Heavy Rain falling Feb. 23

This year's jam-packed first-quarter game-release schedule grew a little more crowded today when Sony announced the launch date for Heavy Rain. The PlayStation 3-exclusive title will arrive on February 23 in North America, February 24 in mainland Europe, and February 26 in the UK and Ireland. In the US and Canada, the game is rated M for Mature and will retail for $59.99.

Heavy Rain is developed by Quantic Dream, the Paris-based shop behind 2005's Indigo Prophecy (aka Fahrenheit) for the PC, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. Like that critically acclaimed title, Heavy Rain eschews normal game conventions for a more cinematic approach, focusing on complex storytelling and compelling emotion via realistic graphics. This was evidenced by the first footage of the game from the 2006 Electronic Entertainment Expo, which showed a non-player character auditioning for a part as an actor would--at first, anyway…

As for its story, Heavy Rain will concern the pursuit of a mysterious serial murderer called the Origami Killer. Players will be able to assume the role of several characters--a drug-addled FBI agent, a private investigator, and a victim's father--who must collect clues in a film-noir-style setting to crack the case. Last May, Quantic Dream CEO David Cage explained the concept behind the game in a video interview, available below.