The recently released Heavy Rain, a PS3 exclusive, is a video game developed by Quantic Dream that has been in development since 2006. Director David Cage has stated that Heavy Rain would be “a very dark film noir thriller with mature themes”, without any supernatural elements, and that “the real message (of the game) is about how far you’re willing to go to save someone you love.”
Back in 2008, David Cage gave a further explanation of his goals for the game by stating, “Heavy Rain is about normal people who have landed in extraordinary situations. I wanted a much more personal story. The first thing that came to my mind, as a father of two little boys, was that the main theme should simply be a father’s love for his son. This is not a game about saving the princess or the world. Its [sic] purely about a father’s love. The main story will revolve around four different characters, and we’re putting the spotlight on their perceptions. The question ‘what is good and what is evil’ is the key here, that will be just a matter of viewpoint…I believe heavily in moral choices, I’m going to use them A LOT. They’re not about being good or bad, but about finding the right balance.”
What really separates the game from everything else out there is the unique control style and incredible realism found in each character.
Heavy Rain uses a unique control scheme. A trigger button on the PlayStation 3 controller will move the character forward. It will take advantage of the button’s analogue function, allowing the user to control the speed of the character’s movement by pressing harder or softer on the button. The left analogue stick will control the movement of the character’s head and the direction the character moves in relation to where the character is looking. David Cage explains that this frees the movement of the character from the perspective of the camera.
The rest of the game is played using a series of context sensitive actions such as picking up a bottle in a grocery store and hitting a robber on the head with it or pressing the “X” button to call the player character’s son, Jason, and quick time events, normally for chase and combat sequences. Players are able to bring up a selection of their character’s current thoughts by holding the L2 button and pressing corresponding buttons to say or do what they’re thinking. These thoughts will sometimes blur, and selecting them at the wrong time will affect the character’s reaction, causing them to say or do something in the wrong way.
Action sequences, such as when the player is being attacked, will be played out as quick time events. Players will be presented with various symbols, requiring them to either press buttons, move the right analogue stick in a certain way, or shake or tilt the controller. Failure to execute these commands take the story along a different path, and certain mistakes will lead to a character’s death.
For example, in one scene, Norman Jayden is interrogating a suspect named Mad Jack when he starts to suffer from withdrawal symptoms and button prompts will show up. If he fails to take his drugs, he will be taken to a scenario in which he will have to escape from a car before it is thrown into a crusher, killing him. In scenes like these, a ‘timer’ scene (a portion of the screen that is devoted to show the player how long he or she has until their time runs out, or another event is scripted to occur, which is shown through several different camera angles) is shown at the bottom of the screen, indicating how long the player has to escape from his predicament.
If a character dies, the game does not end, and play control switches to another character, with the events of the previous character’s death affecting the story. In the event that all four characters die, there is a proper conclusion to the story and the game ends.
There are four playable characters.
Ethan Mars: Played by French actor Pascal Langdale. Mars is a young architect living on the east coast of America. In 2008, he lost his eldest son in a car accident that left him in a coma. Once a successful and happy family man, Ethan is now grief-stricken and depressed two years later, separated from his wife and distant from his other son, Shaun. Still suffering from the after-effects of the accident, Ethan is thrown into a nightmare when he discovers that Shaun may become the next victim of the Origami Killer. He will be forced to confront just how far he is prepared to go to rescue his son, and in doing so, he may be able to finally find redemption from the guilt and grief he feels.
Madison Paige: Played by model Jacqui Ainsley. A twenty-seven-year-old photographer living alone in the city. Suffering from crippling insomnia and nightmares, she often finds herself checking into local motels for the night – seemingly the only place she can rest and relax. Though she has no apparent connection with the Origami Killer case, she will soon find herself unexpectedly drawn into the investigation. When she does, she will show courage and commitment, placing herself in great danger to find out the truth.
Norman Jayden: Portrayed by British actor Leon Ockenden. Jayden is a dedicated and thorough FBI profiler sent into this unfamiliar city to support the police force with their investigation into the Origami Killer. Jayden specializes in utilizing an experimental device called ARI, short for ?Added Reality Interface,? which allows him to investigate crime scenes and analyze evidence in a unique way. With the local cops resentful of both of his methods and his very presence, he struggles urgently to piece together the evidence before it is too late and another victim is discovered.
