#Heavy rain game review serial#

Heavy Rain takes many chances, calling itself an вЂњInteractive Drama,вЂќ which, while a bit clunky, is still the most accurate description of what the game attempts to do. It is also one of the most вЂњnon-gamer friendlyвЂќ games available, particularly for an audience to watch, as the cinematic qualities are so strong, it is easy to lure observers in to find out what happens next. It is flawed, but it is also an incredibly brave and dazzling attempt to provoke something other than the usual run nвЂ™ gun reaction in its audience. The emphasis on narrative will bore the more action-oriented. The lack of traditional mechanics is guaranteed to alienate a certain segment of the gamer population. The game takes a surprisingly mature approach, repeatedly asking the central question вЂњHow far would you go to save someone you love,вЂќ and reinforcing this with elements of parenthood, childhood trauma, profanity, nudity, and even sex. Players receptive to what Heavy Rain offers will find themselves engaging with the characters, experiencing dread, guilt, anxiety, regret and even disgust as the events of the game unfold. Where most games are about providing the player with enjoyment through a sense of empowerment, Heavy Rain, like some literature, cinema and other fiction, is not necessarily supposed to be вЂњfunвЂќ. Rather than simply assign the вЂњxвЂќ button to jump and вЂњsquareвЂќ button to shoot, actions are all context sensitive, allowing the player to wander through a playfield completely uncluttered by health bars, ammo counts and other displays, until an object can be interacted with.ДЄll of these methods are applied with a very different purpose in mind than what gamers expect. It is a game that is played, but it uses different mechanics such as dialogue trees, quick time events and decision points that can affect the out come of the plot, in addition to steering a character around environments in 3rd person as most gamers are used to. Heavy Rain is not what would be considered a вЂњvideo gameвЂќ in the traditional sense. Based out of Paris, Quantic Dream probably had budgetary limitations that forced them to work with European talent to mimic American accents, but itвЂ™s still a minor blemish on the game. Despite taking place in Philadelphia in 2011, only one of the actors sound like a legitimate American. While not an issue with most games, itвЂ™s a noticeable flaw in Heavy Rain, where narrative immersion is absolutely critical to the experience. While the soundtrack could also be considered one of the best on the market, the voice acting is uneven, with an unpredictable mix of performances. Unfortunately, the audio is not quite up to the same standard. The graphics are slightly let down by technical problems, such as frequent screen tearing, but on a purely aesthetic level, Heavy Rain easily competes with other high profile titles. The art direction is beautiful, moody, and startlingly evocative, and it boasts the best facial capture and character detail seen in any available game. Right off the bat, Heavy RainвЂ™s graphics establish their animators as serious contributors to the current generation of gaming.

#Heavy rain game review serial#

Heavy Rain, without giving away too many details, is about how four unrelated characters (a father, a journalist, an FBI agent, and a private investigator) unite in opposition to a Philadelphia serial killer dubbed вЂњThe Origami KillerвЂќ.

Indigo Prophecy was a daring, original experiment that ultimately failed because of problems with both the story and the interface. Indigo Prophecy 2.0ДЄt its heart, Heavy Rain is a more evolved, realized version of the same concepts and motifs that were seen in David CageвЂ™s previous game, Indigo Prophecy. ItвЂ™s probably one of the most interesting games of the current generation, if for no other reason than it engages debate about the medium and its audience, and does things no other game has attempted like asking players bear the consequences of their actions. Some people will call it a movie, others will call it an evolution of the adventure genre, some will love it, some will hate it, some will вЂњget itвЂќ, and others simply wonвЂ™t.

There will be arguments about what kind of game it is there will be arguments about whether or not it is even a game at all. Heavy Rain is going to provoke discussion.