Review for Heavy Rain

Reviewing Heavy Rain is not an easy task in many ways, especially when your breaking your reviewing virginity like I am now but I will give it a go nonetheless. The problem is that Heavy Rain sits on a grey line somewhere between Movie and Videogame so its very difficult to know which to term it as in order to review. Essentially though I feel like its a product that requires a PS3 and a joypad so therefore its a game and I will review it as such.

The game follows four main characters (Ethan, Scott, Madison and Jayden) as they each, for their own individual reasons, investigate the murders of a serial killer known only as "The Origami Killer." The games main hook is that the decisions made by the gamer as they progress will effect other characters, events and the eventual outcome of the game/story. This is where the replayability of the game comes to the fore. Didn't like the outcome of the story? Well play again and change it then. Maybe this time you'll get the girl or catch the killer. Maybe you won't. It's up to you and rumour has it that there are around 20 different endings to discover and an untold amount of routes to get them. Essentially, that's a lot of stuff to keep you occupied.

Graphically the game is superb and has quite rightfully received high praise from the industry for its astounding character models, particularly their faces which are all spot on. Sound wise the game was brilliant also as the tituler Heavy Rain that continues throughout came to life through my Dolby 5.1 making me believe there was a real life downpore going on in my front room.

So where did the game go wrong in my view? Essentially, the controls. Heavy Rain uses two main control elements. QTE's (Quick Time Events where you have to press the signalled button within a given time) and third person exploration. The exploration side is let down somewhat though by having to press the L2 button and then the left analogue stick in order to walk around the environments. Just moving the left analogue stick means that the character will simply look in that direction. This felt completely alien to me and took some getting used to.

The QTE's are where my main gripe lies though. You effectively are just interacting with the many cutscenes and effecting how the story will play out. The screen will display a button press on screen and if you press it then a certain action will happen. For example, if the character is involved with a fight and you press the button within the time then your character will punch the person he is fighting and will win the fight. Miss the QTE button press and you will end up having your bum handed to you on a plate and the story will go off in a different direction. It's more complicated than that in practice (although easy to understand) but that essentially how it works in a nutshell. Whilst this helps with the story progression it detracts from the gaming experience for me. I love games with a story but the reliance on QTE's felt like I was interacting with a movie and not playing a game if that makes any sense.

The other problem comes from Heavy Rain's dependence on replayability. When I play a game I play it, complete it and then look at it on my shelf. Games like FIFA and Call of Duty last longer for me as they have online modes which never really end. Heavy Rain relies on a persons will to sit through it again and take the story in different directions. Frankly, I'm not interested in that. I have played it and have no desire to sit through the same cut scenes in the hope of seeing different cut scenes if I do something different this time. Sorry, I'm shallow.

Overall, I am glad I bought the game and enjoyed the experience it provided. The story is compelling and the characters well rounded and likeable so you actually care about the outcome. However, after fighting with fiddly controls and sitting through loads of cut scenes I don't care enough to play it again for a slightly different outcome and a different end sequence. Youtube can show me those!