Heavy Rain Review PS3

Some people had claimed that the days of old point and click games were dead, but in reality, the games have just evolved. Heavy Rain brings nostalgic memories of previous interactive dramas such as D, (Playstation and Sega Saturn), Enemy Zero (Sega Saturn), Myst (numerous platforms), D2 (Dreamcast), and various other games in the genre. Heavy Rain is the next step in evolution for the interactive drama genre and according to sales it is here to stay.

Heavy Rain is the story of 4 individuals whose lives are intertwined through the exploits of the Origami Killer. The Origami Killer is an individual who kidnaps little boys, then drowns them and leaves an origami figure on the corpse. The 4 main characters are Ethan Mars (a father of two sons), Norman Jayden (an FBI Agent), Scott Shelby (a Private Investigator hired by the victims’ families), and Madison Paige (a journalist). The story mainly revolves around Ethan Mars and the trials he goes through to obtain his son Shaun, that was the latest kidnapping victim of the Origami Killer. His other son, Jason, was killed by an automobile while crossing the street in front of a mall. The game tests the player emotionally in how far one will go to save Shaun’s life and does a great job of it.

Graphic and sound:

Heavy Rain is a graphically appealing game. Character models and environments are highly detailed, but the environments are so confined and limited, which allows for the superior details compared to other more open world games. The attention to detail when it comes to character animation and facial emotions is essential for the type of game that Heavy Rain is and is done to perfection. Although the game is installed to the hard drive, there are still slow loading times between each chapter and the game freezes a bit too frequently. Trophies are given after a chapter is completed, which when coupled with freezing at loading time leads to lost trophies.

Heavy Rain has a wonderful soundtrack that compliments the thrilling drama that unfolds during gameplay. One of our favorite tracks is Painful Memories, which is used during the sad and emotional moments of the game. Voiceovers are done by known actors and well done, with the exception of Ethan Mars yelling out for Jason in the mall, which sounds a bit odd and robotic at times.

Gameplay and controls:

The gameplay of Heavy Rain revolves around the main character Ethan Mars and the trials he goes through in order to save his son Shaun from the Origami Killer. Heavy Rain is one of few games that rewards players with trophies for not following through with the trials given to them or for making bad decisions. The fact that the game rewards players for whichever choice they make allows for great replay value to see the game’s over twenty endings. Some choices that Ethan has to make are moral choices and others are simply a matter of pain endurance. Also, main characters can and will die depending on the choices made by the player, which will affect not only the ending, but upcoming scenarios in the game as well.

Heavy Rain uses on-screen button presses for actions within the game and limited environment for exploring and maneuvering around. The on-screen button presses vary from individual buttons and combinations of button presses, to analog joystick manipulation and motion controller movement.

Overall thoughts:

After playing games such as Myst and D over the years and longing for those types of games, but with better gameplay, I am quite happy with the results of Heavy Rain. It was a compelling game that utilized all the tools at its disposal to create a unique experience with great replay value in a genre that was declared dead a few years ago. Hopefully, more interactive dramas with multiple endings will come from this company or perhaps gameplay elements, such as real player choice will be a part of future games.