Applejack
02-24-2010, 08:16 PM
http://image3.examiner.com/images/blog/EXID6894/images/Heavy_Rain_box_art.jpg
David Cage become sorta kinda known when he and his team released Indigo Prophecy (Or Fahrenheit, which made way more sense) back in 2005. That game was mostly liked, though everyone totally complained that they only made half a game, what with the abrupt ending at the amusement park and all. What made Indigo Prophecy a unique game was its use of quick time events. Everything from sitting down to drinking some booze was handled via the right stick and later on the face buttons. Heavy Rain, the recently released game from the same people, takes the gameplay formula of Indigo Prophecy and cranks it up to eleven while also offering a far better narrative. The result is something Cage likes to call 'an interactive drama' or if you want to be a dick about it 'an interactive cutscene'.
This is in no way a bad thing, as the end result is fucking fantastic.
Heavy Rain is a story revolving around four characters but focusing mainly on Ethan Mars, an architect who has found himself down on his luck, big time. Life gets worse for Mr. Mars as he soon finds himself caught up in the search for the mysterious Origami Killer, a serial killer whose calling card is an origami figure left with the victim. Ethan is not the only character that gets involved, along for the ride is FBI Agent Norman Jaden who has been dispatched to a local precinct to help catch the killer...if he can wade through the bullshit politics of a local police force. There's Scott Shelby, a private detective who is searching for the killer at the request of a family that lost a member due to the killer. And last is Madison Paige, a furniture photojournalist who has her own motives.
The cast of characters are the backbone of the story, and each one is likable and sympathetic in their own way. They each have their quirks and demons, and because of it they have a depth not many characters in video games can claim to have. But what makes that depth even better, is the simple fact that YOU can add to their emotional and physical depth in the choices you make. Ethan wants to be a good father. Does he drink a beer in front of his depressed child or does he drink orange juice instead? Does he find the teddy bear to help his son sleep or does he tell him to be a man and sleep without it? Scott finds himself facing a nervous grocery store robber. Does he get aggressive and potentially cause a death? Or does he calmly try to reason with the robber? Or does he grab a bottle, sneak up behind him and knock him out? It's little choices that add the most weight sometimes.
And there's far more than just little choices. Moral choices in video games are a trend that I'd be fine to see leave. Most choices boil down to 'here's the good, saintly option' and 'here's the totally evil, god you're a dick, why don't you rape their dog while you're at it' option. Games like Mass Effect 2 make it so that line is skewed slightly, though at the end of the day the upper option will get you blue points and the lower one will get you red points. This is not the case in Heavy Rain. In Heavy Rain the moral choices are all a fine shade of gray. All the major choices in the game appeal to base instincts. You might shoot an innocent man, but only because the game put you on edge over what he might do, not because you want to boost some nonexistent evil points.
And that's something the game does really well. It puts you on edge. Lots of movies claim to 'put you on the edge of your seat'. Heavy Rain is like that, only it actually happens. There are moments in the game so intense, that I had to stop to calm down. And while you're in an intense moment, you might have to make a choice that could have negative repercussions for all parties involved. But there's no time to think it through because you have a roughly 5-10 second window to make any choice before the game makes it for you. And when that choice comes up, you're probably not thinking straight, you're one edge, you're just like the character making the choice. You have no time to think about it rationally.
But that's just the choices. There are also intense fight and flight sequences. During these sequences, much like Indigo Prophecy, there will be button prompts. Quick time events, if you will. But unlike a game like God of War where if you fail you can just try again no harm done, in Heavy Rain if you fuck up a button input, especially in a fight scene or an escape scene or something, the game doesn't let you try it again. It goes on. And your character might now have a permanent scar on their face. Or they might die. Yes, any of the four characters can die, and the game will continue on if that happens. It will directly alter the narrative as well. These button inputs aren't always simple, either. You might have to hold down four buttons and do a motion with the analog stick. You might have to simultaneously hammer on three buttons. You might have three seconds to press the X button. The more strenuous the task for the character, the more effort you have to put in into getting them through safely. And it works better than you might think, though the sixaxis stuff can get a bit wonky if you don't use both hands to move the controller.
