When trying to create a dynamic story where the decisions the players make will create unique experiences for each player, very few games have come close to succeeding on that promise. Quantic Dream had a lot to prove when making those kinds of claims about Heavy Rain’s story and most of it works exactly as promised. This reinvention of the adventure genre does a great job of creating an immersive experience

Heavy Rain is a psychological thriller that stars four protagonists that are indirectly linked to finding the Origami Killer. Of the four lead characters, Ethan Mars easily is the focus of the story as the father whose son is kidnapped by the Origami Killer and is hell bent on saving his son. Two other protagonists, Private Investigator Scott Shelby and FBI Agent Norman Jayden, are investigating the case and represent the new and old guard in the way that’s done, both in their ethics and their use of technology. The final character that you control is Madison Paige, a journalist with some interest in the case that finds a huge scoop that ties her to the case. Other characters that come into play involve a few archetypal villains and support characters that do play some role if you work them the right way.

The way Quantic Dream gets you to learn about these characters and get attached to them is through what could be described as some of the more mundane parts of Heavy Rain. Early on, you get to learn what kind of a father Ethan is and influence how he interacts with his family to see how much they mean to him when the Origami Killer tries to take it all away from him. You ultimately do get to dictate how these characters behave and react to the situations and it’s easy to get invested in these characters to care what will happen to them.

There are plenty of opportunities in Heavy Rain for these characters to die, but that doesn’t lead to a game over screen. It just changes the story and continues on without them. We reached a good conclusion and still saw the opportunities for similar outcomes through other characters and other story threads, but that would also create a uniquely different way to reach that conclusion. The hardest decisions to make were certainly hard for us to deal with, so pausing was a good idea to let us wrap our heads around which way we should go but still led to some regretful decisions that wore on our hearts.

Rather than building separate mechanics for action, driving, and the other parts of Heavy Rain, the developers use quick time events that let you control what is going on without having to relearn each new control scheme. It’s nothing like the randomly-generated button prompts in the middle of the screen that you tend to think of when QTEs are mention, but they appear where the action is happening so it’s easier to react to them. Also improving on that idea is the lack of penalties for missing buttons, as they just turn into punches you take in a fight or dropping an object you’re reaching for. The only issues tend to be a lack of awareness of everything you can interact with in timed situations and occasionally not being able to see buttons because the prompt is behind the character. Motion control haters may not like to hear that the variety of buttons used in QTEs extends to quick jerks or rotations of the controller for action and driving sequences, but it works just fine in practice.

Not everything in Heavy Rain revolves around QTEs, as there as quite a few times where you can just walk around and explore the area you’re in and this is where the adventure influences lie. Walking is handled by holding down the R2 button to walk forward and the left analog stick to turn, which works fine in more open spaces but becomes more of a nuisance when you’re in a hallway, room, or other small places. It becomes an issue when you’re searching for a certain item and have to awkwardly move around to adjust the character’s body so you can see the item to be able to grab it, so it’s a shame it can’t better show the objects you can interact with to limit the fidgeting required to grab it.

Quantic Dream made big claims about Heavy Rain beating the uncanny valley, but they are still on the same side of that valley as everyone else. The character still look really good with mouths and eyes not looking good enough to really make them look as good as real actors. We did have quite a few graphical glitches early on that we’re assured that Sony hasn’t heard similar reports that we still feel the need to mention as a potential issue, which we were able to solve by restarting the system and reinstalling the system. The voice acting was pretty good for the most part with some weird lines that don’t sound right, but they are synced with their mouths well. The music is great and manages to fit the tension and other emotions you and these characters are feeling throughout the game.

Heavy Rain definitely provides a thrilling experience that very few games can compete with that makes it an easy recommendation for anyone that liked the demo or is interested in the game. A few control issues aside, the game plays just fine and is definitely worth a purchase for the eight to ten hours the story lasts, if the protagonists don’t die. The game definitely offers enough variety for replays along with bonuses like concept art and making of videos that earn as you play the game, though whether the second playthrough affects the first is a question for another time.

Final Score: 8.8 | Recommendation: Buy It

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