On Tuesday, I went to my local rental shop to see if AvP was out.  Having already blasted through Bioshock 2, I was looking for a new title to play.  While looking I saw Heavy Rain on the shelf...MY heart stopped.  So I picked it up, rented it and as I was leaving I thought I was smuggling drugs or something.  Needless to say, I was pretty stoked.

I'm pretty sure you are aware of the type of game play the developers were going for.  Basically it's a movie with quick time events and whether or not you complete them successfully will have an outcome on the story.

Starting out, you met Ethan and 10 minutes in he's looking for action (my kind of man).  The game starts off pretty slow making you set the table and other bullshit which you will do throughout the game (changing a baby and cooking) which really slows down the game.      You will learn quickly that the controls are GARBAGE and function like Resident Evil causing you to keep going back into areas that you were just in.  It will frustrate you...trust me.

Now one of the biggest problems I had with HEAVY RAIN is my system shit itself TWICE.  Defiantly a negative on that part and I'm sure other people will experience this as well.  It happens during a camera change and a load screen. 

The load screen you won't mind.  They're quick and you get a close up look at the character design the development team has done.  It's nice to look at but you're rarely getting that in the game play.  Characters can look great at times and it gets you more in the moment but other are just horrendous.  Don't kind yourself, they are bad.  Everything from bad character design at some parts to the sound cutting out, there will be moments where you think wtf.  In the crowd screens I saw 4 characters the exact same standing in a group together, one had a different colour coat.

One thing HEAVY RAIN has is its story.  GOD DAMN is it good!  The way it’s written and how your actions determine outcomes is a great new idea.  There are many tough decision in the game which you only have a few seconds to act but it will change how the story plays through.  After some chapters, I was devastated on what I had to do.

HEAVY RAIN does have a few puzzles and a Saw "How far are you willing to go" aspects to it to give the gamer more of a challenge.  But for the most part, HEAVY RAIN is ok but it's not ground breaking.

I would recommend playing this on the easiest setting because you need to be able to control what actions you want to do.  It's really frustrating when you miss a quick time event and basically ruin your whole ending (Got "So Close" trophy).  But another good thing is you can go back and play previous chapters and continue the story from that point, making it easier to take another route of the story.

To sum it up, HEAVY RAIN is not a game.  It's a gripping story that you will be playing in your head over and over trying to figure out the origami killer.  This is a great new experience that all PS3 owners should experience.

Definitely rent and if you got the extra cash pick it up.  HEAVY RAIN is a change and a good one at that.


Gameplay -  6 ( controls are bad)

Graphic - 7.8

Fun Factor - 9.3

Overall - 7.7


Paul Mullin

Twitter - RightFootStar

PSN - RightFootStar