Deleted Scenes Show Off Scrapped Psychic Subplot for Heavy Rain

[Logan Westbrook]

Deleted Scenes Show Off Scrapped Psychic Subplot for Heavy Rain

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Not everything that Quantic Dream thought up for Heavy Rain [http://www.amazon.com/Heavy-Rain-Playstation-3/dp/B002CZ38KA/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1289250969&sr=1-1] made it into the game, which is probably for the best.

As part of a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Heavy Rain, Quantic Dream has rounded up the the scenes and concept art that ended up on the cutting room floor, to show people the direction the story might have taken. Quantic Dream tweaked and revised the plot all the way through development, so some of the cut content is pretty much complete.

In a video released on PSN last week - which, much like this article from this point onwards, contains some pretty significant Heavy Rain spoilers - Quantic Dream explained, among other things, that Madison's insomnia stemmed from her past as a war correspondent in Iraq. It also revealed that the original script called for a psychic link between Ethan and the Origami Killer, and for Ethan to enter a terrifying sub-aquatic nightmare world whenever he blacked out. Quantic Dream cut the paranormal elements after realizing that they weren't a good fit with the rest of the game, but that decision was made fairly late on, so the levels, and the cutscenes that introduced them, were fully built and animated.

Knowing what to take out is just as important to writing a good story as knowing what to put in, and having played Heavy Rain, I have to say that I think the game is better for having lost all this content. Adding psychic powers to an otherwise realistic game would have been a mistake, and while the rest of the content was kind of interesting, it didn't really add very much to the story.

Source: Joystiq [http://www.joystiq.com/2010/11/08/heavy-rains-deleted-scenes-exposed-reveal-supernatural-conne/#continued]


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[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

Well, it is good to see that they didn't let Heavy Rain walk down the Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy path of going completely out the left field halfway into the game. As it is, Heavy Rain for me qualifies as one of the best narratives of this year across all mediums, as attested by the fact that my girlfriend demanded that I didn't play unless she was around and could watch.

 

[Disembodied_Dave]

fascinating.

They should have included more of that stuff about Madison though.

 

[maddawg IAJI]

Honestly, the nightmare idea doesn't sound that bad. Just by looking at it, it felt like it belonged in the game, then they mentioned a psychic link between Shelby and Ethan and I immediately said 'no.' If they could find another way of doing it, it would have fit pretty well, replace the children with Ethan's own children and it could work.

And I honestly wished they could make more DLC for Heavy Rain, maybe even one involving Madison's time in Iraq.

 

[kibayasu]

Madison's backstory could have been useful to have been at least mentioned. As it was, all we got was "She's an insomniac, this will be important for one purpose only." The dreams might have been nice to leave in, minus the psychic connection, though that might have made the obvious red herring of Ethan's blackouts even more overblown.

And Scott's scene was actually fairly disturbing.

 

[d3structor]

At last the question of Ethan's blackouts has finally been answered. That was an interesting direction to take it but I prefer the way they decided to go in the final product.

 

[CustomMagnum]

Honestly, I feel like they probably should've left the Blackout scenes in (complete with Psychic Powers and all) because at the very least we'd have an ACTUAL REASON for Ethan to be having the Blackouts in the first place and to be heading to Carnaby Square with an Origami Figure in his hand. And why he stops having the blackouts after Shaun is kidnapped.

 

[Jumplion]

Like some others before me, I think that the scenes of Ethan's blackouts would have been very interesting, but without the psychic connections. It would be more of a psychological thing, and I gotta say that if it was used properly in certain points that it would really have been effective.

Scott killing his mother makes sense to omit, he's a psychotic killer but he's not a misogynist. I also wish they had done some of that stuff with Madison, I don't think they fleshed her out as much as they could have.

But overall, Heavy Rain, to me, was a great game (yes, a game) and it made Quantic Dream into my "Developers to Support" list. It's a shame some of those interesting scenes had to be cut, but the end result is still great, I think.

