Review: Heavy Rain

[Miral]

Darn, now I'm getting tempted to get a PS3 after all. Does anyone know if there's a PC port planned later on? Fahrenheit was on PC...

 

[Susan Arendt]

This is my first time commenting on one of your reviews so I must first say that you have a voice that could soothe the heart of a thousand origami killers.

Now onward with my comment. I was quite happy to see that heavy rain managed not only to excel at refreshing the way a story could be told in a videogame, but it also cemented itself into the minds of critics and fans alike. I was in heavy anticipation of this game in part because it was made by Quantic Dream who also made Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy (which I noticed other people have harken) making Heavy Rain somewhat of a spiritual successor. My hope was for Quantic Dream to no longer be known for "That game that was really good but fell to pieces 3/4ths of the way in" and revive itself with something as fantastic as it previous game attempted to be and I see that Heavy rain is just that.
Thank you for the review and thanks for your insights.

I specifically avoided mentioning Indigo Prophecy because I think Heavy Rain deserves to stand on its own merits. But it's worth noting the enormous leaps that Quantic Dream made from one game to the next. That, more than anything, is what makes me eagerly anticipate whatever QD does next. I hope they're given the chance to refine the game style even further. Heavy Dream is just this side of astounding. Given a bit more time, just imagine what QD could do.

Heavy Dream? Nathan? What's next Susan?

I'm giving my brother this game as a birth day gift so I can play it soon. Yay for giving gifts you want yourself.

Oh, for pity's sake. I just shouldn't talk today, clearly.

 

[syltman]

Wonder if ZP will review this, it would be exciting to see if he actually liked this game

 

[GundamSentinel]

Good game, excellent review. Loved the Ennio Morricone spaghetti music... Epic and very fitting. ^^

 

[Rathy]

The gameplay aside, if you make the wrong decisions, heavy rain can be the most depressing thing you'll play in a long time.

This is actually one of the reasons I want to play the game so much. The fact that the ending can be so open, unlock most games on the market today. I like being able to screw things up without the game over approach.

Too bad I don't own a PS3.

 

[Chunko]

Why did they need spoilers in that review. It would have been fine without it.

 

[worldnamer]

Having played Heavy Rain through, I have to say it's an amazing game. Definitely not everyone's cup of tea, but very very different from the games on the marketplace these days. I actually found myself making real choices about right and wrong, and several times I didn't know what choices I would make.

Although, I do wonder about calling the gameplay "quick-time events." These aren't the kind of QTEs that we think of as "press X to not die". They're more akin to "to use this object, press X, but press O to try this other thing, and make up your mind quickly or I'm punching you in the face." It's not that they aren't QTEs, but that they're so much more.

 

[Fearzone]

My issues with it are movement controls and general dislike of QTEs, but adventure games I've always liked This sounds like a good rental.

 

[Holy_Handgrenade]

In a way Heavy Rain reminded me of the first Assassin's Creed: It's like playing an amazing game, but someone keeps jabbing you in the side with a pencil every few minutes.

Isn't the last part what Yahtzee said?

 

[Julianking93]

Not really a massive complaint but that spoiler at the end seemed massively uneccessary to put in... I mean the video wouldn't have been any worse if it was left out, only more people could have watched it.

Unless, of course, it isn't a spoiler. But then, maybe it is. Who knows?

There are other spoilers in the video that aren't obvious or important unless you're actually playing the game, thus the warning.

It's fairly early in the game, so I'd say its not a spoiler.

I mean, that's the second mission with Scott, so it's not anything major.

 

[Casual Shinji]

In a way Heavy Rain reminded me of the first Assassin's Creed: It's like playing an amazing game, but someone keeps jabbing you in the side with a pencil every few minutes.

Isn't the last part what Yahtzee said?

Dagnammit, and here I thought I had an original comparison.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

It's in my GameFly queue, so now I just have to play through a few other titles to get there.

 

[Susan Arendt]

Having played Heavy Rain through, I have to say it's an amazing game. Definitely not everyone's cup of tea, but very very different from the games on the marketplace these days. I actually found myself making real choices about right and wrong, and several times I didn't know what choices I would make.

Although, I do wonder about calling the gameplay "quick-time events." These aren't the kind of QTEs that we think of as "press X to not die". They're more akin to "to use this object, press X, but press O to try this other thing, and make up your mind quickly or I'm punching you in the face." It's not that they aren't QTEs, but that they're so much more.

Ok, that description made me giggle. It's also pretty apt. Nicely done.

 

[NicotineStainedSoul]

Nice review of a game that had me hooked from start to finish.

I knew it would divide people in their opinions. It's a shame so few people own a ps3 or will treat this game with such disdain by the label "interactive movie", honestly that label doesn't do it justice. I hope though that its success in sales will mean more games from the developer. I've never played anything quite like this before.

 

[UtopiaV1]

Excellent review, informative and funny! I really enjoyed it, and i can't wait to (eventually) get this game!

Bit pedantic of you, though, to quibble over how one of the characters' says "origami".

 

[Susan Arendt]

Excellent review, informative and funny! I really enjoyed it, and i can't wait to (eventually) get this game!

Bit pedantic of you, though, to quibble over how one of the characters' says "origami".

It's not just one character. That example is just the most egregious.

 

[GoldenShadow]

I've played and beaten this game over the past week. I can't get enough, I started a new game and I want to see how much differently I can steer the storyline

 

[Toar]

Wish that they would port this bad boy to the 360.

 

[samsonguy920]

From what I have seen of the game so far, you got it right thinking of Choose Your Own Adventure, Susan, but also it has a strong Sims streak to it as well.
It is looking quite appealing, but I have to wonder if I can forgive the game for its crappy writing. The creator gets aces for concept, but he really should have hired a good writer for this instead of bolloxing it on his own. For one, serial killers never admit to being what the cops label him/her as. Though that fellow in that scene might have been a copycat. Now I want to play it even more to know for certain.
And verrrrry creepy loading screens. Though, it could be worse, they could be making faces at you instead of just looking absently around.

Wish that they would port this bad boy to the 360.

Are you sure you want a game with this kind of detail to it on a clunker like the 360? The graphics would get trimmed down very noticeably, not to mention the breakdowns that would occur during any tense moment.
Thinking about it though, if someone made a game like this with the 360 in mind, we might just get a better story out of it since the developer wouldn't be worried more about bigscreen computer animation quality to the game.