Different is sometimes good?
This be the long awaited PS3 exclusive from developer Quantic Dream. The follow up to their awesome Indigo Prophecy(Fahrenheit in the UK), this follows a much different story. One that I enjoyed immensely, 8/10.
The Good – Something…different. This isn’t your traditional game, in fact, I think it’s hard to explain the gameplay and make it sound exciting. That’s because the actual gameplay isn’t, it’s the story, the situations, the conflicts that your characters run into that make it exciting. This is more like what used to be the dream of what interactive movies were to be. One of the first trophies you unlock is called “Interactive Drama”, if that’s any indication.
What we have goin on, is a murder mystery. A murderer known as the ‘Origami Killer’ is on the loose. The game switches you up between four characters, all dealing with their own situations, but ultimately tied together by this killer. You’ll have to spend time with your son as a father, or pick up a lead as a private detective, or investigate clues as an FBI agent, etc. It’s the mundane things they make you do that’s somehow entertaining, yet make you really connect on an emotional level with everyone. And sometimes, you’re thrown into action packed scenes that are thrilling and tense. These scenes act like quicktime events, but they’re so much better, if you miss a move or two, it’s not game over, the scene adapts to what you’re doing. Another awesome thing, the game is always taking note of your decisions, making big or small changes to the outcome depending on what you do. Different players can potentially have different takes on the story because of their choices. There’s some really cool stuff going on here and has been a hell of a gaming experience.
The Bad – Heavy Rain was made by a french based developer, as such they used a bunch of french voice actors and it shows. English dialog with french accents that can’t help but break through sound a little off sometimes. The gameplay takes a bit of getting used to, particularly when you have to move characters around. It can be awkward and sometimes you wrestle to move them in the direction you want.
The Ugly – There’s a scene, I swear, could be straight out of a Saw movie…it’s intense, unnerving, and I had to give the game a break after I did it.
