Today I downloaded the Heavy Rain demo for PS3 and figured I’d finally take a peak at Quantic Dream’s next outing. the download took a bit and the install took around 20 minutes or so, but after the wait I was immediately plunged into a portion of what will be a very, very immersive environment. Heavy Rain is the story of a fictional serial murderer, the Origami Killer. 4 strangers come together in this dark mystery, their stories intermingling with one another as you decide their fate through a myriad of forks in the plot. Playing less like a conventional game and more like a choose your own adventure book, I was familiar with this type of game after much enjoying QD’s previous outing, Indigo Prophecy.
What jumped out at me immediately is just how jarring it is to get used to the controls. It’s a very deliberate setup, with sweeps of the analog sticks to perform certain actions such as opening a car door and holding R2 as a requirement to even walk down an alleyway. It feels incredibly awkward, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it after I’ve spent some more quality time with the finished product. One particularly cool convention though, is the ability to hold L2 at any point to bring up a swirling, invisible context menu of face buttons around your character’s head that when pressed, will play an inner monologue about what’s on their mind at any given moment. Ironically the dizzying look to this convention reminds me of how confusing the controls can get, especially in the midst of a chaotic confrontation.
Second perhaps only to the controls are the visuals. Frankly they’re some of the best I’ve seen, more than on par with the original concept video that got so many of us excited a few years back. Some of the textures look a little ugly up close, but from a high-level (where you’ll be watching a lot of the action anyways) it all comes together beautifully. The range of expression on the digital characters’ faces is rife with subtleties and does a great job of drawing you into the story. Their pupils dialote, their bodies heave realistically as they struggle for breath, and they have a very natural step to their walk that keeps them from looking so rigid as many video game characters do. This technical mastery may be thanks largely in part to the somewhat sparse action I saw in the demo and its linear presentation as far as what actions you can perform in a given area, but it still looks superb.
Backing up those tight visuals is a somber score and great sound effects. The world of Heavy Rain really does seem to come to life as you listen to the detective’s wheezing and the subsequent panic-laden audio that accompanies his fumbling to find his inhaler in an uneasily dark alleyway. Perhaps much like Silent Hill, the atmosphere in Heavy Rain appears to be as much as star as the characters themselves, making for a very rich environment that I’m sure I won’t mind visiting again and again to see just how many ways the story can unfold.
The demo gives you just enough playtime to establish the story and how to get used to the controls but not much beyond that. It’s playfully teasing, but I hope the final game has enough meat on it to justify the investment and can deliver on the promise of replayability with so much emphasis on choice. Either way, stay tuned for next week where Nicole and I will give some more solid info on the final product!
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