 

[BattleAxeInc]

I agree with everyone else in the thread, they could have at least dropped in a few lines of dialogue about Madison's past.

"So, what's with the insomnia, anyway?"

"I've covered wars, ya' know."

 

[Skops]

So they take out the MAIN point of the blackouts yet, kept the blackouts? It was one of the few things about Heavy Rain that bothered me. The other was just Madison Paige and how more or less EVERYTHING she does could have been taken out and no one would notice. Seriously, I feel she mostly there for the endings.

 

[Kwatsu]

Wait. Realistic setting + psychic powers + mental connection between killer and hero? So, originally, they'd learned nothing from Fahrenheit's story issues?

Well, I suppose (not having played Heavy Rain) that they learned not to shoehorn in random villains, new plot points, bizarre superpowers, a totally out-of-the-blue and sort of gross romance, and sudden weird revelations about the hero's childhood, all in the last hour. Progress!

Oh, Fahrenheit. Your beginning was so marvellous and full of promise, yet by the end I just didn't have a clue any more.

 

[manythings]

Wait. Realistic setting + psychic powers + mental connection between killer and hero? So, originally, they'd learned nothing from Fahrenheit's story issues?

Well, I suppose (not having played Heavy Rain) that they learned not to shoehorn in random villains, new plot points, bizarre superpowers, a totally out-of-the-blue and sort of gross romance, and sudden weird revelations about the hero's childhood, all in the last hour. Progress!

Oh, Fahrenheit. Your beginning was so marvellous and full of promise, yet by the end I just didn't have a clue any more.

True, it ended up a lot like "From Dusk Till Dawn". That being said without Indigo Prophecy's failings it sounds like heavy rain could've been retarded so count your blessings. It sounds like they understood the problems but they learned the wrong lesson, e.g. that they could fix the "sudden magic powers out of the arsehole" thing and not that they should just avoid the anus entirely.

 

[D0WNT0WN]

You know I wouldnt mind a sequal or a bit of DLC about Madisons past and her exploits in Iraq. Make it long, explain more about her maybe make it it's own little thing.

 

[Rack]

Oddly I originally inferred that the O.K. killed his mother in that scene. It was brutal, but to me it reflected the depth of his obsession that he was willing to go so far when people had gotten so close to him before he'd found a perfect father.

 

[EvilMaggot]

Well, it is good to see that they didn't let Heavy Rain walk down the Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy path of going completely out the left field halfway into the game. As it is, Heavy Rain for me qualifies as one of the best narratives of this year across all mediums, as attested by the fact that my girlfriend demanded that I didn't play unless she was around and could watch.

hmm i had a girlfriend like that aswell.. it was just God of War 3 instead

 

[ForensicYOYO]

Thank you so much for posting this! I watched that video last week and then told all my friends about it. Im really glad they showed this cus it filled alot of plot holes. Still doesn't explain how Shelby was able to grab Shaun off the ride without any trouble or anyone asking why he was being taken. So what if he was blacked out and Shelby was in a cop uniform. Someone would have noticed something or Shaun would have been yelling at his dad or something. Just saying.

 

[mjc0961]

Spoiler: Heavy Rain spoilers obviously

Ah, I was wondering what the deal was with Ethan and the passing/zoning out and coming back to reality with an origami figure in his hand. They touched on it a few times, but then it just went unanswered for the rest of the game. At first they made it out like Ethan was the killer, but than some inconsistency in the facts makes it clear he isn't, and he just stops blacking out, so in the end it seemed rather pointless that they had it in at all.

Also it's interesting to see that they had intended Scott to kill his mother. I had always thought that's what they were trying to imply, so it's nice knowing that's what they were originally going to show.

 

[Jeronus]

I am glad these scenes didn't make it in because it would have done little to fix many of the gaping plotholes of the story.

 

[drummond13]

Couldn't they then have also cut out Ethan waking up from his blackouts holding an origami figure he didn't know how to make? Because that was a major plot issue for a lot of people, with good reason.