Heavy Rain Hands-on
- Posted June 11th, 2009 at 13:08 EDT by Eric Blattberg
- 11,855 views
- 50 Comments
I saw many, many games last week at the Electronic Entertainment Expo. Most of them impressed me in one way or another – some with great visuals, others with unique gameplay -- but Heavy Rain is an entirely different story, simply because I would not define Heavy Rain as a game.
I’ll try not to delve to deeply into the connotations of the word game, generally used to describe play or sport, but let me say this: Heavy Rain is not your typical “video game.” This new experience is better described as interactive cinema, but that, too, is misleading; Heavy Rain is not simply “playing a movie.” No, it is unlike anything that came before it, except perhaps Indigo Prophecy (also known as Farenheit), Quantic Dream’s previous project. While the technology powering Indigo Prophecy wasn’t powerful enough to fully realize Quantic Dream's valiant goals, the PlayStation 3 is a prime platform for Heavy Rain, and the only console capable of meeting the company’s grand ambitions.
“Hold on,” you say, “that sounds great, but what exactly is Heavy Rain?” Heavy Rain is a psychological thriller that asks players a complex question: “How far will you go to save someone you love?”
Indeed, I’ve provided more questions than answers, as did the title’s E3 09 demo. In the demo, I stepped into the waterlogged shoes one of the game’s four deeply developed characters, Norman Jayden. Norman, an FBI agent with a drug addiction, was, in this scenario, looking for a junkyard rat known as Mad Jack. You see, Jackie-boy had some info on a serial killer -- nicknamed The Origami Killer -- that Norman needed, prompting him to head down to the scrap yard to dig up some dirt.
In a short cinematic, Norman’s car pulled into the bleak and dismal junkyard, and then stopped. The camera shots changed every few seconds, all focused on the car, but nothing was happening. Confused, I waited another five seconds. Still nothing. It was then that I spotted a small prompt on the screen – a round-edged square with an arrow pointing right within it. A rightward flick of the right analog stick later, and Norman had opened that car door. It wasn’t a cinematic at all; this was how Heavy Rain looked and played. Clearly, this was no ordinary game.
Norman, arms crossed in a torrent of rain, stood outside the car. To walk forward, I held down R2, and Norman began to amble across the scrap yard. As I held down L2, various thoughts and emotions, all mapped to the face buttons, floated slowly around his torso. By pressing one of the buttons, Norman voiced his thoughts on that subject.
Guillaume de Fondaumière, the Co-CEO of Quantic Dream and Executive Producer of Heavy Rain, explained that at any time, a characters’ emotions can be seen in this manner; it’s how the branching dialogue and action works. The system is, in essence, a slick replacement for a menu or HUD (heads up display). There’s a twist, however: as a character gets more and more stressed, the words become blurry and shaky, making quick decisions dangerous – just like in real life. You will often, however, be forced to act quickly in perilous scenarios.
After a branching but unproductive discussion with Mad Jack, it was time to do some snooping around. With a rotation of the analog stick -- again, every action is context sensitive -- Norman donned his ARI (Augmented Reality Interface) glasses. This transformed the scene into something straight out of CSI. After examining a few objects, I found a blood trail on the floor, which led to an acid bath with a skull in it.
Before I could make another move, a shiny, metallic gun barrel probed the back of Norman’s head. This began the “gameplay” portion of the demo. As Norman grappled with Mad Jack for control of the situation, I partook in a series of quicktime events. These segments are fast and furious – mess up one too many times, and it’s all over; you’re dead. That carries an incredible amount of weight, because, ... (continued on next page)
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Comments
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Dave-The-Rave |
Dave-The-Rave- 1:32pm BST - June 11th, 2009
- 5
I still define it as a game though..I have loved this genre for years, and this is one of the first times the mainstream has taken an interest..
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Lifendz
- 1:34pm BST - June 11th, 2009
- 6
I don't expect the tweeners, teens, or guys in their very early 20's to cop this one, but I'm looking forward to this big time. A mature story that consists of more than excessive violence? Sign me up. My concerns about the gameplay were answered in a G4 dev walkthrough. The game is not Dragon's Lair and it's not Myst; it's something entirely different. I hope you guys prove me wrong and support a game like this. I know I will.
