User Review: Heavy Rain

Feb 25, 2010

from Gemini_Red

A few days off with only a few things to do couldn’t have come at a better time as I got to plow through Heavy Rain. I didn’t play through it so quick just to do it, once the story started rolling I wanted to see it to it’s end. As mentioned in the title I will be keeping this relatively spoiler free. The few things I may mention occur early in the game and is fairly harmless for you to read. I actually did not read what others had to say until I finished it.

Word of advice? Do exactly the same. On a lot of other sites people are being rather inconsiderate or in some cases flat out ignorant and rude by posting critical plot points. You’ve been warned.

So lets talk about the game piece by piece.

Graphics: (+) The character models have been discussed ever since the game was first released, and rightfully so. A vast amount of detail has gone into making the characters look organic. Appearances boast wonderful detail showing age, fatigue, scars, facial hair and even skin imperfections such as moles. When characters speak not only do you hear their emotions coming through, but their faces and gestures emote their feelings very well. The environments also hold up very well: a lot of buildings have nice detail, the rain effects are impressive, and the city just feels alive. From a style standpoint it almost feels like you are in the movie Seven. Everything feels rather dark and grungy, and it just feels like a somber world. The detail really helps to immerse you in the game.

(-)On the bad side, while the game can be very immersive there is an occasional framerate hiccup that can jerk you out of the experience, and there have been cases of backgrounds that don’t load up right, breaking the flow. This did not happen to me so I can’t really comment on it, and while the framerate issue did appear the number of times it did I can count on one hand and really didn’t affect my experience.

Sound/Music:(+) You are essentialy playing a crime drama, and most entertainment mediums have a style of music that fits with the theme. The music for this game is a perfect fit: it’s subtle and foreboding, with an increase in intensity at the appropriate times. Sound effects are also spot on: footsteps on different surfaces sound appropriate, fight scenes with fist flying sound exactly as they should, and the ambient noise while it is mostly rain is spot on. The voice acting for the most part is right on the money with every character acting as they should given the situations, and some of the situations are very tense and emotional. To pull it off is a very commendable achievement.

(-) If you noticed with the voice acting I did say “for the most part”. Some of the dialogue did feel forced and some emotions were not done very well. This in particular is true at the beginning of the game. It’s almost as if the first few chapters the actors and actresses involved were getting a feel for what they were supposed to do and got better at it as they progressed, but everyone forgot to go back and edit the beginning. It’s gets so much better(dare I say great) as you progress, but the first hour or so of the game would probably have you worried for a bit. Also while the music is spot on, the timing sometimes is not. There were a few occasions(again near the beginning) where the music was cut off or started noticably late, or just restarted too soon. None of the matters are dealbreakers and as I said most of the issues only occur early on.

Gameplay: (+) Another issue brought up especially after the demo were the controls. The controls while a bit odd become pretty comfortable by the time you’ve finished the first few chapters. Most items you need or can interact with involve a particular motion of the right analog stick. Again this becomes second nature pretty early in. As for action scenes, your characters actions(or inactions in some cases) revolve around quick time events(which I will be referring to from now on as QTE’s because I am feeling lazy). QTE’s are nothing new, as there are many actioned themed games that use this feature. The catch there is in most action games most times they feel unnecessary or in some cases tacked on. This is not the case here. In fact given the style of the game and how it’s controlled it feels like a natural fit for this genre. Even better is despite the simplicity of it, it does make those scenes more tense as a lot of these scenes feel like(and a lot of cases are) a fight for survival, so a mistake can make you nervous or even put you in a slight state of panic. In short it helps to, again, immerse you in the experience.

(-) While the controls you do get used to, there is a time or two that you feel like the biggest enemy against you are the controls themselves. This really does only happen on one or two occasions, but they are enough to frustrate you. Also there are a very times where manipulating an object requires(depending on your difficulty settings) you to tilt the controller. While objectives that use this motion can be completed, it often feels a bit off. There may be a few occasions where you may have to repeat the action because the game feels you didn’t do it right.

Story: (+) Given that this game is basically an interactive movie, it is impairative that it has a solid, compelling story. The good news? It does. While I did enjoy Indigo Prophecy, the story fell apart about 75-80 percent in. This is not the case here. The story starts out slow and ramps up nicely, making you want to see the next scene. The story….as you can read on the back of the game box so I’d hardly call it a spoiler involves trying to uncover who the origami killer is. This will take place through the event of four different people you will play, each with their own motivation. As you play these chapters out it is easy to develop a connection to one or even all of the characters involved. The game’s story can proceed in many different ways, depending on the choices you make. Some of the choices are very subtle, and some can take the game in completely different direction. Yes it is true that the choices you make can determine the outcome of not only your character, but other side characters as well. Even better is that not all these choices are black and white. There are times you will be faced with a tough decision and only have a few moments to make your choice, and sometimes(as it did happen to me) you don’t feel good about the choice you made given the aftermath. The game can be completed in about ten hours, however since there are over 3 dozen endings, there is plenty of replay value here.

(-)The story is solid and will keep you playing….once you get past the first hour or so. Maybe it was just me but the game got off to a very slow start. A game like this shouldn’t start sprinting right out of the gate, but the beginning of the game just didn’t feel all that interesting. Also there are certain things that were brought up that were never explained. One thing in particular seemed like a major factor, but as the game progressed it just simply disappeared. Given the nature of the event you’d think there would be some explaination, but one is never given.

Overall: A great game? Check. Worth $60? Yes…but not to everyone. This is more of an interactive movie than an actual game, and the pacing will simply not suit everyone. If you are a fast paced gamer who enjoys full control of a character and all his actions, you may have a hard time getting into this. Having said that I do really think this is one of the best narratives to ever grace gaming, and should be experienced by even those who may not frequent this genre. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going play it again.

Side note: There is one thing I would want to impress as well, and that is the rating. A lot of games that get the M rating usually get it due to extreme violence, course language, graphic gory material, or crass, perverse humor. This usually isn’t enough to stop younger kids from getting their hands on a game…as anyone with Xbox live is well aware of. While I am not keen on 10 year olds playing MW2, GTA, or Halo I have developed a grudging tolerance for it.

Why do I bring up the rating? Simple: this game is NOT FOR KIDS. This is one game where the rating should be taken very seriously and should be enforced, and for once I feel the rating is very significant. This IS a mature title. The material that is provided is done so in a very serious manner, from child murders, drug abuse, alcoholism, sexuality….the way this is handled is appropriate for the setting, but it is not for young children to see. Given the content and what you can see in this game, I am honestly surprised that an AO rating wasn’t considered. The fact that Heavy Rain was just given an M rating does give me hope in regards to the ESRB, as they may be starting to understand the significance of this medium and when done correctly genuine “mature” titles may see the light of day.

In short if you have wee ones, don’t let them play it and don’t play it in front of them.