Quick time events determine every action in the game. From opening a door, to shaving, to drinking, to shooting a dude. You aren't ever in direct control of a character, instead the R2 button moves them around and the left analog stick controls their head and where they move. The right stick is used only for quick time events. You can choose to listen to a character's thoughts but more often than not this is just 'Hey I'm stuck, gimme a hint'. You might think that this would cause some sort of disconnect, but it doesn't. If anything it adds to the already heavily atmospheric experience that is Heavy Rain. Especially because, in the aforementioned action sequences, the game doesn't ever pause for you to have an extra window to do a motion with the stick/press a button. It all happens fluidly and adapts to your missed presses or your successful one. It really does feel like you're playing an exciting suspense movie. Some of the interactions, like having sex with someone, is so interactive that the only way to get more involved is to actually have sex with someone.
Graphically the game is spectacular. I'd say it's on par, if not better than, Uncharted 2. The character models all look fantastic, particularly the faces. And the atmosphere is top notch. Unfortunately, the Uncanny Valley has not been conquered with this game. Though the characters look realistic enough, sometimes they may not move realistically enough. But that's alright, no game has done it yet, so I doubt it'll be done any time soon.
The voice acting ranges from passable (Scott Shelby and Madison in particular are the standouts) to okay (Ethan and Blake) to kinda bad (Norman Jayden in the most overblown Bostonian accent since Marky Mark in The Departed; any child in the game) to 'holy shit this is so bad it's hilarious and almost GOOD' (a hotel clerk, a nightclub owner, pretty much every other character since they all sound like ethnic stereotypes). But the voice acting never put me off from any of the characters, who I found to all be interesting and multi-dimensional.
The story is also well done. It's weird, but it's almost as if a game can totally manage to have great graphics, great gameplay, and a great story. Unheard of!? Heavy Rain's narrative is well done, even when it changes based on your actions. It never feels like an action you took forced an obvious change in the story. It all flows fluidly from scene to scene leading up to the climax and eventual ending. Like great films, you don't want it to end. But it does, and at around nine hours or so, give or take a few depending on how deeply you interact with the world around you or how many characters you let die. And before you ask, no, there's no evil orange A.I. and supernatural shit in the story. With the exception of the most badass pair of sunglasses ever, everything in the story feels plausible. David Cage made the bold suggestion that people should only play through the game once and not worry about getting every possible ending (but then why is there a trophy for 'See All Endings', Mr. Cage?) and in a way I can agree with him. If you go into a second or third playthrough with the mindset of doing everything differently ON PURPOSE, it takes away the feeling of immersion and the tense situations the characters go through. Not to say that there isn't any replay value (since some among you seem to think it's highly important), but I wouldn't immediately start a new game upon finishing, instead I'd wait a month or so until some finer points have gone from your mind. It'll be far more enjoyable that way.
The music is also phenomenal and like any good soundtrack to a film or game, it adds emotional depth and atmosphere to scenes, be they sad or exciting. It never feels out of place or tacked on or like it's forcing you to feel a particular way.
Heavy Rain is a fantastic game. It proves that you can balance the big three: Gameplay, Graphics, and Story. But it's not without faults. The control scheme can get a bit wonky. In a way it's tank like. I had several moments where I wanted a character to turn around but they kept going left. It's also not impossible to find yourself getting stuck around an object until you trace a wider arc around it. And sometimes the interact prompts get obscured by the character, and with no direct camera control this can get annoying as you find yourself having to reorient yourself just to pick up a piece of paper. But they are all, at the end of the day, minor issues.
If you have a PS3 you have no reason to not play PS3. I won't say this is a system seller, but honestly: the PS3 has a bunch of worthy games to own, exclusives at that, that I feel I can finally say 'Yeah, owning a PS3 is justified' now. Heavy Rain only reaffirms that belief. It is a fantastic game. One unlike any game I've played. If all games in the future can prove themselves able to balance the big three like this, than the future of gaming looks bright indeed.
I was so set on believing that Mass Effect 2 would most likely win my game of the year. Now, I believe that Heavy Rain can EASILY take that slot.
