PS3- Heavy Rain

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Heavy Rain is a linear / scripted adventure game heavily influenced by films which the developer Quantic Dream called it an 'interactive drama'. The game makes use of some of the idea's from the studio's previous PS2 title fahreheit, which had its own innovative way of story telling and a similar use of multiple split-screen camera views, Heavy Rain uses an original control system which involves holding R2 and a direction on the left analogue stick to move the character through the various environments, with directions on the right analogue stick to interact with certain points in the environment. Heavy Rain relies too heavily on Quick Time Events, which some gamers feel sucks the skill element out of a game as all you have to do is press buttons , move the right analogue stick or move the sixaxis controller as instructed on the screen.
Story progression changes based on the players ability to complete these quick-time events and a multiple choice scenarios, some of which are based around moral choices, with the story centering around a multipath search for the Origami Killer who leaves origami figures in the hands of his victims. During the story progression you'll take on the role of several characters of varying ages some of whom have their own reasons for searching for the Origami Killer,
Ethan Mars is one of the main 4 characters, Ethan is searching for his son who has been taken by the killer, Scott Shelby a Private Investigator hired by the families of the victims to look for clues the police might have missed, Photographer Madison Paige joins the hunt for the killer after meeting Ethan Hunt, final of the 4 main characters is F.B.I. profiler Norman Jayden who was brought into help with the case by the local police.

The game starts by getting you used to the control system in a subtle manner, by going through Ethan's morning routine which helps you get used to the controls by going through tasks such as cleaning teeth, taking a shower, shaving, going to the toilet, and getting dressed, once you have done these you can explore the sun filled open plan house and interact with your wife and kids when they return home..
After the house control tutorial the sun disappears and for the rest of the game the player is treated only to almost constant dreary rainy days and nights.
The games environments are quite impressive, from rain drops hitting the pavements and water running down the streets all very realistic, as are some of the games characters who have realistic looking skin tones and facial details, although superb there are still some flaws, whilst playing through i noticed that some of the lip sync'ing didn't match the facial movements of the character, and also that some of the AI characters have body parts that pass through objects such as tables, chairs and in cases through characters (especially in the police station and nightclub scenes)

There are good and bad elements in this game though, the choice of control system is good, although i felt that its held back by the choice to use so many QTE's in the game instead of opting for a more open world type of game play, Some of the button press sequences are far to complex with sometimes upto 5 or more buttons needed to be pressed at the same time to start the next QTE to progress the game, also some of the button press icons can take a few attempts to get working or they have dissapeared because you have gone slightly too far, maybe this is down to the choice to use R2 to walk, which feels strange, and sometimes when the there is a camera angle change you will find yourself going in another direction or back where you have just come from, another strange side effect of this is that when walking the characters head remains facing one way while you are moving in another, so it seems as though you are not looking where you are going.

Heavy Rain is very linear, with very little interaction with the environment around you except where the story line permits, and in some places the game play is almost non existant as you get the feeling that your only reason for sitting in-front of your tv with a controller in your hand is to press the next button that you are instructed to so that the next QTE can start, in some areas you are only allowed to travel a few metres before a cut scene starts (yes another one) that has the character shaking their head and turning back to the way you have to go.
Some of the in-game choices that have different outcomes also contain inconsistancies, one that springs to mind is where the FBI agent (Norman Jayden) is trapped in a car that is heading towards a metal crusher, if you fail the button press sequences you will be greeted with a cutscene that shows the car going into the crushers and you can hear Norma Jayden screaming, in this scene the car is destroyed almost instantly, However if you manage to get out of the car by getting a gun out of the glovebox and then across the dash so you can use it to shoot the hand-cuffs off you will be greeted with a cutscene that is substantially longer and although the crusher is still rotating at the same speed as before, it takes a lot longer for the car to be destroyed as you have to get out of the car via button presses again.
Although Heavy Rain is not entirely a bad game it is still far from being one of the best around, The controls can be hard to use and the linear game-play combined with button press sequences can become boring and even tedious at points, with the graphics being the games only saving grace..
Replay value may be low, with maybe only the curious player wishing to play through again to see how their moralitiy choices change the games outcome by way of being bad instead of good or vice versa.
It is a shame that this game relies so heavily on QTE's, as it showed a lot of potential, But as with most games that rely on QTE's the skill element is sucked out of the game as anyone can press a button when instructed to do so.

Good Points

- Good-looking and detailed environments
- Intersting Plot
- New and innovative control system
Bad Points

- Linear gameplay
- Innovative control system can be annoying
- Had huge potential but sadly doesn't live upto expectations


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