If you own a PS3 then you owe it to yourself to play this game.
The story of Heavy Rain places you in the juxtaposing roles of 4 very different characters whose paths will cross, as they find themselves caught up in the case of a child serial killer in a city on the USA's East Coast. Unlike the vast majority of modern video games, there is no separation between story and gameplay in Heavy Rain. As if to support its use of cinematic overtones, each section of the story is referred to as a "scene" and usually involves elements of conversation and action.
Throughout the game the perspective is always a choice of 2 fixed cameras and you move your character by holding R2 and steering them with the left stick. It's perhaps most readily comparable to racing games and to begin with it feels extremely unnatural. However, as you get used to the movement it becomes clear that it's a very clever way to simplify movement within the rigid confines of the game's camera. During conversations, your possible replies are represented by one word descriptions, such as "trick" or "empathise" which do a great job of being very clear how your character will behave when chosen.
The right stick is your main action tool, with on-screen prompts showing turns which you can replicate to interact with specific objects. You'll also see a lot of Quick-Time-Events and motion control prompts. It would be very easy to be put off as soon as you hear mention of QTEs, but they really aren't to the detriment of the Heavy Rain experience. You only get one shot at each action scene (unless you reload a save, cheater!) so the build up of tension is unlike almost any other game you can imagine. Even the motion controls work well, which is very rare with the SixAxis controller. On the other hand, some of the on-screen prompts can be hard to see in the heat of the moment and the concentration required to differentiate an "up" motion control prompt with an "up" analogue stick prompt can be very tough. That said, Quantic Dream have somehow managed to design QTE's that require real finesse with the controller. Making one mistake doesn't equal death either; you can always bounce back in a fight with a few well-timed presses and turn the tide.
While the controls are unusual, it's the emotional impact of David Cage's script that really separates Heavy Rain from any other game on any system. In fact, it could well be the most emotionally engaging game ever made. You'll experience joy, sadness and incredible tension, in conversations as well as in action. In one scene, while playing as an FBI agent, a policeman is held at gunpoint by a mentally unstable suspect. Talking that character out of pulling the trigger is a heart-stopping moment, but you could always take the easy option and use your own weapon to take the maniac down. Extremely tough choices like these, which are permanent and result in the life or death of key characters, create a truly individual experience for every player and add tremendous weight to every button press you make. Perhaps Heavy Rain's most interesting achievement is that it's the first game in many years to make you consider the potentially awful consequences of your decision to fire a gun. The quality of the character dialogue and the plot writing in Heavy Rain puts it head and shoulders above the rest of the industry. It could even be up there with some of the best film and television thrillers. Correctly solving the mystery of The Origami Killer is one of the most satisfying experiences you can have with a gamepad in your hands.
Of course, no game is ever truly perfect in all of its elements, and Heavy Rain is no different. The story certainly has many contrivances and some of the design choices can seem highly questionable. The most glaring of these is the game's nudity. There are three or four scenes in Heavy Rain which feature explicit female nudity, but only one of them even comes close to benefitting the story. At times in feels unnecessary and gratuitous. Nudity in video games has never been done tastefully and it's unlikely that it will ever be comfortable to watch. There will always be that knowledge that underneath the polygons there is a real person in a skin-tight suit, covered in white balls, writhing around in a mo-cap studio. It's embarrassing to think about and will never look realistic on-screen.
Heavy Rain is a little bit flawed technically as well. Though the character models and faces are mesmerising and have an outstanding level of detail, the textures in the environment and on background characters can be significantly less well developed. Random bugs and glitches also occur. Some people won't see any of these during their play-through, but others may experience sound glitches, broken animations, full crashes and even corrupted save files. These issues don't effect specific regions or specific PS3 SKUs so, for now, your technical experience with Heavy Rain will be complete luck, at least until another patch can be released.
If you own a PlayStation 3 then you owe it to yourself to play Heavy Rain. No other current-gen console has anything which can match it for storytelling, immersion and high tension. The more copies of this game that are sold, the more likely it is that the rest of the industry will recognise its astounding achievements. If Heavy Rain can inspire more great script-writing and great control innovation then we will all be richly rewarded.