I’ve wanted to play this game for like 12 years. Yahtzee of Zero Punctuation fame reviewed it in mid-2011 and this was around the time I was following his videos closely and I decided I must play that. I think I may have also watched my brother playing it at one point but do not remember what scenes. All I knew was it was a Playstation exclusive for years and I could not get at it but then they re-released it on Steam a few years ago and I picked it up in a sale as I am wont to do. After mulling over what to play next, I decided on something ‘new’ for a week in October 2023 - Heavy Rain!
I found myself getting bored instantly with the first chapter. The sickly colour and happiness of it - I knew this was a ridiculously dark game so I was just like, get to the action already! But later on I would appreciate this as the subsequent darkness after the first chapters stood out more.
I knew a little bit about the game beforehand and thought he just had one son. When he has two sons in the first chapter, I was just like oh c’mon. Having a gentleman’s family would have meant they all live happily ever after, while having two sons… Well, one is going to be a ‘spare’ for the plot. Sorry.
Why are there so many fucking people in this mall?
Also the child seemed overly concerned with wandering off, my gods. Turns out in an earlier version he was written to be ‘younger’. That makes more sense. They changed it because it would be too dark after what happens.
Things went to shit in the intervening 2 years. In a coma for six months, Ethan, our hero, wakes to find himself divorced, living in shitty digs and seemingly with primary custody of his kid? Wild. Despite being hugely depressing, it was nice to present Shaun with his teddy after all that.
Now the game begins. I liked Scott. Seems to go through a lot of shit though. Luckily this woman he saved would help him later. Also holy hell the character models are fantastic, if bordering on the uncanny.
They really made good use of all this interactive storytelling malarky. I get to visit a shrink and can just answer anything for these Rorschach tests with no influence on the plot?
Hoo boy I did not expect things to go to shit that quickly again. Poor Shaun. Poor Ethan!
Nahman Jayden being a time cop from the future just fits so well. Yeah he’s in the FBI assisting a local investigation but how the hell does he have access to this technology? Might be a by-product of his smack habit, which I indulged him in frequently. Sometimes I didn’t want to stumble into the bathroom. Just take a hit of nose candy and move on.
More inappropriate laughter here as you can choose to save the shopkeeper or let him die without intervening. I saved him the first time and let him die the second - Christ it took a long time to happen - all for the achievements.
We are introduced to another protagonist - Madison Paige. I helped her fight off her assailants but she may have just imagined all that. She can’t sleep at night - I can relate - so she sets out.
Ethan is hounded by papa-paparazzi. He leaves out the back door and easily evades them and gets into his car. My heart sank the first time anyone set foot inside a vehicle - do not make me QTE them to their destination - but thankfully the game usually just made you start up the engine and pull up the handbrake etc. It’s Yankland so all the characters have to do is put it in D for Drive and roll into their massive streets.
Fucking hell - just like the mall, I feel for Ethan here. I don’t get crowd anxiety necessarily but I felt for his anxiety in general, generated as it was in this case by the fucking insane amounts of NPCs in the train station. Like I know they needed to create obstacles but thai was mental.
This was all changed after choking up in a panic attack of sorts Ethan can suddenly knock down people like ragdolls. Hilarious and creepy.
Creepier still was following the IT the Clown style (1990) red balloon around to your destination.
Some excellent camera shots in this. You felt like you were being watched.
Ethan has lost another son, this time to a serial killer. He must solve the various puzzles presented via origami to save him.
Norman (Nah-men) finds his cohorts are not very cooperative. Some of the cringiest dialogue was when they start yelling at someone for no reason. Reminds me of LA Noire when Phelps would fly off the handle randomly.
Fucking Scott is such a good guy. Saves this woman from death potentially and takes care of her baby.
A trial for Ethan is to drive against traffic! I fucked it up and did not get the optimal route trophy or the other one (Phoenix?) but made it to the end, albeit worse for wear and found a clue.
Madison helps Ethan out, they're both staying at the motel for very different reasons, or so it seems.
The market chase is apparently known as a major source of glee in the fanbase. I did not find it too funny but was wondering why there were live chickens. Also, I did fuck up a bit so Norman slipped and slided his way after the perp. Apparently its very funny and completely impossible to fail if you miss every QTE.
Lauren and Scott join forces.
Scott looks so out of place at this party.
Ethan goes to a power plant and must drag his carcass through a tunnel full of broken glass to get another clue! I deliberately fucked it up in order to get the Coward achievement. A simple reload and I got it right of course and then aced my way through the electrical wires to finish the second trial.
This all reminded me a bit of LA Noire, wherein I was always trying to get optimal results and was not afraid to reload. This time, I was following a very sparse walkthrough to get 100% of the achievements. I like these kinds of guides - not too exhaustive, I still have to play the game myself I just get tipped in the right direction in terms of getting achievements/trophies.
Madison nurses Ethan. Something is cooking there.
Their relationship confused me a bit, I felt like I had missed a scene or something. Which is not impossible as in one of my various reloads and replays I finished a chapter and a much earlier chapter started afterward. So I thought when their relationship upgraded significantly I had missed something. Also they seemed to lack chemistry after the initial couple of meetings.
Norman’s partner (heh) Blake can beat up the Shrink here. Once again, achievements for getting him beaten up and for intervening. I have recorded a video of myself giggling at the latter option. Either way, the plot continues the same way.
They really outdid themselves. Now I have to play golf. Another time, I cook eggs.
