Heavy Rain is undeniably unique and an important footnote along the evolutionary line of videogames. It's not even a "game" so much as an engrossing experiment that tasks the player with accepting their choices, sticking by them, and seeing how far you'd go to protect the ones you love. It's not without its flaws, but it's still a remarkable achievement.

The story of Heavy Rain follows a father, whose son ends up getting killed by a car when he lets him wander away. Ethan, now divorced from his wife, has a fractured relationship with his one surviving son, but it's about to go from bad to worst when The Origami Killer kidnaps him and forces the father to play his game. Meanwhile, you'll sporadically flip back and forth between other characters, including private detective Scott, journalist Madison, and FBI agent Jayden. How will the lives of these characters crisscross and interact? Who will live and who will die?

First and foremost, given the type of game Heavy Rain is, it ultimately lives or dies based on how solid its story is. When taken as a whole, Heavy Rain is a wonderful story that kept me engrossed and constantly devouring every moment to see what plot point would come next. I found the story fascinating…even if it does rip-off the central premise behind the Saw movies. Once the story starts concluding, however, I was still really intrigued by the motives behind The Origami Killer and what their ultimate end game was.

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Despite my love of the story, however, I can't help but notice some flaws and illogical moments. I was shocked by the revelation of who The Origami Killer was, but mainly because there's such a misdirection within the game it feels almost like a cheat. Another problem I had is that two characters in particular discovered who The Origami Killer was and yet it seemed more out of necessity than anything. How could you know when you've never met the person before?!? Wipe that shocked look off your face. Ultimately, errors are there to facilitate the emotional reaction of the player than make perfect sense.

An interesting thing about the game is that if you had ten players playing the game at the same time, more than likely everyone would have a different experience with the game. What might be a watercooler moment for one player might not have even happened for another. When facing down Ethan's origami challenges, it's possible to outright refuse to do them, which can and will change how the story progresses. If a character dies they stay dead. If a character succeeds or makes a mistake in an action, consequences do indeed happen. Once you "know" the ending and all the facts, it's even possible to shape the story how you'd like. Do you want The Origami Killer to get theirs while everyone else lives to see another day? Do you want The Origami Killer to win? It's all possible.

What I really enjoyed about Heavy Rain is how it manages to give so much subtext and meaning to various actions and scenes. A lazy day playing with the kids becomes the last happy moment of a man's life. A day at the park is a breakthrough before the storm hits. When someone says one thing or does something, later on you find that it had a hidden meaning at the time. It's like watching a movie where there's a twist ending – I like to use The Prestige as an example. It's got a great twist (awesome movie too), but the movie isn't reliant on it since it's so good you can easily watch it again and again and take something away from it, such as looking for those subtle clues where you think, "Why didn't I see that then? It was so obvious." Such is the case with Heavy Rain – once you're done playing it for the first time, you'll want to play it again to experience things again and see how you could've possibly missed what was right in front of your eyes.

So you're probably asking yourself, "Okay, we get it, great story, but you haven't mentioned anything about gameplay." Well that's because there isn't much to say. You walk around to find objects to interact with, highlight them, and then you press buttons. You'll either tap buttons sequentially, hold one or more down, flick or slowly push the right thumbstick in a certain direction, madly tap on a button, or use the SIXAXIS to balance or shake or flick it in a desired direction. You'll also be able to inwardly listen to your thoughts and be able to select a line of dialogue or line of progression based on the answer you give, which is represented as a series of words floating around your head. In a neat bit of inspiration, when you're frazzled or distressed, the words bounce and blur as if you're having a hard time thinking. Genius! Outside of those things, however, there isn't anything else to talk about in terms of gameplay or controls.

Of Course I Made Her Strip

So if you do so relatively little within the scope of the game, why does it work? The reason the minimalist controls work is because the game is so absorbing a single button press, when the game is on the line, could be a life or death instant. When someone is fighting for their life, you'll shake the hell out of that controller as if it was your own self trying to escape. When you hammer that button over and over, it's like trying to dig your way out of a coffin. You feel the pressure and the desire to succeed. When it's you holding a gun and pointing it down at someone you've never met, it's your willingness to push a button that's going to kill them or spare them their life. The tired QTE formula therefore isn't merely a way to advance a cinema (as it's often used in other games), but a way to transplant the player into the character they're controlling.

Graphically the game is pretty impressive, especially when it comes to the faces of the characters and the use of weather effects and lighting. The game also uses the power of the PS3 to generate and use the idea of crowds to wonderful effect. There are some environments, objects, and animations, however, that don't look as great as they could be, but they're certainly not horrible. On the audio side of things, the voice acting is really well done for the most part, and the actors do a good job at portraying the emotions behind their characters. The sound effects and music is also excellent, whether it be the zapping of electricity, the rushing of water, or the squealing of a car.

Heavy Rain is an excellent game, but too many things hold it back from getting a higher score. The game is all too brief and easily beaten in a handful of heavy gaming sessions, the game relies a little too much on misdirection in order to keep the reveal of the killer secret, and pressing buttons isn't that challenging in this game or even all that exciting in some cases. Ooh…I shaved by pressing in a direction. With that said, however, I can't help but encourage players to take a chance, buy this game, and experience it. It really does feel like the next step along the evolutionary ladder of videogames.

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