You move your character forward by pulling the R2 trigger and alter the direction he or she is facing by moving the left analog stick. Heavy Rain's problems aren't strictly limited to the plot either-there are a number of other flaws as well. The story also features a number of over-the-top or cliche villains that seem out of place in the realistic setting, including an overly-aggressive detective and a super-sleazy nightclub owner. Depending on how you play through the game, you may be left scratching your head wondering what happened or how characters that never seemed to meet know each other.
And a major plot point that haunts Ethan throughout a number of early scenes is never explained in the slightest. For example, there are several obvious leads and key pieces of evidence in the case of the Origami Killer, which the police department seems completely unaware of. However, there are a number of plot holes and inconsistencies that work against this immersion. Scene to scene, the game does a fantastic job of drawing you into the action and the minds of its characters.
Minor issues with replayability aside, Heavy Rain is not a flawless narrative experience-it suffers from some bigger problems as well. A chapter-select screen allows you to smartly play through some of these "what if" scenarios if you like, but scenes are rarely as impactful the second time. Your story-the one that you got so caught up and invested in-has already been told thus, the characters you bonded so closely with won't be the same if you do things differently.
Heavy rain review full#
Clocking in at an intensely satisfying eight to 10 hours, Heavy Rain is full of branching plot points and permutations, but it's hard to actually go back and play through the game differently once you've completed it. Though Heavy Rain's involving story is its greatest strength, it is also somewhat of a weakness in terms of the game's replayability. No matter what happens in your play-through, the adaptive plot of Heavy Rain becomes a deeply personal sum of your experiences.Įven seemingly mundane scenes like this help better connect you to the characters. It's even possible for key characters to die, thus eliminating any subsequent contributions to the story that they might have made. Entire events may not occur because your actions and choices caused the plot to branch in a different direction. Though the overall narrative framework is unyielding, your performance throughout the game can have a variety of effects, ranging from subtle changes in how a scene plays out to much bigger adjustments.
There is no right or wrong way to play thus, no matter what your outcome is, the game will move forward and adapt to the consequences of your actions or lack thereof. Unlike other games that make extensive use of quick-time events, Heavy Rain does not track your progress in terms of success and failure. There is plenty of action to be found in the form of brutal and violent brawls, heart-pounding chases, and deadly gunfights, but even such mundane tasks as brushing your teeth or rocking a baby to sleep are surprisingly engaging, and help to strengthen your bond with the characters. Your actions approximate theirs, and the often short amount of time you have to react to new situations mirrors their own reaction time. This unconventional control scheme does a fantastic job of grounding you to the characters and their emotional states. Each input is proportionally difficult to the task being performed, and when a character is scared or stressed, the floating prompts tremble accordingly. As you control each of the four characters, onscreen prompts have you press buttons in sequence, move the right analog stick in specific directions, shake the controller, and more to interact with the scenes. Though it takes a little while to pick up, Heavy Rain is an immersive interactive drama that sucks you in and doesn't let go. Besides Ethan, you also take control of three other seemingly unrelated individuals that have been drawn into the case: private investigator Scott Shelby, FBI criminal profiler Norman Jayden, and insomniac Madison Paige. After Ethan's son goes missing and is presumed to be the latest victim of the mysterious Origami Killer, he vows to do whatever it takes to rescue his boy. How far are you prepared to go to save someone you love? This is the central question of Heavy Rain and one that the protagonist, Ethan Mars, is compelled to answer. By clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot's
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