A few minutes before I actually got my hands on the upcoming PS3 exclusive Heavy Rain, Coop and I chatted with Guillaume de Fondaumiere of developer Quantic Dream about the game. One point he stressed over and over again was what a unique experience Heavy Rain delivered. It’s not that I didn’t believe him, but every developer wants his or her game to be special, and it’s so hard to do something that hasn’t already been done in this industry. After actually playing Heavy Rain, I have to agree—the overall experience is unlike anything I have ever played.

When playing, I took the role of FBI agent Norman, who was hunting down a serial killer. His search took him to a car repair shop, where Norman suspects the shady owner has some connection to the killer. The controls seem a little strange at first, but make sense in context. The R2 button is used to walk, with the left thumbstick controlling direction. Hitting L1 will bring up the character’s thoughts, which are mapped to the four buttons on the controller. This helps the player uncover more about the character and his current situation. For example, I learned that Norman was currently going through some sort of physical withdrawal, and it was beginning to take a toll on him.



I made my way around the shop, finding evidence of foul play and the skeleton in a pit of what I believe was some sort of acid. As this happened, the shop owner put a gun to my head, beginning a quick time event in which button presses and the thumbsticks were needed to get me out of trouble (similar to the fighting in Indigo Prophecy). I sometimes panic during sequences like that when I’m taken by surprise, and instead of taking a second to think, simply mashed whatever buttons were closest to my fingers; I met a quick end as I was beaten to death on top of an old car. Guillaume then pointed to the screen next to mine, where another player was being thrown into a grinder of some sort, meeting an even more gruesome death.

Unfortunately, time constraints kept me from playing Heavy Rain as much as I would have liked, but I am definitely intrigued. If nothing else, it will be the unique experience promised by Quantic Dream, and the noir feel and heavy character development make it an even more immersive experience. The game isn’t slated to come out until early 2010, but I’ll surely be keeping an eye on it.