tone in the bodies to differ greatly, making it look like characters spent ages in a solarium … with a balaclava on.

I am still unsure whether the option of a ‘Thoughts’ button was a good tool. Many times during the game I found myself so involved in what was going on around me, that I possibly missed several opportunities to activate said button and possibly reveal useful information to myself.

Now it’s time to prove yourself

Look deep into the story

Or

Walk away like nothing happened

Finally.... you’ve made it.


This is where you find out the truth about Heavy Rain.... well my version anyway.

One of the biggest sell points for Heavy Rain was the amount of interaction players would have with the lead characters, not only in controlling their movements, but also making decisions that would affect the outcome of story. It was amazing the amount of times that controlling the character had me frustrated. Personally I don’t like having to hold a button and move the stick to make a person move in a game. Move stick equals move character... it’s worked in so many other games, why couldn’t it work now? Another control issue I had was the severe overuse of interaction. I really couldn’t count how many times during this game I found myself involved on activities that I found pointless. Taking a piss, washing my hands, taking a shower, shaving, brushing my teeth. Did this really do anything other than show the kids some ‘pixel-tits’? Did my teeth fall out due to not brushing? Did people throw up due to my B.O. ? Sadly no. I sat there ‘waggling’ my Sixaxis controller wondering why it wasn’t white and shaped like a rectangle, with a B trigger button underneath.

Decision making isn’t really that much of an integral part of the game, in fact, most are rather forced. Sitting in a car you can choose not to get out, but what does that prove? Not going to the toilet doesn’t result in a Sims-like embarrassing puddle at your character feet. Not lying down on the grass and looking at the sky doesn’t change the space/time continuum either. Other skipped decisions, like failing to get your son to do his homework, don’t really hurt the storyline much, just change the script and deny you a trophy. I’m still not really ready to say that I ‘chose my own adventure’ when half of my choices were made for me and part of those again, were of little or no cosequence.

Glitches: there were too many in this game and it was like stopping a marathon runner with a steel pipe. In one scene I was in a burning building, trying to escape. It was pretty tense and I felt right in the middle of it all. I was frustrated with my impending doom and fumbled with the controller trying to change my fate. I had made my way to the kitchen door, went through the motions to open it and the screen changes…. Well it flickered like it changed, but I found myself stuck in front the very same door with no option to open it again. I could hit the ‘thoughts’ button and it would give me options on things on the other side of the door. My anger was only slightly lessened by the fact I could let the character burn to death in an explosion.

There’s no where left to go.

There’s no one left to interrogate.

It’s time to close this case.

SUMMARY


It’s near shattering when you see a game with so much potential be so littered with fail. Should you really fall short in you quest for the truth just because you missed one solitary button press? This was harsh. Way too harsh. There is a bit of replay value, but it doesn’t seem like a reward when you do, more like a task. The storyline was scattered with inconsistencies and quite a few lines in the script didn’t make sense.

I know that this game was a long time in production and maybe a little more time may have been a benefit. Or maybe it would be a case of a little too much fixing up.

Heavy Rain, although visually beautiful, left me feeling unfulfilled. This game is a must play, but only so you can make your own decision. It certainly is different, but I couldn’t tell you that it is definitely a must buy, as once you have played thru it (and gained all of the trophies if you are that way inclined) there isn’t really anything left for you.