Within the first hour of playing Heavy Rain I had lost one child in a car accident, roughed up a thug hassling a prostitute, examined a murder victim and had another son kidnapped. So, not a game for the family then, unless yours is the Manson family.
Taking the basic game mechanic from such classics as Dragons Lair and Space Ace, Heavy Rain plays as a series of quick time events. Now this may sound like a fairly repetitive thing to do, but Quantic Dream has taken this idea to it?s extremes. Moving the right stick in the directions shown to provide the action almost feels very natural and never actually gets boring. Fast paced action scenes become a reaction test of which button you can press the fastest.
The story follows three main characters, a portly private detective, a junkie FBI agent and a tortured father. All of their stories revolve around the mysterious Origami Killer. The plot is well written and the strongest part of the game. I found myself genuinely engrossed the way a good book draws you in. Unlike a book though your choices are what drives the story forward. Each choice you make has repercussions later, for instance, you at one point you have to wipe down your prints after a discovering a murder, clean all the places you touched earlier and the police wont question you, miss even one and you are taken in for questioning, thus losing time to investigate further.
The facial animation is some of the best I have ever seen in game. Of course it?s not up to the high standards of Hollywood blockbusters but it looks like gaming is getting close.
One problem I found was that I was spending too much time concentrating on looking for the ?Press this button now? icon that I was missing the motion captured performances of the action on screen. That said, this is a game that is story driven, the writing is top notch and the voice acting never feels out of place. Some call it an experiment; I think it?s a worthy addition to the Playstation 3?s catalogue.
Taking the basic game mechanic from such classics as Dragons Lair and Space Ace, Heavy Rain plays as a series of quick time events. Now this may sound like a fairly repetitive thing to do, but Quantic Dream has taken this idea to it?s extremes. Moving the right stick in the directions shown to provide the action almost feels very natural and never actually gets boring. Fast paced action scenes become a reaction test of which button you can press the fastest.
The story follows three main characters, a portly private detective, a junkie FBI agent and a tortured father. All of their stories revolve around the mysterious Origami Killer. The plot is well written and the strongest part of the game. I found myself genuinely engrossed the way a good book draws you in. Unlike a book though your choices are what drives the story forward. Each choice you make has repercussions later, for instance, you at one point you have to wipe down your prints after a discovering a murder, clean all the places you touched earlier and the police wont question you, miss even one and you are taken in for questioning, thus losing time to investigate further.
The facial animation is some of the best I have ever seen in game. Of course it?s not up to the high standards of Hollywood blockbusters but it looks like gaming is getting close.
One problem I found was that I was spending too much time concentrating on looking for the ?Press this button now? icon that I was missing the motion captured performances of the action on screen. That said, this is a game that is story driven, the writing is top notch and the voice acting never feels out of place. Some call it an experiment; I think it?s a worthy addition to the Playstation 3?s catalogue.
