Heavy Rain
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Heavy Rain is a Hollywood-style cinematic adventure that takes players on a journey through a dark and sophisticated film noir thriller.
We have gathered together the best information currently available for Heavy Rain including , an article detailing all of it's main features, reviews written by readers just like you, screenshots to show you exactly what Heavy Rain looks like, cheats for Heavy Rain and gameplay tips too.
Heavy Rain is a Sony PlayStation 3 Action game, written by Quantic Dream.
Guide to Heavy Rain on the PlayStation 3
Heavy Rain is in a league of its own. It is quite difficult to categorize the game into an existing genre, such that it has seemed to innovate in all aspects of the gameplay and story but the developers at Quantic Dream would like to refer to it as a mystery drama that will leave you breathless yet entertained. Entertaining appears to be the key word for Heavy Rain and it is quite hazy for gamers to decipher especially for casual gamers looking for “fun” from a video game. But a concept such as presented by this new IP is bound to challenge the tenets of your typical action/adventure game and hardcore gamers perception of what is truly entertaining.
Although the concept is still in its infancy stage, Heavy Rain is quickly looking to change the face of gaming. Critics who praised the title believes that if this title will perform poorly on the sales charts, then it is a testament that the industry is not yet ready for mature gaming, a category to which this game might naturally fall under. If the earlier builds for the game has left you with anxious hearts, greedy eyes, and unfulfilled anticipation, then there is probably reason behind the unprecedented amount of hype surrounding Heavy Rain. For people who enjoy the choose-your-own-adventure approach to gaming, then you'd certainly work well with the basics of this title's gameplay that will meld often familiar gameplay elements into something quite, well, unique.
The story is at the very heart of Heavy Rain. For a game with no health meters, no experience points, no hidden objects or treasure chests, no action-oriented combat, no inventory of weapons, it succeeds in delving deep into the human experience and emotion. The mundane actions executed in Heavy Rain can take you through a gamut of emotions all throughout as the plot unfolds. You will find yourself feeling tensed, scared, mad, content, nervous, and anxious, while in most cases you'd experience a combination of these.
There are four sets of eyes from which you can experience the action in Heavy Rain through various perspectives. These four characters are Ethan Mars (a father and architect), private detective Scott Shelby, journalist Madison Paige, and FBI profiler Norman Jayden. This is not to say that the lives of these characters are intermingled in the storyline, but they are linked together as each have association with the Origami Killer. This maniac is publicly known for kidnapping and drowning boys aged 9 to 13 in rainwater, which explains the title for the game. These people do not know each other initially but as the mystery of the Origami Killer in Heavy Rain slowly unfolds, they will soon cross each other's paths.
The job for all four of these characters are one and the same – to identify and locate the Origami Killer. But you have a different job to manage in Heavy Rain though, and that is to make sure that these four characters stay alive in order to fulfill that mission. From here, the complexity of the storyline unravels itself and this is probably where most would get to appreciate (or not) the beauty and artistry of the game. Majority of the action here consist of doing mundane things, such as brushing one's teeth, opening cabinets, interacting with other characters, and so on. Some might view these instances as a complete waste of time, but Heavy Rain does an impressive job of building that up. Furthermore, the intrigue of the scenes lead up to branching storylines and consequences to your every decision in the game.
Speaking of consequences, you will have to go through specific actions in Heavy Rain. But if one of the four characters die in the course of the game, it does not end and rather makes do with what the game offers and adapts from there. You won't experience any “do-over” in Heavy Rain, although it is impressive how the game reflects any changes that have transpired along the way until later on. Whatever decisions you make along the way, whether through action or dialogue, will impact how things turn out later on and is something that you have to deal with. It is therefore advised that you take each step with a watchful eye in Heavy Rain. You won't be doing much detective work in the game, although when you immerse into the persona of FBI profiler Norman Jayden, this is where you can perform your duties of gathering clues and investigating so you can identify who the Origami Killer is.
Another factor that further adds trickery into the gameplay for Heavy Rain is the auto-save system. Although we're not quite sure if the developers at Quantic Dream intended it to be so, having the auto-save system magnifies the importance of weighing every decision and action executed in the game. One wrong move could have lethal consequences in the game. While there is technically no losses for you in Heavy Rain, auto-saving a mistake could cripple your chances at achieving the best possible ending there is.
As the story can get pretty complex in Heavy Rain, the developers opted not to overwhelm gamers by keeping the controls simple and basic. Majority of your time will be spent walking the character around in exploration of the environments and you can execute these with basic analog movements and button presses. Meanwhile, the QTEs are very well implemented in Heavy Rain, such that your character won't die outright if you fail to execute an action. A cut-scene will quickly follow though that will indicate that something is not quite right or as it is supposed to be. Instead of you adjusting to how the story restricts you into doing certain actions, it responds to the actions you have executed instead.
Due to the branching storyline in Heavy Rain, it boosts the game's replay value and it makes you realize how the game values your choices. Once you have played through the major events in the game, you can give it a second go and realize that you will encounter new scenes, even until the third playthrough. Hence, there are several ways of approaching Heavy Rain and each time out seems refreshingly anew.
There are areas in the gameplay for Heavy Rain that are plagued with minor flaws, but most of it center around the character movement. In most cases, the movement of the head does not jive with the rest of the body or the characters' faces often have these weird expressions that seem odd. Another source of issue in Heavy Rain concerns the camera, which can often be positioned in the wrong places. Although you can press the L1 button to switch the camera view, it neither really helps to offer the best vantage point in the game. Thankfully though, none of these issues are recurring, which only suggests that the game is nowhere near being perfect yet.
Moving over to the visual aspect of Heavy Rain, there is little doubt in anyone's mind that this game is a masterpiece. They have utilized real actors to demonstrate and record over 30,000 unique animations to make the in-game actions seem realistic. The details of the background environment are also very rich and even though it is generally equipped with a misty sort of atmosphere, it is undeniably clear and visually arresting. The same commendation could be given to Heavy Rain's outstanding audio presentation with a nearly flawless sound effect system. Professional actors such as Pascal Langdale, Sam Douglas, Jacqui Ainsley, and Leon Ockenden did an excellent job with the voice acting to give life to the game's four major characters. And finally, the orchestral music score featured in the game, especially the crescendos on the climactic scenes, help to pull gamers in into a heart-pounding sequence of events.
Not too many PS3 gamers might appreciate the approach employed in Heavy Rain but the developers are dead set with the standard of innovation it has placed the game at. With David Cage's insistence on not offering a sequel to the franchise, then they have really managed to pour everything in for a great story that will surely dominate your time on the living room.
Heavy Rain Game Features
* Emotional Experience – Player decisions are rooted in emotion, decision-making, and overall story. The game’s technology and realism help to engage emotional attachment as players progress through the game.
* Bending Storylines – ‘Bending Storylines’ heighten the immersion and tension, raising the stakes of players’ choices and actions and delivering a more engaging and immersive experience.
* Film Quality Narrative – Heavy Rain brings a high-quality story filled with tension, emotion, intrigue, and dramatic twists.
* Accessibility – Heavy Rain combines sophisticated themes/tone/content with intuitive gameplay that caters to casual as well as hardcore gaming fans.
* Hollywood Production Values – From the length of the script, to the musical score, to the number of hours of motion capture, Heavy Rain is a vast and ambitious project that delivers a true film noir feel as well as production values that rival a cinematic experience.
* An Auteur of Videogaming – Writer, director, and studio head David Cage is the vision behind Heavy Rain – pushing at the boundaries of video gaming with a new approach that places narrative and emotion at the forefront.
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