Heavy Rain Refuses to Fear the Reaper

Heavy Rain doesn't care if you really like her. She's dead. Deal with it.

By Vinny Caravella | Sept. 11, 2008

Wouldn't it be amazing if a developer could craft a story so dynamic that if your main character met his or her untimely demise the main plot would march on? I'm not talking about reloading a level or some Planescape-ish immortality mechanic, I mean, we leave that character in the grave and continue on with the cold, hard, cruel game of life.

Line 'em up. Knock 'em down.

According to a recent post on videogaming247, Quantic Dream has just this kind of scenario in mind for its upcoming opus, Heavy Rain. According to the site, Quantic Dream founder David Cage had this to say during a private Games Convention demo:

“I can’t really tell you too much about what the story’s about or how it’s going to work with the characters, all I can tell you that your character - the main character - can die, and the story will continue”

He further clarified that the game wouldn't slide into some side story, but instead continue along its intended path without that character, stating that "It's one big story.”

How? I have no idea. That's about all there is to this promise of permadeath. Will we see our weeping willow go down due to some hesitation during a Quick Time Event, never to be seen again? Is there an entire cast of folks ready to take up the task once one of your protagonists eats it? Maybe the game only has one point at which you can die, 10 seconds before the end. Who knows? Seeing as how the Heavy Rain information has equated to little more than a drizzle at this point, my curiosity is certainly piqued.

38 Comments

Flusheson Sept. 11, 2008 at 6:13 p.m.

Heavy rain has extra lives confirmed. Also, first?

RyeBreadon Sept. 11, 2008 at 6:15 p.m.

cool

Solidumaon Sept. 11, 2008 at 6:18 p.m.

Probably with all the space saved from actual gameplay engine, they can cram in there mutliple branching story paths without much hassle.

Lieson Sept. 11, 2008 at 6:18 p.m.

This is a concept that has always greatly intrigued me in games. Can't wait to see if they can pull it off.

Joseppieon Sept. 11, 2008 at 6:19 p.m.

This intrigues and worries me at the same time. It intrigues me for obvious reasons. When someones says that your dude can die and the game keeps going, you take notice. At the same time, if that can happen, how important can this main character be? It seems difficult to make a character that the player can make a connection with that can also be expendable in the grand scheme of the overall story. Whatever the case, I have to agree, curiosity piqued.

deauxon Sept. 11, 2008 at 6:20 p.m.

I like the idea of switching characters mid-game, but if it's actually only one of several possibilities, I doubt if they'll make 2 complete second halves.

chilililion Sept. 11, 2008 at 6:22 p.m.

Its simple if its about a killer she will most likely ask for police help to a detective, if you die during one of your QTE or perhaps you can only die at certain points my guess is the detective will continue the investigation fueled by rage from your death.

The previous is a hypothesis btw.

HumanityPlagueon Sept. 11, 2008 at 6:23 p.m.

To be fair, your main character of Lucas died in Indigo Prophecy, and the game kept chugging along. So, it's not a big deal if you play a dead character or not, with Quantic Dream developing it.

mrflukeon Sept. 11, 2008 at 6:42 p.m.

that can be very interesting only thing is if you die like 100 times do you switch characters 100 times? there has to be a limit

Chocobo_Blitzeron Sept. 11, 2008 at 6:54 p.m.

I'm tellin' ya, fellas, you're gonna want that cowbell

J4S0Non Sept. 11, 2008 at 7:05 p.m.

HumanityPlague: Well Indigo Prophecy's story was excellent up until about that point. This news does worry me a little bit, but I still expect Heavy Rain to be an awesome game.

Leon31on Sept. 11, 2008 at 7:53 p.m.

Interesting, hopefully the ending or endings don't turn into what Indigo Prophecy was like at the last 1/3 of the game. Still looking forward to it no less.

Player1on Sept. 11, 2008 at 8:11 p.m.

Wow, intriguing. I can't rap my mind around a story without redos. It would make for a very unique gamine experience, and a lot of nervous play, hoping your main character won't die.

albedos_shadowon Sept. 11, 2008 at 8:15 p.m.

I think it'll make you more connected with the character, knowing that she can actually die for real. Makes every second more important.

orshickon Sept. 11, 2008 at 8:23 p.m.

Game looks cool, yo!

Bearon Sept. 11, 2008 at 8:43 p.m.

So, basically, when you die the game turns into a movie?

ChrisTiltonon Sept. 11, 2008 at 8:45 p.m.

I think that quote is from the latest issue of Edge Magazine. It's the cover story, and a great article. Cage went on to reiterate that the story that they are telling is very firm in place, but the variables are the perspectives in which it is told (ie certain characters living or dying because of the actions of the player). He went on to say that the E3 and GC demos the press have seen are simply examples of scenarios, and that they aren't necessarily part of the plot. He said there were be 60 some odd "scenes" like the example in the demo that will all play out to tell a complete story.

If it is indeed broken up into "scenes" like that, one can see how you would transfer the perspective of the storytelling should one character die or live through it.

Smershon Sept. 11, 2008 at 9:21 p.m.

Fahrenheit (lets not refer to it in it's watered down desexed state, you sheltered yanks) had a similar premise where you could 'character switch' in realtime during scenes (even across locations at certain times) giving you a different perpective which really added to the fly-on-the-wall feel while still leaving you in controlof the action. It really was an interesting mechanic and one i'd love to see more deeply explored. If you haven't played Fahrenheit then go buy a copy, it really is an interesting experience.

EvilTwinon Sept. 11, 2008 at 9:50 p.m.

This is obviously an interesting concept, but it feels like one of those ideas that is going to get hyped up, and then we find out it's pretty poorly implemented.

Shasamon Sept. 12, 2008 at 2:53 a.m.

That's a very interesting concept, all they have to do now is pull it off in a manor that actually pleases people. If this mechanic gets to the point where it's just annoying to players, it's not going to pay off, but I have faith they can create a story where dying may not actually leave you feeling as if you're missing something. I guess we now play the waiting game, until we get more news about and perhaps examples of this death mechanic.

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