Heavy Rain

In 2010 so far there have been some highly anticipated titles: Starcraft II, Red Dead Redemption, and God of War III among others.  However, only one game this year has been anticipated because of its dynamic storyline and radically different game play.  Heavy Rain (2010), released as an exclusive titles for the Play Station 3, is a murder mystery game that involves four main characters that the player switches between throughout the story.  The first of these characters is Ethan Mars, a father of two whose life comes tumbling down after a series of unfortunate events; Ethan is the character you will familiarize yourself with the most and is the primary protagonist.  The other three are Madison Paige, a woman suffering from insomnia, Norman Jayden, an FBI agent, and Scott Shelby, a private detective.  All of these characters are tied together by the most important piece of Heavy Rain: the Origami Killer.  Without giving too much away, the Origami Killer is an elusive who has been kidnapping young boys for over three years; every time one is murdered, they are found with no visible wounds, but have been drowned and are also in possession of an origami figurine as well as an orchid. 

The story line of Heavy Rain is absolutely enthralling.  I can easily say, without doubt, it is by far the first game I have absolutely not been able to put down.  It's the only game I have beat in less than two days with over 15 hours of game play.  While it is a murder mystery "game," Heavy Rain seems more like an interactive movie.  There's a lot of dialogue, some well written, some not.  What makes it more intriguing though is how immersive it is.  You feel for Nathan during his turmoil and most of all, when a character is in danger of dying (and believe me, there are more than enough opportunities for them to die), I can honestly say I got frightened and tense.  Some people may not enjoy as much dialogue as is present in Heavy Rain, especially people who are not fans of the RPG genre, but don't take that to mean that there isn't any intense action.

Heavy Rain's game play consists of a system focused on QTE's or quick time events.  What this means is that while playing, the game will flash a button the player has to push.  The player must then push the button within a certain amount of time or some negative consequence occurs.  This system is similar to Guitar Hero games and the like, but is a bit more complex.  For instance, if in a gun fight the player doesn't push square in time, the character might get shot.  Furthermore, the game makes use of Play Station's Six Axis motion controller by making gamers shake, tilt, and rotate the controller in addition to the QTE's.  Heavy Rain also allows the character to move around the world and stumble upon interactive objects.  With FBI agent Norman Jayden, you can interact with clues, finger prints, suspects, etc.  However, the most enticing interactive aspect of Heavy Rain is Jayden's virtual reality system, ARI.  ARI, or Added Reality Interface, by far provided the most "Holy Shit" moments for me of Heavy Rain.  ARI can completely alter Jayden's surroundings or simply provide him with a baseball to toss against a wall.  In order to really understand it, you'll have to play the game.

Heavy Rain's graphics are incredible close-up, especially during loading sequences when you're shown a character's face and the detail is overwhelming.  There are some visual glitches I experienced, such as smoke emanating from a non-existent cigarette, but overall, the graphics were relatively smooth and impressive.  The score for Heavy Rain also sets the mood incredibly well, playing soft melodies for sympathetic moments and heavy orchestral pieces for intense fights or impending doom.  The triggering system for this isn't always accurate though, seeing as how the "impending doom" score started playing while I was warming up a bottle of milk; not exactly the most dramatic of situations.

Overall, while most gamers may not know if they want to play Heavy Rain or not, most feel like it's a game they should probably try.  As a serious skeptic of motion controls and QTE's, I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed Heavy Rain.  While the control system is radically different than what many may be used to, Heavy Rain is a radically different game.  The motion controls at times seem a bit tacked on, but when trying to kick the window out of a sinking car, slamming your controller in a downward motion only feels natural.  The intense story line keeps the player on their toes with every QTE.  If you're not quick enough, one of the main characters could be dead for the rest of the game.  With various possibilities to every chapter of the game, Heavy Rain has several different plot lines as well as endings.  Because of this, the replay value is incredibly high making every gamer want to play through at least twice.  You may still be skeptical of Heavy Rain, what with its long winded dialogue, QTE's, and motion controls, but if I've convinced you of anything, let it be the story.  Heavy Rain, out of any game I've ever played, has the most intriguing and interesting storyline I've ever experienced, making you care deeply about every character throughout the game.  Heavy Rain has some of the most dramatic, intense, and nerve wracking scenes I have ever witnessed and you should play it.