Heavy Rain is an extremely important game; it’s also a very divisive one that will spark arguments akin to the days of playground fights over whether Mario or Sonic was best. You see, calling Heavy Rain a game is a difficult one. Nor is it quite a film considering its interactive element, although it certainly tries the hardest I’ve ever seen a game try in its effort to be cinematic. It’s best to consider Heavy Rain as an interactive experience. One that will reside in your consciousness for a long time to come, assuming you allow it to that is.
Set in an unnamed American city, Heavy Rain focuses on the lives of four characters whose lives are intertwined through their search for a serial killer named the Origami Killer. Notably, unlike many other games, all the characters are rather flawed. There’s Ethan Mars, a man wracked by guilt and grief after the death of his son in a car accident, Madison Paige an insomniac journalist, Norman Jayden a drug addicted FBI agent and Scott Shelby an asthmatic private detective. Crucially it makes each of the characters more human and simpler to relate to. These aren’t gung ho action heroes like we’ve seen so many times before; they’re all vulnerable souls and much more indicative of ‘real’ people.
Heavy Rain reminded me a lot of one of my favourite films of recent years, Zodiac. The Zodiac Killer was a serial killer in California who killed a number of couples during the late 1960s; he would send letters to the press taunting the police for their inability to catch him. Although the actual storyline of Heavy Rain only has tenuous connections, the entire feel of the game felt very much like the tense plot of the film as I continued in my quest to figure out just who was the Origami Killer. As a fan of psychological thrillers, I was in my element here. There were also echoes of Saw to Heavy Rain but never to the gratuitous heights of Saw’s blood fest of violence. No, Heavy Rain is a much more subtle beast. Although at times, rather disturbingly violent, it never feels excessively used. The same can be said of the various scenes of nudity scattered throughout the game, they never feel gratuitous, and instead they are appropriate within the story that is being told. It’s all told in a mature, but not exploitative, manner that makes me proud to see how far games have come in their relatively short life.
Much has been said of Heavy Rain’s control system and it does take some getting used to. Unlike more conventional systems, all movements work via Quick Time Events. In the past, I’ve grumbled many a time over ‘lazy’ Quick Time Events which detract from the quality of a game. In the case of Heavy Rain though, it all works so intuitively that it didn’t take long for me to adjust. Walking around feels a little counter intuitive at first with the need to hold down R2 and then move forward with the analogue stick but the more you play, the more it makes sense. Within 15 minutes or so, by the end of the prologue/tutorial sequence, it all made sense. As the game and its control system got more complex, I became so adjusted to the method it would have been wrong to control the events any other way.
At various sequences in the game, things do become awkward. For example, I had to drive quickly in traffic at one point, this required many quick steers of the controller and at times I messed up by not steering quickly enough. However this just added great tension to the sequence which was exactly what was needed to convey the right sense of panic and emotion that the character would have been feeling. It was also great to see the Six-Axis controls come in handy at last, after being disappointed so many times before by gimmicks. Another sequence involved pressing half a dozen or so buttons, one after the other, never letting go. It would be spoiling the story to explain why it was needed, but despite the awkwardness it did feel correct to be that way. I’ve never been one to expel the virtues of a great control system but Heavy Rain’s is near perfect for the task it has been given. Even little things like answering questions while under stress conveyed the right feeling thanks to the words being blurred and shaky making it harder to see what answer relates to which button. Mistakes could be made, just as they would be in real life.
There’s also the much touted feature of death. Unlike other games, characters can die in this game without fear of the dreaded game over screen. Certain scenarios have the potential that if you make a mistake, the character can die. After this occurs the game carries on but without the storyline of the deceased character. Your punishment being that you can’t see the ‘full’ story due to the death. Although on the surface it makes the game sound much easier (it isn’t an overly challenging game), it actually makes for a more fraught experience. Once the character dies, an auto save instantly occurs and there’s no way of undoing what has happened. This makes every possible opportunity of death much scarier, and much more real. For the sake of the story, I desperately didn’t want any of my characters to die because of my clumsy fingers. It made for a great level of tension that you just can’t feel when given the safety cushion of a game over screen.
As much as I rave and rave about Heavy Rain, it’s quite clearly a divisive game. As an experience it is fantastic. But, while trying not to sound like one of those awful fence-sitting reviewers, it’s not a game for everyone. For those expecting more action and more conventional gaming a la the likes of Killzone 2 and Uncharted, this isn’t it. Heavy Rain is a slow burner, one that expects more of its audience than the average game. It demands that you pay attention to its storyline and be captivated by the emotions that are presented throughout. At times it was slightly gruelling, but only if you allow it to swamp your feelings. Those after a more passive experience that simply requires switching your brain off and shooting, won’t enjoy this. Much like developer Quantic Dream’s previous title, Fahrenheit, it’s a game that will be misunderstood and won’t be for everyone. However if, like me, you adore a game with an emotionally rich storyline, that aims to do more than just mindlessly entertain, this is everything you could desire. If a game can surpass this as my Game of the Year, I will be both surprised and delighted as it’s been years since I played a game so powerful. It’ll resound with me for years to come, much like Fahrenheit did before it.
VideogameUK verdict: 9/10
