A thrilling, pulse-pounding, cinematic masterpiece!

User Rating: 10 | Heavy Rain PS3
By Cobra2525 | Review Date:
Story: The story is done in the style of a physiologically thriller, where a serial killer known as the Origami Killer captures young boys. There are almost no clues to what has happened and a few days later the bodies of the children are found in a abandoned area with a Origami figure in their hand and flower on their chest. The story centers around four main characters. Ethan Mars, a father whose son is the most recent victims of the Origami Killer. Scott Shelby, a former police officer who is doing his own investigation on the killer. Norman Jayden an FBI agent who is sent in to help the police find the killer. Finally Madison Paige a photojournalist who soon gets involved in the latest case and decides to do her own investigation. Throughout the entire game you will step into the shoes of all these characters and learn all their back stories, and see the story from a different perspective that works out fantastic. The story is pretty much flat out amazing on almost every level. The thing that really draws you in is how connected you feel to these characters. You care about them, and are some of the most life like characters I have seen ever in a video game. They are also helped by some fantastic voice work which really just wraps them all up into great characters. The story itself is fantastic too with many twists and turns, and parts that will make you laugh, cringe, or hey maybe even cry. Seeing the story unfold from a number of different characters was a great idea and adds a whole new sense of immersion to the game. Now the game is also nonlinear, meaning that there are many choices in the game that will effect the actual story and this can mean the matter of life and death for a lot of these characters. Yeah sure there are some plot holes here and there but these are few and far between and don't ruin the story in any aspect. The folks at Quantic Dream sure do know how to tell a damn good story that is not to be missed out on by any PS3 owner.

Graphics: Like the story, the graphics are some of the best out their. The best part by far is the character models. The level of detail on the character's face and body is just astounding in how real it looks. The facal animation look fantastic and are right up their with LA Noire. The over all raw power of the game is just fantastic and the game is very pretty to look at. The dark atmosphere really sets the tone for the type of story the game is trying to tell. The environments also look very detailed and top of the line for this day and age. The few flaws are mainly that there are some stiff animations and some glitches and bugs, but this game looks flat out amazing and really captures the mood of the story.

Gameplay: Now this is where the game really defers from the rest of the crowd and is going to turn a lot of people away from the actual game. The gameplay is pretty much playing an interactive movie. There are two main parts of gameplay, simply walking around and interacting with the environment, and the action sections. The interacting is rather simple and it is mainly suppose to make you feel closer to the characters. Your not going to be doing anything that seems really exciting, parts of the game is just making dinner for your kid, or taking care of someone's baby. Like I said, it is suppose to make you feel closer to the closer characters, and in that sense, works out really well. The action scenes are a little different, there all basically a huge quick time event. This is used to make the game feel much more cinematic and thrilling. These action scenes can be quiet thrilling and gives you that pulse pounding feeling as you try to stay alive or catch a fleeing criminal. If you hate quick time events than this game may not be for you, but I personally enjoy them, so they give a real sense of adrenaline and will keep you on the edge of your seat (or standing in my case). If you fail the quick time event, than thats okay, the game still goes on, but that can effect the rest of the story. Even if someone dies, there is no game over screen, the story continues without them. The bad parts are really that the walking can feel pretty stiff at times and can be hard to simply walk around and explore, that and if you hate quick time events, this game is not for you. But if your like me, you will find it thrilling and fun as hell.

Over all:

Story: 10 Truly one of the best stories out there on terms of: pacing, atmosphere, storytelling, and genuine emotion from the main characters. And with multiple different endings, this ensures replay abilitiy.

Graphics: 10 Yeah sure there are a few glitches and bugs, but the over all raw power is flat out amazing.

Gameplay: 10 Not for all, but for those who can get into it, you will not want to put this game down.

Enjoyment: 10 I was blown away by this game on almost every level and was more than impressed by the folks at Quantic Dream. And I cannot wait for Beyond Two Souls.

Final Score: 10

Other Helpful Reviews for Heavy Rain

Load Comments (0)