Heavy Rain

Heavy Rain isn't your ordinary game, it's an intense, inter-active experience that guides you into four character's worlds. You have Ethan Cole, father of two, an architect who's living his American dream. You have Agent Jayden, an FBI investigator sent to investigate the latest killing of the Origami Killer. You have Madison Page, a journalist who disguises herself as a photographer to whomever she meets, all she wants is a little inside story on a victim's father about the Origami killer, and finally you have Scott Shelby, my favourite character. A private detective for hire who's out to get leads on the Origami killer and gets closer to the truth. I won't spoil it for you, because it had me by surprise, BIG TIME.

The story shifts around chapters and events with each of the four characters to balance it out. We each get a Point Of View of how the Origami killer has or is affecting their lives. Each chapter has a very depressing tone to it, it rains nearly every single time, and the skies are cloudy, always. The game takes place in the fall season, so it's no wonder why everything is depressing, but according to the investigation, that's when the Origami killer strikes. The Origami killer takes children between ages 8 and 10 every fall, and puts them under a grated pipe with a lock. He kills them by letting the rainwater fall on them till they suffocate. That's all I will tell you for now, the rest is up to you to find out.

Writer and Game Director of Heavy Rain, David Cage writes a phenomenal story that you'd expect to see it win Oscars and Golden Globes. He manages to make you a part of the story, to draw you in. His inter-active drama is about hitting the buttons at the right time, you miss one or two, it's game over for your character, but that doesn't mean your game ends, your story will pick up on to the next 3 available characters and so on. The game is rumoured to have up to 20 different endings, which means; depending on what you do in each chapter and event to your characters or the way you interact with the other non-playable characters in the game; it WILL effect your ending.

This game screams re-playability. Sometimes you wish you hadn't made a choice in one event and you want to go back, well, you can always restart from that chapter and it will erase all your progress that you are currently on, or play the game naturally to see one of the many endings this game presents you with. This game will revolutionize the gaming industry forever and it should. It should inspire other game developers to make you have a more thorough choice and consequence system. Some RPG's do that, but are they nearly as detailed as Heavy Rain? I think not. This game will win a few awards and will be nominated for game of the year 2010. It will win in the male and female voice acting department, because all the actors behind the mo-cap suit are under-rated actors. Especially Agent Jayden, I love his east coast accent, it makes him sound legit, he even looks the part too even though his mo-cap actor is fully European.

So, if you haven't purchased this game, then you're missing out on the game of the year and the game of the decade on a top 10 list. This remarkable game gets my 10/10 for originality, no movie can do this, because it would have to have many different versions of it. Harold and Kumar 2 has an inter-active feature similar to Heavy Rain if you rent the blu-ray, but nowhere near the depth of detail of Heavy Rain. But it does use the same concept, except without pressing timed buttons, just selecting what they will do next. It gets 10/10 for voice acting; some of the best voice acting I've seen so far in a video game, it's so believable as if they were real people. Like I said, Agent Jayden is an under-rated actor as well as the man behind Scott Shelby. Hopefully this game has shun a spotlight for them to act in Hollywood because they truly are gifted individuals. 10/10 for the concept. It plays like no other game has played before. You're taken in to the story and characters, the choices you make will affect the next set of events and ending. The button timers are also a plus to the events and actions your character is doing at the moment, whether it's life or DEATH.

Finally, the game gets a 10/10 for a masterpiece of a story. Even though you can change fates and endings, the background plot that connects everything is phenomenal! The game lets you discover who the Origami killer is on his own, and even if you can't figure it out, its revelation is nuts, it hits you real hard because you wouldn't believe that, that kinda person is the Origami killer. Like I said, I won't spoil, you MUST find this out on your own. It took me by surprise big time. The story makes you like the Origami killer before the character is revealed to be that killer, then when you find out. BAM! Big surprise, your face will literally change, your eyes will widen in awe and you'll say "holy sh*t, I can't believe I never saw this". But the important question this game/story asks us is: How far are you willing to go to protect the one you love? This game will makes you answer that, but also, think about it in real life. If something happened to the one you loved dearest, how far would you go to protect them?

Pros:

• Great story & characters
• Challenging choices
• Pretty good graphics
• Great plot twists
• Great music

Cons:

• Slow start to story
• Some story plot-holes
• Few bugs and glitches

Verdict: Another Quantic Dream game that conducts a great story with sympathetic protagonist that keeps you glued to the game. Thou with a slow start may push people away, the game delivers soon after.

8.5/10

What a very good movie and have some strong moments. The investigation of the murder was very interesting and we want to know the killer until the end. It was a very good experience with some very interesting characters. The revelation at the end let us speechless and make the whole game make us seen antoher perspective that we didnt think about. Very clever video game and very good narrative that keep us engage. And the choices can have strong consequences. And the different ending can make us wanted to see all the end possible. And they have a lot !. An unforgettable video game for sure.

Let's figure this: you have been dreaming of become a a movie star for a long time, and then someone offers you to star in his adventure movie, and you accept it. This is the case of Heavy Rain.

Heavy Rain is a video game - and a movie at the same time, with brilliant combinations of drama, action, adventure, and thriller elements. It has gorgeous graphics with amazing attention to the smallest details, terrific atmosphere, great audio, and one of the most sophisticated storyline ever released as a video game, no one even comes close to it. And get this: no superhero, no alien, no monster, no future setting, no demons, no magic spells - it is about several (well, OK, four) ordinary people deal with extraordinary situations, set in our time.

Well, honestly, Heavy Rain may not be the game for everyone. If you're more into shooting and slashing spree from the start (Ninja Gaiden, everyone?), this game might bore you as hell because it does have its slow-paced moments, especially at the beginning. But now I'm talking movie here, and since I said that this game qualifies as a movie too, let me remind that even fast-paced action movies may be slow at times, so it might be a good excuse to give this game a go.

The actions are simply based on moving and quick time events. No worries of memorizing combos and complicated button assignments here...you will spend more time watching than actually pressing the buttons to play...well, that's one more reason why I call this game a movie.

If you plan to grab a copy, pick the Heavy Rain Move Edition. It is basically the same game with tons of extras: PS Move support (as the title says), nice theme for your PS3, bonus tracks, some behind the scene and promotional footage, and the biggest one - in my opinion that is -, Taxidermist side-story (originally released as DLC) to feed your adventure fetish a bit more after you finish the game - that's ALL in one box.

So adventure PS3 gamers (if you don't have a PS3 then it is not your lucky day) rejoice, for you're on one - no - two really nice treats this time: it is a great game as well as a marvelous movie. What are you waiting for? Go to the nearest store, pick a copy,provide a nice couch along with some snacks, spare some times, and get ready to star in your own movie!

Or something like that. The game at hand here is quite unique, although the one responsible for the game is known to make games as intriguing as the one right here. The inciting incident here is quite ... harrowing to say the least! It really gives you the chills. And it drives the story and the characters forward ... it also has ... well I'd advice not to read too much about the story, because the way it evolves and the twists and turns ... you have to experience them! Truly great game to say the least.

In Fahrenheit you only played one character and this is the first game you jump back and forth, changing the perspective you have and bringing quite the unique flavor into the game too. If you like story driven games, you will love this. Most of the things are QTE events and decisions you have to make .. which is not something everyone loves ... but those who do ... they'll more than cherish this.