Disclaimer: Don't worry, no spoilers.
It's been a while since I've enjoyed a game story. This one irked and poked my curious little mind. It's
Heavy Rain by Quantic Dream, released by SCE. R let me play the demo a day before he actually bought it. I wanted it more than him cause the story intrigued me. The following day, he was able to purchase the game despite it being out of stock in most gaming stores. In fact, this game almost didn't make it to Singapore (where we live) due to its mature content (sex, violence, nudity, yada-yada). But it did, that's why we have it in our hands. We planned a lazy Friday night game date with pizza and
Heavy Rain after. Just perfect!
The gameplay is quite different from the usual video games. It kinda feels like role-playing game but based on wikipedia (woot*) this is called an
interactive video game. It urges players to follow commands that will pop-up around the character, place, or item. This game utilises much of the PS3 controller from the joystick to all the R1s to L2s. You have to either hold the requested button longer, slower, or even simultaneously to perform a certain action. The challenge of this game is to make the right choices that will lead you to different branches of the stories. Do you want the good conquers all? Or the evil gets away bwahahaha storyline? But wait! These are only 2 scenarios. It is said that there are actually 6 different endings so it's a game that you'd want to try again and again.
You have a choice. This could be a decision that can change the course of the story.
Our first game was the "good conquers all" ending or that's what I call it. I wanted the heroes to do the "good" choices, relatively speaking of course. It's quite a nerve-racking game. One scene, R and I had a debate on a decision to a point that I had to use moral reasoning to goad him. In his defense, I believe he can be right in saying that some sacrifices are necessary. Basically, you have to do the "bad" thing to get the "right" thing. The Machiavellian way of saying the end justifies the means. Gawd, it came to a point that it felt like we were the characters themselves. I'm not too sure if that is good or bad for our health. We were a couple of loons wanting to find out who the Origami Killer, especially me. I'm such a sucker for movies and this game feels like the movies so I needed desperately to find out what the ending is. The difference is you get to choose the path the movie is gonna take.
Very cinematic feel to it. Angled shots to show both characters interaction.
I find it's easy to finish the game and the hard part is just to complete it. If you have that curiousity in you (or you want to hoard PS3 trophies), then you need to play it again and again choosing different answers/actions.
The story is very inquisitive. It makes you wonder what's gonna happen. The location designs and soundtrack all contribute to the whole look and feel. The game is designed to tell you a well-written story of not only how desperate are you to save someone, but how can you convince yourself that you are choosing the right action to the result that you want. You want a mystery, then you have it here.
Gritty walls, cluttered floors, and, ominous sound all contribute to the gameplay..
Together with the main story, you get to unlock bonuses and videos after passing certain storylines. I saw one clip about how the visual actors were directed. The game creators used motion capture technologies to follow real people's movements and emotions. This is one of the reasons why the game feels real since you actually see actual rendition of movements and emotions. You'll get to see a lot of close-ups of the characters, just like this one.
Ethan: Is he desperate enough to save someone he loves?
In conclusion, it's LGS!
(Last Game Syndrome). This game can get totally engrossing but not in a bad way (well, except if you just spend the whole 2 days finsihing it :P). I hope there will more games like this. I know for some that this kind of game can get boring. If you're into more action and quick storyline movement rather than a slow pacing yet intriguing story, then this might not be the game for you. However, it's still a good game to try. I always say, to each his own, and for me, it's hands down one of the best story games I've played.