Heavy Rain gets a 4.5/5
It's as damn near to my idea of a perfect game as I'm likely to get. But nothing is perfect.
David Cage become sorta kinda known when he and his team released Indigo Prophecy (Or Fahrenheit, which made way more sense) back in 2005. That game was mostly liked, though everyone totally complained that they only made half a game, what with the abrupt ending at the amusement park and all. What made Indigo Prophecy a unique game was its use of quick time events. Everything from sitting down to drinking some booze was handled via the right stick and later on the face buttons. Heavy Rain, the recently released game from the same people, takes the gameplay formula of Indigo Prophecy and cranks it up to eleven while also offering a far better narrative. The result is something Cage likes to call 'an interactive drama' or if you want to be a dick about it 'an interactive cutscene'.
This is in no way a bad thing, as the end result is fucking fantastic.
Heavy Rain is a story revolving around four characters but focusing mainly on Ethan Mars, an architect who has found himself down on his luck, big time. Life gets worse for Mr. Mars as he soon finds himself caught up in the search for the mysterious Origami Killer, a serial killer whose calling card is an origami figure left with the victim. Ethan is not the only character that gets involved, along for the ride is FBI Agent Norman Jaden who has been dispatched to a local precinct to help catch the killer...if he can wade through the bullshit politics of a local police force. There's Scott Shelby, a private detective who is searching for the killer at the request of a family that lost a member due to the killer. And last is Madison Paige, a furniture photojournalist who has her own motives.
The cast of characters are the backbone of the story, and each one is likable and sympathetic in their own way. They each have their quirks and demons, and because of it they have a depth not many characters in video games can claim to have. But what makes that depth even better, is the simple fact that YOU can add to their emotional and physical depth in the choices you make. Ethan wants to be a good father. Does he drink a beer in front of his depressed child or does he drink orange juice instead? Does he find the teddy bear to help his son sleep or does he tell him to be a man and sleep without it? Scott finds himself facing a nervous grocery store robber. Does he get aggressive and potentially cause a death? Or does he calmly try to reason with the robber? Or does he grab a bottle, sneak up behind him and knock him out? It's little choices that add the most weight sometimes.
And there's far more than just little choices. Moral choices in video games are a trend that I'd be fine to see leave. Most choices boil down to 'here's the good, saintly option' and 'here's the totally evil, god you're a dick, why don't you rape their dog while you're at it' option. Games like Mass Effect 2 make it so that line is skewed slightly, though at the end of the day the upper option will get you blue points and the lower one will get you red points. This is not the case in Heavy Rain. In Heavy Rain the moral choices are all a fine shade of gray. All the major choices in the game appeal to base instincts. You might shoot an innocent man, but only because the game put you on edge over what he might do, not because you want to boost some nonexistent evil points.
And that's something the game does really well. It puts you on edge. Lots of movies claim to 'put you on the edge of your seat'. Heavy Rain is like that, only it actually happens. There are moments in the game so intense, that I had to stop to calm down. And while you're in an intense moment, you might have to make a choice that could have negative repercussions for all parties involved. But there's no time to think it through because you have a roughly 5-10 second window to make any choice before the game makes it for you. And when that choice comes up, you're probably not thinking straight, you're one edge, you're just like the character making the choice. You have no time to think about it rationally.
But that's just the choices. There are also intense fight and flight sequences. During these sequences, much like Indigo Prophecy, there will be button prompts. Quick time events, if you will. But unlike a game like God of War where if you fail you can just try again no harm done, in Heavy Rain if you fuck up a button input, especially in a fight scene or an escape scene or something, the game doesn't let you try it again. It goes on. And your character might now have a permanent scar on their face. Or they might die. Yes, any of the four characters can die, and the game will continue on if that happens. It will directly alter the narrative as well. These button inputs aren't always simple, either. You might have to hold down four buttons and do a motion with the analog stick. You might have to simultaneously hammer on three buttons. You might have three seconds to press the X button. The more strenuous the task for the character, the more effort you have to put in into getting them through safely. And it works better than you might think, though the sixaxis stuff can get a bit wonky if you don't use both hands to move the controller.
