Remember
those old
adventure books? (To go left, turn to page 24. To go right, turn to
page 48. Skip through to page 24, YOU DIE. Aaarrrggh, go back, go
back). Yes, that old chestnut is back in a bigger and much better
way.
Times
have changed since
the great RL Stine produced some of the finest and most suspenseful
literature ever in the “Make your own adventure” book series, and
the transformation from the page to the screen couldn’t have been
better.
Heavy
Rain can basically
be looked at as an Interactive movie. Director and Creator David Cage
describes it as “a very dark film noir thriller with mature
themes”. The graphics are good enough to pass purely as a
computer-animated flick. The storyline is well thought out, the
characters are addictive and the game play is fun and unique.
To
kick things off without
ruining any of the story, I will give you a basic plot outline.
Hmm,
It's hard to give a
plot outline as the multiple stories intertwine brilliantly and I
could easily give away crucial information without even knowing it.
So to avoid anyone cracking the sads for me spoiling crucial
information I will simply say: There are murders and there are four
main characters connected in some way to the murders.
Character
1: Ethan Mars –
Married father of 2 boys, occasionally blacks out, architect.
Character
2: Scott Shelby
– 40 something, Private Detective, likes a drink.
Character
3: Norman Jayden
– FBI Profiler, Drug addict, owner of some really cool sunnies.
Character
4: Madison Paige
– Photojournalist, insomniac, smokin' hot.
The
greatest aspect of
this game is the liberty to respond to situations and scenarios with
complete freedom. If you want to neglect your kids, go for it. If you
want to be the worst FBI profiler imaginable, feel free. If you want
to let people get killed, hey, who is going to stop you? And the
brilliant thing is, the storyline adapts and changes to how you have
responded.
This
has to be one of the
most well written games I have ever enjoyed playing, you become
attached to the characters, the twists are brilliant and you never
know what’s around the corner. Kudos to you David Cage.
The
controls are sensitive
to the situation you find yourself in. Slamming the buttons quickly
in tense situations, gently moving the analog stick in calmer
situations. Rotating the controller, shaking the controller, the game
has it all.
Now,
let's get a couple of
negatives out of the way. Walking around gets quite annoying at
times. When the camera angle changes, as does the direction you want
your character to walk. So often you are going back and forth over
the same spot. Also, some of the button requests are temperamental.
For example, shaking the controller from side to side will work one
minute, then fail the next. However, these small nuisances don’t
directly affect the enjoyment levels, such a strong storyline helps
to ignore such things.
With
so many paths to go
down, and with apparently something like 22 endings, this game has a
lot of run through capabilities. I found myself whacking it back on
from the start once I had finished the game just to do things
differently.
Heavy Rain is a cracker of a game, and I must say,
it
left me a little wet.
Character
1: Ethan Mars –
Married father of 2 boys, occasionally blacks out, architect.