Scott Shelby: Played by actor Sam Douglas. A forty-five-year-old cop-turned-private investigator after twenty years with the local police department. Two decades on the streets have left him tough and cynical, but despite his sometimes hard demeanor, he has a sense of honor and compassion that shines through under pressure. Shelby has been hired by the families of previous victims of the Origami Killer and is now conducting a parallel investigation into the case, searching for clues and leads that the authorities may have missed.
Early reviews of Heavy Rain have been very positive, and has received very high marks in nearly every major publication and blogs out there.
The UK Official PlayStation Magazine scored the game 9 out of 10, with reviewers saying, “I’m convinced it’s one of the freshest, most exciting, and even important games on PS3 so far.” The magazine praised the effective controls of the game, as well as the pacing of the story, which the reviewer described as key, and perfectly designed to create an “exhausting, exhilarating, and, crucially, involving” experience. He concluded by saying that, “Certainly there’s nothing quite like it on PS3, or indeed any other system. Put gaming conventions aside, go in with no expectations other than this is something new and massively good-looking, and you’ll be rewarded with a unique experience that lurches between genius and madness, manages to be genuinely emotional, and that you’ll be bursting to talk about with your friends.”
Eurogamer France also gave the game a score of 9 out of 10, saying, “The game of Quantic Dream has touched me, unquestionably, as a player because it symbolizes today the culmination of a genre halfway between cinema and video game that has always seemed interesting in its intentions but rarely conclusive.” The reviewer concludes by saying, “A high score, therefore, to welcome risk-taking that represents this type of production today.”
British magazine GamesMaster gave the game a score of 91%, complimenting Heavy Rain for being ‘incredibly original and compelling.’ It adds, “The atmosphere is incredible – full of driving rain (which becomes central to the plot), fizzing neon lights, dank apartments and warehouses. It’s a dark noir game, not a bright adventure.” The title was also given a GamesMaster Gold Award.
IGN’s Chris Roper scored the game 9.0/10 commenting specifically on the game’s “fantastic story that’s one of the best in gaming.” However, he pointed out that the game’s beginning is very slow, and might turn off some players.
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Christopher
The recently released Heavy Rain, a PS3 exclusive, is a video game developed by Quantic Dream that has been in development since 2006. Director David Cage has stated that Heavy Rain would be “a very dark film noir thriller with mature themes”, without any supernatural elements, and that “the real message (of the game) is about how far you’re willing to go to save someone you love.”
Back in 2008, David Cage gave a further explanation of his goals for the game by stating, “Heavy Rain is about normal people who have landed in extraordinary situations. I wanted a much more personal story. The first thing that came to my mind, as a father of two little boys, was that the main theme should simply be a father’s love for his son. This is not a game about saving the princess or the world. Its [sic] purely about a father’s love. The main story will revolve around four different characters, and we’re putting the spotlight on their perceptions. The question ‘what is good and what is evil’ is the key here, that will be just a matter of viewpoint…I believe heavily in moral choices, I’m going to use them A LOT. They’re not about being good or bad, but about finding the right balance.”
What really separates the game from everything else out there is the unique control style and incredible realism found in each character.
Heavy Rain uses a unique control scheme. A trigger button on the PlayStation 3 controller will move the character forward. It will take advantage of the button’s analogue function, allowing the user to control the speed of the character’s movement by pressing harder or softer on the button. The left analogue stick will control the movement of the character’s head and the direction the character moves in relation to where the character is looking. David Cage explains that this frees the movement of the character from the perspective of the camera.
The rest of the game is played using a series of context sensitive actions such as picking up a bottle in a grocery store and hitting a robber on the head with it or pressing the “X” button to call the player character’s son, Jason, and quick time events, normally for chase and combat sequences. Players are able to bring up a selection of their character’s current thoughts by holding the L2 button and pressing corresponding buttons to say or do what they’re thinking. These thoughts will sometimes blur, and selecting them at the wrong time will affect the character’s reaction, causing them to say or do something in the wrong way.
Action sequences, such as when the player is being attacked, will be played out as quick time events. Players will be presented with various symbols, requiring them to either press buttons, move the right analogue stick in a certain way, or shake or tilt the controller. Failure to execute these commands take the story along a different path, and certain mistakes will lead to a character’s death.
