Heavy Rain Hands On

Heavy Rain is a different sort of game. Oh - you've heard that before, right? Well, stop what you're doing and listen, because this time it's not just hot air. This game is different. Point one: this is the most intensely filmic game I have ever played (good or bad thing? Well, it's a game, not a film). Point two: it's the most realistic looking game I have ever played. Point three: it has a completely unique control style. Point four: it has a truly compelling story. These points are only going to get pointier, and someone's gonna lose an eye, so let's switch it up.

Heavy Rain has four playable characters - Ethan Mars, architect. Norman Jayden, FBI agent. Madison Paige, journalist. Scott Shelby, private investigator. They are all interested in the workings of a serial killer known as the Origami Killer, so called because of the small origami figure he leaves in the hand of each of his victims. That's really all you need to know about the story to feel the pervasive uneasiness that seems to have been worked into even the most benign scenes in Heavy Rain. The build NZGamer.com played had us waking up just after 11am on a Saturday, and falling into controlling Ethan Mars as he wakes up to start his day.

Players are invited to "interact" - note: interact, not play. In Ethan's bedroom, you're responsible for getting him out of bed, getting him into the shower, brushing his teeth, giving him a shave, getting him dressed, into his studio, working on a design, and waiting for his kids and wife to get back so they can all get down to celebrating his son's birthday. This easy slice-of-life construction is truly amazing to behold, if for no other reason than Heavy Rain is a graphical powerhouse. This is actually the first game I've played where I can say that hi-def is going to make an imperative rather than cosmetic difference. I started playing the build on quite a respectable CRT TV, but was forced to switch to a rather more fancy LCD model so I could actually read the on-screen prompts and control instructions.

We'll avoid getting into too much process, but the game is controlled largely with the R2 (walk) button, left stick (look) and right stick (interact). When Ethan (or any of the other playable characters) gets close to an object he/she can manipulate, a prompt will appear telling the player what to do in order to get things happening; this could be as simple as a one-button flick of a light switch, or a more complicated set of actions as you fight with toy lightsabers in the back yard with your kids. Sometimes a range of control options will be presented, each with differing consequences. Heavy Rain is the kind of game where the next move is really up to you; ultimately you're the one who'll have to deal with the emotional, moral and practical fallout.

Despite the rich beauty of the environments in Heavy Rain, and the incredible detail in light and weather effects, buildings, background NPCs... and basically everything else, it's not a vast open world. Surprisingly (I thought so, anyway) there is a fairly strict linear nature to the scenes and flow of the story - just like in a movie, right? This is where buzz-words like "film noir" get thrown around, but to be fair that's actually a very good description. As we played through - a little bit of Shelby, a little bit of Jayden - it became apparent that the developers (Quantic Dream, France) were trying to achieve a look and feel that was slow on action, big on suspense, and with just enough control set aside that the player couldn't just run amok. For a game like Heavy Rain, it's important you stay focused.

The game's slow start (or at least the slow start in the preview build - who's to say how the final cut will look) really allows players to spend time getting comfortable in the environment and in the character's skin. Stamping around a sunlit apartment getting coffee, shaking up juice, putting on a record and listening to the character's thoughts (L2 spreads a halo of options for delving into some inner monologue, so you can hear what's happening in the grey matter) allows you to test your boundaries.

Ethan's morning is all part of the prologue. Later, at the mall, he loses track of his son Jason. Jason wanders off, forcing a shaky few minutes as Ethan struggles through crowds to try and find him. The player needs to co-ordinate jostling through people, looking for the kid and calling out to him, and all the while the action on screen unfolds in an incredibly natural way. Eventually, he's seen across the street outside. He runs to his dad, despite Ethan telling him to not to, and is hit by a car. We learn as the game opens proper (following truly beautiful credits) that two years later Ethan and his wife are separated, Jason was killed, and their remaining boy - Shaun - is withdrawn and distant. This is a video game? Apparently so.

It would be possible to drench this preview in praise for what I have seen out of this one lonely white disc. Slow and steady Heavy Rain sure ain't no bloody and frantic Modern Warfare 2, but the goal of a game like this starts to become pretty clear not long after booting it up. I'll admit there was some frustration building when opening a bathroom door, taking a leak and flushing were all separate control actions with distinct animations (meaning it takes almost as long to drain the snake in the game as it does in real life) but soon I found myself so bound up in the story - and the delicious suspense brought about through some clever music and clear, unobtrusive plot developments - that they no longer seemed like an embuggerance. Plus, it's not all boring domestic stuff - as Scott Shelby I found myself in fisticuffs with a tattooed heavy who wanted to smack around a prostitute I needed to talk to. And as drugged-out Jayden, the time was passed scanning a crime scene with an advanced computer system known as ARI.

If you've ever watched a really good mystery thriller and thought how cool it would be if a game was made that allowed you detailed control of an investigation, then Heavy Rain could be it. There is a lot of buzz around about this game - many of you probably would have seen the video of Madison Paige busting out a topless dance at gunpoint - and it's going to be a huge release for 2010. The code we have at NZGamer.com is a bit glitchy, with some hilarious graphical quirks (heads that melt into chests, legs that stay behind when characters walk away) but these will all be gone when the game releases. What we can't be so sure about is that some of the pretty basic controls will get better, which is a shame, because they need work. It's never a good feeling when you're playing such an advanced title, and basic stuff like turning a corner hasn't been well thought through. Sometimes the characters look like five-year-old kids stuck in adult bodies. We'd also be keen to see some of the stilted writing go out the window, but it's probably way too late for that: the voices are fantastic in almost one hundred per cent of cases, but where the writing is frequently brilliant, it's occasionally too slow.

With stunning graphical realism, a deep, dark story, soulful characters and a style that represents an advancement in the way we think about, interact with and develop video games, Heavy Rain is certainly one we should all be watching. NZGamer.com will be leaping on the chance to review a complete build as soon as its available, and we're keen as always to hear about what you've seen, what you know, and what you're speculating on. Early 2010 just looks better and better.

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