Quick time events determine every action in the game. From opening a door, to shaving, to drinking, to shooting a dude. You aren't ever in direct control of a character, instead the R2 button moves them around and the left analog stick controls their head and where they move. The right stick is used only for quick time events. You can choose to listen to a character's thoughts but more often than not this is just 'Hey I'm stuck, gimme a hint'. You might think that this would cause some sort of disconnect, but it doesn't. If anything it adds to the already heavily atmospheric experience that is Heavy Rain. Especially because, in the aforementioned action sequences, the game doesn't ever pause for you to have an extra window to do a motion with the stick/press a button. It all happens fluidly and adapts to your missed presses or your successful one. It really does feel like you're playing an exciting suspense movie. Some of the interactions, like having sex with someone, is so interactive that the only way to get more involved is to actually have sex with someone.
Graphically the game is spectacular. I'd say it's on par, if not better than, Uncharted 2. The character models all look fantastic, particularly the faces. And the atmosphere is top notch. Unfortunately, the Uncanny Valley has not been conquered with this game. Though the characters look realistic enough, sometimes they may not move realistically enough. But that's alright, no game has done it yet, so I doubt it'll be done any time soon.
The voice acting ranges from passable (Scott Shelby and Madison in particular are the standouts) to okay (Ethan and Blake) to kinda bad (Norman Jayden in the most overblown Bostonian accent since Marky Mark in The Departed; any child in the game) to 'holy shit this is so bad it's hilarious and almost GOOD' (a hotel clerk, a nightclub owner, pretty much every other character since they all sound like ethnic stereotypes). But the voice acting never put me off from any of the characters, who I found to all be interesting and multi-dimensional.
The story is also well done. It's weird, but it's almost as if a game can totally manage to have great graphics, great gameplay, and a great story. Unheard of!? Heavy Rain's narrative is well done, even when it changes based on your actions. It never feels like an action you took forced an obvious change in the story. It all flows fluidly from scene to scene leading up to the climax and eventual ending. Like great films, you don't want it to end. But it does, and at around nine hours or so, give or take a few depending on how deeply you interact with the world around you or how many characters you let die. And before you ask, no, there's no evil orange A.I. and supernatural shit in the story. With the exception of the most badass pair of sunglasses ever, everything in the story feels plausible. David Cage made the bold suggestion that people should only play through the game once and not worry about getting every possible ending (but then why is there a trophy for 'See All Endings', Mr. Cage?) and in a way I can agree with him. If you go into a second or third playthrough with the mindset of doing everything differently ON PURPOSE, it takes away the feeling of immersion and the tense situations the characters go through. Not to say that there isn't any replay value (since some among you seem to think it's highly important), but I wouldn't immediately start a new game upon finishing, instead I'd wait a month or so until some finer points have gone from your mind. It'll be far more enjoyable that way.
The music is also phenomenal and like any good soundtrack to a film or game, it adds emotional depth and atmosphere to scenes, be they sad or exciting. It never feels out of place or tacked on or like it's forcing you to feel a particular way.
Heavy Rain is a fantastic game. It proves that you can balance the big three: Gameplay, Graphics, and Story. But it's not without faults. The control scheme can get a bit wonky. In a way it's tank like. I had several moments where I wanted a character to turn around but they kept going left. It's also not impossible to find yourself getting stuck around an object until you trace a wider arc around it. And sometimes the interact prompts get obscured by the character, and with no direct camera control this can get annoying as you find yourself having to reorient yourself just to pick up a piece of paper. But they are all, at the end of the day, minor issues.
If you have a PS3 you have no reason to not play PS3. I won't say this is a system seller, but honestly: the PS3 has a bunch of worthy games to own, exclusives at that, that I feel I can finally say 'Yeah, owning a PS3 is justified' now. Heavy Rain only reaffirms that belief. It is a fantastic game. One unlike any game I've played. If all games in the future can prove themselves able to balance the big three like this, than the future of gaming looks bright indeed.
I was so set on believing that Mass Effect 2 would most likely win my game of the year. Now, I believe that Heavy Rain can EASILY take that slot.
Heavy Rain gets a 4.5/5
It's as damn near to my idea of a perfect game as I'm likely to get. But nothing is perfect.