Heavy Rain

I’ve spent the last couple of days at home worshipping the white porcelain god in my bathroom with a nasty stomach bug. It’s not been pretty, but I seem to be on the mend now. I knew there was something up after Sunday’s training when I felt like death, even though (warmup aside) it wasn’t a particularly tough lesson. It gave me a chance to plough some more hours into what’s been my favourite game in a long time though, Quantic Dream’s magnum opus, Heavy Rain.

Heavy Rain

Heavy Rain was on my pre-order list as soon as I found out it was being developed by the same team and producer as the criminally under-rated Fahrenheit, which I loved on the PS2. That style of game doesn’t appeal to everyone, as it’s pretty much an interactive story with limited choices available, and a series of QTEs (Quick Time Event – reflex tests, first really shown in the likes of the laserdisc classics Dragon’s Lair and Space Ace, but only really given its new moniker when Shenmue came along), but I love it. I actually finished Heavy Rain yesterday for the first time, and I have to say I loved every minute. This game does a LOT of things right, namely story-telling and presentation, and you can tell that it’s been a real labour of love. Nothing’s been left to chance, and it’s got the same polish and feel as a tense movie thriller. I realise a lot of people haven’t played it yet, and may want to in the future, so for those people, avoid the section below as there are some pretty big spoilers 😉

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Firstly there are a few things that still seem unexplained to me, which a bit of backstory would’ve helped with at times. For example, why are there intruders at Madison’s place the first time you meet her? I thought it was going to be related to the story, but it never comes up again, it just felt like an unnecessary mechanic to get her into the motel. Also, where did Norman’s ‘Tripto’ addiction come from? It feels like we were dropped into their storylines a few chapters late.

I didn’t see the twist at the end coming at all, they did really well at keeping the suspicion of guilt moving from one person to another. I’m still not sure how mentally unstable Shelby was supposed to be though. He was obviously very aware of what he was doing, and meticulous in his preparation and execution, so why risk his own life in gunfights trying to get to people he would then accuse of his own crimes? I can only assume he was meant to have pretty stark split personalities, but it was never eluded to, not even when it came to light that he was the guilty party.

Ethan’s own foible’s were never properly explained either. Why was he getting the blackouts? Why would he wake up somewhere completely different? Why was he holding an origami animal each time? Are we to assume Shelby was somehow drugging him and leaving the origami with him? It doesn’t make much sense. I’m hoping a lot of the questions I raised above can be answered with a second or even third playthrough, but with a different direction taken at certain points.

There are a few things that make me wonder what would have been different if I’d done it differently. Does taking the Tripto whenever given the opportunity do anything to Norman? What difference did it make when I accidentally (yes accidentally!) shot the religious nut? Was there any way to save the girl from the car underwater? What if I’d shot the man in the fourth trial? What if I’d rejected Madison instead of forgiving her, or never found out she was a journalist in the first place? I guess it’s these questions which are the genius of the game, it makes you want to play again to see what other things could’ve happened and how the game would’ve ended.

My own ending was one where Norman died (I guess I missed an important QTE during his final fight), Shelby got away (he’s seen walking in the rain at the end), and Ethan and Madison end up in a lovely new studio apartment with Shaun. Carter takes Norman’s ARI glasses and is haunted by Norman in the virtual world (again, WTF??).

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If you’ve resisted reading the spoilers, and are even the slightest bit curious about it – Hell, even if you aren’t! – I implore you to get the game. There really is something for everyone in it. The story-telling is masterful, the presentation and graphics are second to none (and that’s saying something), and the soundtrack is great. Norman’s ARI glasses, crime scene investigation and clue analysis are a Minority Report fan’s wet dream. I can almost guarantee you won’t end up seeing the same story as I did, and you might even have a completely different ending. It asks a lot of very difficult moral questions during the course of the game, and several times I found myself pausing the game and thinking ‘Should I do what I would do, or what I think the character would do?’, and it’s being made to think that way that lifts this game above the rest of the crowd. The sense of panic and tension it can generate, messing around with people’s fears (claustrophobics will love one section of the game 😉 ), and making you actually give a damn about the characters is pretty unique.

In-game footage, it really is a gorgeous looking game

Go and buy it, or at the very least borrow it. Set yourself a few hours aside and enjoy. I can only hope David Cage and the rest of QD are working on a Sequel.

Seriously, go and buy it now!