For example, in one scene, Norman Jayden is interrogating a suspect named Mad Jack when he starts to suffer from withdrawal symptoms and button prompts will show up. If he fails to take his drugs, he will be taken to a scenario in which he will have to escape from a car before it is thrown into a crusher, killing him. In scenes like these, a ‘timer’ scene (a portion of the screen that is devoted to show the player how long he or she has until their time runs out, or another event is scripted to occur, which is shown through several different camera angles) is shown at the bottom of the screen, indicating how long the player has to escape from his predicament.
If a character dies, the game does not end, and play control switches to another character, with the events of the previous character’s death affecting the story. In the event that all four characters die, there is a proper conclusion to the story and the game ends.
There are four playable characters.
Ethan Mars: Played by French actor Pascal Langdale. Mars is a young architect living on the east coast of America. In 2008, he lost his eldest son in a car accident that left him in a coma. Once a successful and happy family man, Ethan is now grief-stricken and depressed two years later, separated from his wife and distant from his other son, Shaun. Still suffering from the after-effects of the accident, Ethan is thrown into a nightmare when he discovers that Shaun may become the next victim of the Origami Killer. He will be forced to confront just how far he is prepared to go to rescue his son, and in doing so, he may be able to finally find redemption from the guilt and grief he feels.
Madison Paige: Played by model Jacqui Ainsley. A twenty-seven-year-old photographer living alone in the city. Suffering from crippling insomnia and nightmares, she often finds herself checking into local motels for the night – seemingly the only place she can rest and relax. Though she has no apparent connection with the Origami Killer case, she will soon find herself unexpectedly drawn into the investigation. When she does, she will show courage and commitment, placing herself in great danger to find out the truth.
Norman Jayden: Portrayed by British actor Leon Ockenden. Jayden is a dedicated and thorough FBI profiler sent into this unfamiliar city to support the police force with their investigation into the Origami Killer. Jayden specializes in utilizing an experimental device called ARI, short for ?Added Reality Interface,? which allows him to investigate crime scenes and analyze evidence in a unique way. With the local cops resentful of both of his methods and his very presence, he struggles urgently to piece together the evidence before it is too late and another victim is discovered.
Scott Shelby: Played by actor Sam Douglas. A forty-five-year-old cop-turned-private investigator after twenty years with the local police department. Two decades on the streets have left him tough and cynical, but despite his sometimes hard demeanor, he has a sense of honor and compassion that shines through under pressure. Shelby has been hired by the families of previous victims of the Origami Killer and is now conducting a parallel investigation into the case, searching for clues and leads that the authorities may have missed.
Early reviews of Heavy Rain have been very positive, and has received very high marks in nearly every major publication and blogs out there.
The UK Official PlayStation Magazine scored the game 9 out of 10, with reviewers saying, “I’m convinced it’s one of the freshest, most exciting, and even important games on PS3 so far.” The magazine praised the effective controls of the game, as well as the pacing of the story, which the reviewer described as key, and perfectly designed to create an “exhausting, exhilarating, and, crucially, involving” experience. He concluded by saying that, “Certainly there’s nothing quite like it on PS3, or indeed any other system. Put gaming conventions aside, go in with no expectations other than this is something new and massively good-looking, and you’ll be rewarded with a unique experience that lurches between genius and madness, manages to be genuinely emotional, and that you’ll be bursting to talk about with your friends.”
Eurogamer France also gave the game a score of 9 out of 10, saying, “The game of Quantic Dream has touched me, unquestionably, as a player because it symbolizes today the culmination of a genre halfway between cinema and video game that has always seemed interesting in its intentions but rarely conclusive.” The reviewer concludes by saying, “A high score, therefore, to welcome risk-taking that represents this type of production today.”
British magazine GamesMaster gave the game a score of 91%, complimenting Heavy Rain for being ‘incredibly original and compelling.’ It adds, “The atmosphere is incredible – full of driving rain (which becomes central to the plot), fizzing neon lights, dank apartments and warehouses. It’s a dark noir game, not a bright adventure.” The title was also given a GamesMaster Gold Award.
IGN’s Chris Roper scored the game 9.0/10 commenting specifically on the game’s “fantastic story that’s one of the best in gaming.” However, he pointed out that the game’s beginning is very slow, and might turn off some players.
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