For years developers have been touting their games as interactive movies From the full motion video romps of the mid nineties to the near photo realistic 3d action adventure games of today the games look good, they have that cinematic style, but for the most part there has always been an obvious disconnect between the interactive gameplay and the noninteractive “movie” portions of a game. Quantic Dream’s Heavy Rain, and its predecessor Indigo Prophecy, on the other hand may be as close to a true interactive movie experience as we are likely. Though there are a few very short cutscenes at least ninety percent of the game is interactively controlled by the player. Even the most mundane tasks such as getting dressed or brushing your teeth are controlled by the player. I played through it this weekend and it’s an amazing journey. Not without its flaws of course but still an incredibly stylish and well made adventure.
Beyond the camera work the most important thing about a film or a game is the story, and Heavy Rain has an incredibly written story. On the surface it’s a fairly standard crime drama. A serial killer is stalking the city, kidnapping children and then murdering them. But it’s what they do with that basic premise that’s so well done. The game spends much of its time giving forcing the player to make moral choices while digging into the physiology of its characters. There is an incredible attention to detail and as the chapters progress and events unfold the story is constantly changing.
You control four disparate individuals all trying to track down the Origami Killer and save the latest victim. As Ethan, the father of the kidnapped child, you are put through a series of gruesome trials to see how far you’d go to save your son. As Norman the FBI agent sent to hunt the killer down its all about detective work, using the sci-fi inspired ARI interface to find and analyze clues while also dealing with a growing addiction. Scott the private detective is slowly working through the parents of the previous victims in search of clues. And then there is Madison, the journalist with her own demons who is hunting the story more than the killer. As the game progresses their paths begin to cross and intertwine.
One amazing aspect is that all the characters can eventually die or fail, and the game doesn’t end until either that happens or the boy is saved and the killer caught. If one dies the story goes on, and it all feels and flows so naturally. I don’t think I’ve played a game like this in a long time if ever. A game where I wasn’t just afraid of dieing because it would hurt my score or end the game but because it would actual effect the story, not to mention that I really began to get attached to all four of them.
The graphics are good but not quite up to par with some other releases. The facial animations were all motion captured and looked incredible, but in some areas the physical animations and backgrounds just weren’t up to the same level. Clipping was a problem in some areas and pretty much anytime to characters were supposed to touch there were issues as well. But most of it is nitpicky really. The game does look good, and the graphics help tell the story well enough, the amount of emotion in the faces and eyes overshadows the weaker points.
The voice acting was excellent, apparently the actors they motion captured for the faces all did the voice work as well, much like casting a real movie I suppose. There were one or two moments when the emotions in the voices didn’t quite seem to match the on screen actions but overall it all really felt right. The dialogue was well written which always helps. Add in great music that helped set the mood of each scene, adding urgency when needed, and did a good job laying a subtle emotional ground work and the games soundscape was nearly perfect.
Now one of my biggest gripes is also the game best features really. In order to make nearly every part of the game interactive and have it feel natural the game uses a large number of quick time events. Unfortunately I personally suck at these things. Luckily the game lets you change the difficultly of them a bit which made it easier. Otherwise all the controls are very context sensitive and though it takes a little getting used to one you have they all feel very natural. Later in the game you’ll find yourself almost responding without looking at the prompts, the controls being second nature.
Unfortunately the game is rather short, but it packs of a lot of story in its limited time. You should be able to finish it within a few days of play, or even a weekend if you really get into it. It good enough that that’s what I did. And it’s loaded with replay ability since different actions will result in different paths through the story. Of course at the same time sitting through the credits each time, they aren’t shippable, could get annoying. Also, and this could be my system getting old, but the game occasional locked up forcing a reset of the console.
I highly recommend this game to everyone. Its well written, well acted, and just all around well made. It truly is an interactive movie experience. I personally recommend buying so you can replay through all the different paths and see all the endings, but it’s worth a rental at the least.