Heavy Rain

Despite its flaws, I have to give Quantic Dream major kudos for Heavy Rain. I'm very pleased with its success, because it encourages developers to do something besides put us on a map and tell us to shoot everything in sight (not that I don' enjoy a good shooter). But...it definitely has its share of issues, which is why I can't quite give it 5 stars (if I could, I would give 4.5). It graphically does some of the best work ever seen on consoles, especially with detail in the faces of the characters and demonstrating emotion. At the same time, however, some characters and environments lack the same detail, which for me was jarring at times for a game that at its best is very immersive. I have no problem with a European developer creating a game based in Philadelphia, but just realize it does take away from the realism to hear some of the characters' accents slipping through. And honestly, is the pronunciation of "origami" really that difficult? The story itself is actually pretty good, but it does unravel a bit here and there. My only other issue is, for a game that offers so much in terms of how some story elements can change based on the player's actions, the individual "levels" (or vignettes or whatever) are for the most part very linear and don't offer much in the way of open exploration by the player, and I think the game overall could have been much improved with a little more of this. Even with these flaws, I greatly enjoyed Heavy Rain. I often get immersed in a skillfully realized game world, but I think in seeing what the character goes through I have at best what I would call a sympathetic response. When that character has an emotional moment I might feel sympathy but am not genuinely affected myself. Heavy Rain is the first game to evoke a truly empathetic response from me, and that says a lot for its merits. Some may call the gameplay boring, tedious, repetitive, etc., but I think it is an innovative, clever, and for me an enjoyable style. It's possible this game is the ultimate "love it or hate it" kind of experience, but I am squarely in the latter camp and am interested in seeing what David Cage comes up with next!

Here's my disclaimer. I loved Indigo Prophecy when it came out years ago and I was really excited for Heavy Rain. I thought the demo was great and I was excited to just sit down over a few days and play this game nonstop. From the moment the brilliant (and yes, slow...but totally necessarily so) beginning booted up with the orchestral music I was hooked. I loved playing as (and moderately torturing) Ethan, Norman was by far the most fun to play, Madison was eh ok but interesting and Scott Shelby was great to play as in a more traditional detective simulation. Here's the thing. Right up until the reveal of who the Origami Killer is (uh that's not a spoiler, right?) this game was by far the best game and best gaming experience I had ever had. It definitely exceeded expectations and I was already looking forward to replaying it and trying to get the different endings. Then David Cage reached out of the screen, slapped me in the face and insulted my intelligence. The reveal of the killer's identity, for me, totally ruined the previous hours spent playing this game and made me so upset that I immediately sold the game after the credits rolled. I don't usually have this kind of disgusted reaction, but I felt the "twist" ending nullified the rest of the game with its nonsense. The reveal made no sense whatsoever and really went quite far to insult the gamer's intelligence by completely altering a previously playable scene...it made no sense at all! I feel like this was due to lazy writing or a rushed concept...I had heard that there were to be multiple killer identities based on how you played...that concept got canned and most likely they shoehorned this one in hoping it would work. I loved this game until it made me hate it by giving me the dumbest, laziest and nonsensical Origami Killer reveal possible. It made me hate the game so much that it ruined all the previous awesomeness and I was forced to sell it immediately and I never want to play it again... which is a shame because up until that point it was the best game I had ever played. Beware lazy writing and plot. Oh and FYI French people - it's called a deserted lot...not a wasteland (not even in UK English).

Excellent game. very different. I try not to play it too much cause it is a great game for if you were stuck home sick all day, or snowed in or somethin like that. Very good game though.

One of the best games for PS3 I ever played. Innovation. I really like this game and also the seller send it like new but looks new. It is in perfect conditions. This game is a must have. you will involve in a movie but finally is a game.

You can compare this game with other creations like movies, paintings or novels. David Cage the writer and director of the game had really alternative ideas about how the videogames for the matures should be, and his masterpiece "Heavy Rain" is the result of his vision. It is absolutely stunning and immersing with high class aesthetics and a deep dark story. Really you should play it because it is not a game! It is an experience!

It's a shame that a game that does so much right in so many unique and unprecedented ways should ultimately drop the ball so entirely with the story. WIth a game like Heavy Rain, you can't excuse a mediocre plot like you could with a more action oriented title; the story is really essential. This isn't to say that the experience isn't effectively dramatic. The mood is encompassing, and you certainly feel drawn into the world. The problem really comes down to the assembly of the story, and I'll offer up my complaints as best I can without giving away spoilers. Sure, it's a huge feat to have a branching, "living" story like this, wherein your actions determine the outcome of events. Nonetheless, the biggest complaints involve inexcusable plot holes. There's red herrings that simple get abandoned rather than explained away, and there's a handful of revelations that are frankly cheap and nonsensical. It really is a shame, because despite this huge irritation, I still loved the game. I would still highly recommend it to a stranger on the street, but if you're even mildly paying attention, the actual plot will fail you. This had the potential to be something classic; something we could call the first "The Silence of the Lambs" in gaming. The sloppy and occasionally stupid writing will prevent it from ever achieving that accolade though. Never the less, it's incredible, beautiful, unique, and probably unlike anything you've ever played before. This game will be remembered as a pioneering and bold new step in video games, but I can only anticipate that the games it will influence will pull off the narrative construction far better, and it will be hard to look back and excuse this game by comparison. In some ways it's a revelation, but I can't say it's a classic.

I love everything about this game. My friends warned me about the remote control but honestly I don't think it was that difficult. It is very fun and you can play over and over again with different path, I think that makes the game very unique.

First off, this is not a perfect game.... (is there a perfect game out there?) It has its share of flaws (slow loading times, huge and slow install etc) But once you get started, you will not want it to end... I've played my share of games... I own a Xbox360, a WII and a PS3. I can safely say that this game definitely is a "BUY OPTION" and ranked on my top 5 games list. I've played the game two times. The first time I used the "Easy setting" and the second time I used the intermediate setting and it blew my mind.... Now you can actually kill the main characters if you are not careful enough. I guess that you have to play it yourself in order to make your own opinion about it. Id also like to point out that most people who played it don't consider the plethora of languages the game can be played in: Being a Native American, with Italian and Mexican mother and father respectively, it was mind blowing to play this game in English, Spanish and Italian. Its very impressive how the game can be played in any language and the story will be the same. Nothing got lost on the translation. Thats an added value for those who know another language. =) P.S. This is the first game I have played that has the right amount of nudity to be a mature game, but not much that it has to be a porn game. ;)

Heavy Rain is something so completely different than every other game that I Have ever played. Its an interactive movie. Its not perfect but they an amazing job with trying something different than your typical game. Highly Recommended.

good story and great graphics cant make up for boring and repetive gameplay. i beat the game and traded it in. once you beat it theres no replay value out of it. the whole point in the game is to find who the killer is and once you do you already know whats gonna happen. id say at least rent it. it starts off very very slow. picks up later on. but the gameplay just gets boring very quickly. id rather play a button masher , at least itll be a action game and you actually kill people ,rather then this hit a couple buttons and the character does everything.