The Lizard. This has been spoiled to death I think and was one of the few things I knew about Heavy Rain going in - Ethan must cut off an appendage to get a new clue. I did the Butcher option first and Jesus Christ this scene was grisly. Props to the voice actor here. He sounded laughably Irish in another scene (turns out he’s English) but still, bravo. I reloaded and did a slightly less horrible cut and proceeded to cauterise the wound.
More fucking people everywhere. Madison helps Ethan escape. Again, points for getting captured and for escaping.
Jayden plays the piano. I fucked it up the first time but went back later. His butler reminds him to lay off the smack. What is his life?
Ethan can be arrested and executed beaten up in one storyline.
Scott and little Lauren go to see Manfred, a man who knows his typewriters. Maybe they can find the killer who uses a particular type? Fat chance, Manfred is murdered somewhat inexplicably and our heroes are looking like scapegoats.
If he’s free, Ethan must kill someone to prove he deserves to save his son and get another clue as to his whereabouts. "I'm a father too"!
Once again, kudos either way for resisting the urge to kill or going ahead with it.
I figured out instantly where the address was. I would be very good on Wheel of Fortune.
Madison encounters this fellow, Dr. Death. I was alerted to something like this happening in Yahtzee’s review so was eager to spare her. Thankfully, you never need to fail here so I gladly took out Dr. Death. Masterfully evil.
Talk about out of the frying pan. Norman does his time-cop FBI bullshit and then has to fight the criminal head of a scrapyard, Mad Jack. Painfully racist to have the only black character in the game be him and everything he is in it. Norman takes him out - you get an achievement for prolonging the fight so I did that and even managed to fail and get squished once.
Scott Lauren solves a mystery
Twins. Who is the Origami Killer?
Madison in the club is kind of a boss character. She gets a bit of flack for her writing but I don’t know I thought she carried herself well - ultimately she was written by men and is put through sexually motivated shite the most of all the characters but emerges out the other side strong I thought.
Norman in the club just barely fits in and he gets assaulted by the actual Origami Killer.
Ethan forgives Madison (this time) and they bang. So much for that. Also, are we not running out of time here?
Scott escapes being drowned and regrettably I let Lauren die here (the guide told me to!)
Scott’s rampage was insanely awesome. All I had to do was press W or S and he would insta-kill every bodyguard. I got the achievement for not getting shot during all this. He kills Kramer fairly coolly.
Madison speaks to the mother of the Origami Killer
Ethan must ingest poison in an eerie mansion to get the final clue. I chugged it without hesitation to bag another trophy but then immediately reloaded and retreated sans poison in my belly.
Norman cracks the case. Apparently you can die here if you take too long. I had what I needed to figure things out and I did not go and accuse Blake, it’s not him.
Scott burns the evidence. I did not suspect him primarily, I was suspecting either Ethan or the rich guy Kramer or his son but wasn’t 100% sure. I was prepared for an ass pull but not this. The most egregious was the death of Manfred at Scott’s hands. As things went on, I just decided Scott is completely insane. When I think about it, the game was set in 2011 and the killer was established to be born in the 1960’s so it checks out but between him and Kramer I figured it was Kramer, who Scott kills in his rampage anyway.
Madison goes to Scott’s place. After some snooping she finds the evidence she needs to make Ethan innocent and put Scott in jail. Scott appears and forces her into the hidden room at gunpoint and proceeds to set the place ablaze. I deliberately failed the first time for the achievements but would come back and help her get out of the fire. I fucked up a lot of the QTEs and the tank controls were bad here so Madison may have gotten burned quite a bit. Sorry.
The final showdown - there are various ways of doing this. Ethan can save Shaun and walk out and be shot to pieces by the police. Norman can defeat Scott in combat or be killed. Madison can be arrested, be killed by Scott or help walk Ethan and Shaun safely out into the police. I had to do them all to get every ending.
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The music was pleasant and aptly dark when it needed to be but started to repeat a bit in my head.
Controls were painful at times. I’m no pro at QTEs but managed them OK - just the movement was clunky tank controls and some of the camera angles were not beneficial, even when changed with Left Ctrl.
I had it on the easiest difficulty and it still got me a bit. I can only imagine what the harder ones are like and I don’t want to know.
I liked all the characters but sometimes the voice acting was cringe. Also some of the inter-character interactions were weird, Blake and Norman, Madison and Ethan. Ethan and his kids were sweetly done I thought and moving and Norman and Madison’s solo quests for clues was good. Scott I really liked so finding out he was the Origami Killer all along was a blow. Lauren was a sweetie but her voice actor sounded off. Just too many weird voice accents in this game.
But yeah the atmosphere was incredible and there was plenty of hope in all the darkness.
I’m only missing a handful of achievements, I need to drive down the highway against traffic again for example for 1. Decided at some point to get the last 6 achievements of Heavy Rain some other time - it will only take <10 hours hopefully and it deserves a full replay with those in mind rather than what I’m doing now, replaying chapters incessantly. All I have to do is make sure Ethan is arrested fully to get Helpless, and/or Innocent if Madison/Jayden save the day. Madison needs to confront the killer alone to get Heroine and that’s all the endings sorted. The other 5 achievements should be a matter of replaying sequences to get them right.
All in all I’m glad I finally played the game after putting it off for so long, but I shouldn’t be too harsh about that. Apparently I bought it on the 11th of January 2023 for a tenner. So playing it 9 months later isn’t exactly that bad for me. No idea what the next game is but on November 2nd Star Ocean 2 R comes out so it is probably that if nothing happens in the meantime.
