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Yeah, But How About Those Scrambled Eggs: A Review of Heavy Rain

04/12/2010 10:57

Screen shot 2010-04-12 at 6.41 .34 PM

Heavy Rain bills itself as “Interactive Drama,” which I suppose is as good a description as any. A spiritual successor to Indigo Prophecy(better known as Fahrenheit outside the US), Heavy Rain follows a twisted path between four leads working to solve the riddle of the Origami Killer: a serial killer that kidnaps children and drowns them after holding them captive for four-to-six days. The first character introduced, Ethan, is the father of his latest victim. As Ethan tries to find his son, an FBI agent named Nathan is working to profile the killer. Scott, a private detective, is trying to track the killer down himself, and Madison, a journalist, is looking to find the truth amid the sensationalism. The story takes place in the near future.

The character’s independent stories interweave from time to time, some more than others. The game is full of tension. The trials Ethan endures to rescue his son are particularly troubling, and not unlike something out of a “torture porn” horror film like Saw. Each of the main characters has personal issues that flesh them out: Ethan has already lost one son, Scott is an aging asthmatic that just might not be able to hack it anymore, and Nathan is addicted to a futuristic drug called “triptocaine.” Madison is an insomniac, though this does not seem to affect the story much beyond her first scene.

The visuals and music in Heavy Rain are astonishing. Although the environments are small, the detail is incredibly impressive. It is obvious that a great deal of effort went into making the visuals as realistic as possible, and though they do not escape the realm of the Uncanny Valley, they are engrossing nevertheless. Every flaw in the graphics appears to be from limitations in modern technology: collision problems and unrealistic clothing physics are the most notable problems. The score is haunting, and suits the story perfectly. The voice acting, as always seems to be the case, isn’t perfect, though for the most part is perfectly acceptable. Accents tend to fade in and out, and no one seems to know how to pronounce “origami,” which can really ruin a moment. Many of the roles were played by French actors performing with American accents, which makes me hope that the next Quantic Dream game puts enough money into the acting budget to hire local actors for each region. It is one of the two black marks on an otherwise impeccable game.

The other black mark falls to the interface and controls: the two are intrinsically linked. All of Heavy Rain’s controls are contextual: this means you are always looking at the screen for symbols to indicate how to interact with the characters and environment. In addition to that, engaging in conversation requires watching answers float around your character’s head. In theory, and when looking at images, this works out quite well. It maintains tension and allows for a lot of flexibility in how the game plays. In practice, however, a problem arises: sometimes the on-screen prompts appear and disappear too quickly, or are obscured by characters standing in the way. I played the game on normal difficulty, on a 42” 1080p screen, so I can say with some certainty that it was not a failing on the part of myself or my hardware. Most of the time this is not an issue. Usually these problems occur in stressful moments where making split-second decisions is crucial, which makes sense. However, there often is not enough time to see all the options before responding to questions, which is frustrating. Sometimes the icons are so small that you miss the opportunity to respond simply because you are waiting for them to become clear. Despite this drawback, I did manage to get the “best” ending, and a number of extra trophies on my first playthrough, so I would not call it a game-breaking problem. More often than not, you will be given the opportunity to redeem yourself before a mistake becomes entirely story-altering.

Which leads to Heavy Rain’s greatest triumph: your actions have a powerful effect on the course of the story. Characters can die. Decisions can affect the course the game takes. Through it all, there are believable plot twists and interesting characters. The game rises above expectations for several surprising reveals, and dares to present a truly mature narrative. The violence is not glorified or cartoonish: it is gritty and painful. The only fault I found in the story was the somewhat shallow presentation of Madison. Though she is obviously an intelligent and capable woman, she is all too often found in compromising, overly-sexual situations. Quick-minded players can avoid most of them, but I did feel they came by too easily. There is a sometimes-fine line between appreciation and exploitation, and Heavy Rain walks it quite shakily. Although Madison is presented as strong-willed and intelligent, most of the women in Heavy Rain are fairly weak and pathetic. It could be argued, with evidence from the plot, that this is part of the Origami Killer’s modus operandi, but it still feels like the shallowest part of the story.

Despite this, and the poorly-written ex-con Mad Jack, Heavy Rain is an engrossing drama. Heavy Rain’s overarching theme of “how far will you go to save someone you love?” is consistent and thrilling. It is deliberately designed to carry to the player feelings of tension and fear. In this, it succeeds marvelously.

Impoverished Geek

Easily distracted and prone to rambling...

Yeah, But How About Those Scrambled Eggs: A Review of Heavy Rain

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