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hitman8062 |
hitman8062- 3:16pm BST - June 11th, 2009
- 12
Looks great but I just hope that it isnt as long as a movie. They should have a couple hours for each character (unless you die with one) that would own.
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MrAce |
mrace- 3:28pm BST - June 11th, 2009
- 15
I have a quesion, what about game saves. Surley if you die you can go back to the last save and start over???
I have to say I am really looking forward to this, but not sure about if your character dies the game carries on and is altered. How do I restart with the same character? By starting all over again? Apparantley there are many different scenarios that will make the replay value of this game worth the purchase.
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hillybilly |
apeh- 4:09pm BST - June 11th, 2009
- 17
@6 Im a teen and I loved indigo prophecy/farhenheit
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matilda_bbd
- 4:25pm BST - June 11th, 2009
- 19
@6
my 16 yr old cousin played through indigo prophecy.. and he's really looking forward to this one.. lol
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-DED-
- 4:29pm BST - June 11th, 2009
- 20
All PS3 games are now required to have trophies. So yeah, it'll have trophies
Looking forward to this. Indigo Prophecy was pretty amazing for its time. This is gonna be the same. A couple of my friends are buying PS3's JUST for this game. It's nice to see a break from the norm.
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AZTwiztidJuggla |
J6E8K- 5:00pm BST - June 11th, 2009
- 22
Nice write up... I now have some proper interest in this "game". Loved Indigo Prophecy until it was stolen and pawned. Cant wait for this!!!
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zombieking36
- 5:32pm BST - June 11th, 2009
- 23
I really want to try this out! I can't wait for a demo or something!
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waye93
- 6:02pm BST - June 11th, 2009
- 25
like everyone else once i saw the audition clip at e3 that year i was amazed. and couldnt wait but after a while when no new news was coming out i lost a little interest but now with actually gameplay and news bwing shown i'm gettint interested in QD's game again. Love Indigo Prophecy and know that Heavy Rain is going to be better.
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wetfbbqchiken
- 6:38pm BST - June 11th, 2009
- 27
@6 i would say between 12-15/16 ages wouldnt be that interested.... but early 20s? people in there early 20s remember gaming before all the online fps **** fests ya know lol
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liquidus118 |
liquidus118- 7:31pm BST - June 11th, 2009
- 29
I really can't wait, we need more games like this, games with intelligent stories that isn't based around violence.
This is the kind of thing that I've wanted for a long time: A mature, story based game where the story is branching, changing and deeply affected by your actions, including death.
I can't wait.
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RogurtNChzz |
RogurtNChzz- 3:14am BST - June 12th, 2009
- 35
sounds like an interesting game. I'll have to rent it when it comes out. i'm not sure this is a game you could play over and over and over again. maybe a few times. =P
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fullyalive76
- 5:00am BST - June 12th, 2009
- 37
This will be a beautiful looking game that will get 7's at the most a short story and clunky gameplay.
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solid79 |
solid79- 12:36am BST - June 13th, 2009
- 41
I'm so glad to hear that this game is great. To be honest I didn't need the review because I was one of the few who played Indigo Prophecy. I'm still trying to convince some of my friends to play the game. I can't wait to get my hands on Heavy Rain because I know the game is going to be sweet!! My only hope is that people give this game a chance. I already have the feeling that the game is not going to get the respect it desereves.
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ptmww3
- 2:50pm BST - June 13th, 2009
- 42
honestly before you play a game it's better not to know too much about it, becausse when you know about it you don't get the full enjoyment of it, because you already enjoyed little bit by reading about it. also you might have got differend idea about the game and it affect when the game is bit different to what you thought it would be. I really notice that with infamous.
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GunsOfLiberty |
GunsOfLiberty- 10:50pm BST - June 13th, 2009
- 43
I'm super hyped about this game!!! I enjoyed Farenheit on PS2 and I'm really looking forward to play this brilliant game.
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