Revolutionary, but as a game...pointless. Artistic Story Telling, but no Gameplay...So what is Heavy Rain?...Brilliant!
Pros:
-Great Musical Score
-Heart Hitting
-Controls create Tension
-Outstanding Facial Animations
-Nice Camera Angles
-Great Character Development
-Great Presentation of "cliche" story
-Multiple Storylines
-Mutliple Ending
Cons:
-Getting use to constant QTE's
-Instances of poor delivered lines
-Screen Tearing
-Sound Cutting Out
-Some Endings feel Rushed
As everyone knows, Heavy Rain is not a game, nor is it a award winning moive. Heavy Rain is a game that works you and hits you mentally, while at the sametime exercises your reflexes. The game is all about controlling every given character and choosing the right decisions to get the best possible outcome. Outcomes can be reached in mutiple ways and sometimes, it doesn't matter what decision you make becasue the game has something already in mine, but this is nothing but a small flaw in a story you make yourself. Though the game follows a predetermined path, you decide how the path is cemented and that is the true gameplay mechanic of Heavy Rain and it works beautifully. It is funny how one decision creates a new story arc that may not have been their from the get go if you choose another path. The other part is the complex control system that brilliantly makes the gamer feel the tension, panic, triumph, etc. of the character at hand. The controls are set up in such a way that your stress level is just as high as the character at hand and that is something rarely achieved in quicktime events. You know those QTE we see in God of War, Bayonetta, Resident Evil, etc.
If I were to view a synopsis of story written on a piece of paper, I may have walked away unimpressed and many may feel the same way because I know I did when I first heard about this game, but the story is much more than what a briefing can say. The story really hasn't done anything we haven't seen before, but the games delivers the experience in such a tasteful manner that it owns alot of Hollywood movies. The path the game follows is just brillant and every moment in the game is as important as the last. Little or big, everything in this game serves a purpose.
When I started playing the game, it took me sometime to get adjusted to just really do nothing as some may say, but in reality, you are doing a lot and you are playing this 'movie' and experiencing everything as it unfolds. I didn't think it would be fun to control my own movie, but I couldn't have been farther from the truth. Some may have to be forced to believe this, but those who can appreciate what this game embodies will definitely be in for an experience that only the PS3 can offer. I am not being a fanboy, because I am far from it, but the PS3 has an array of experiences (games) and Heavy Rain is just adds to this party.
Anyway, the story can come off as cliche once the credits role, but you will walk away in confusion...wondering what the hell did I just play. You will think long, but not hard and then you will wonder "what did I just purchase?" You get a 10 hour movie and thats it. No action orientated gameplay (or what we are use to), no multiplayer, no leaderboards, etc. You will say to yourself "$60 for this?". Then you will go "Damn, that was one hell of an experience...lets see how it unfolds if I do this this time". That was how I felt. But lets get to the flaws...
Now this game has it flaws and those include instances of screen tearing. One of the most notable and irritating things was the sound cutting out. It is random and pops up at the most unexpected time. Hated, Hated, Hated it. Didn't ruin the experience, but it sure did get to me. Also I have seen two different ending so far and all fours characters have there own endings. All I can say is some characters are given some rushed endings depending on the choices you make earlier in the game, but not rushed in a way where you feel cheated, but rushed in a way where you are like "they took all the time to pace the game so well, then they go an do this...well it was still good". But there is one perfect ending, and if you are able to make all the right decisions, you will get that perfect ending.
From a objective view, Heavy Rain seems pointless because it can be riden off as interactive cutscenes that most game are field with. But from a subjective stance, Heavy Rain is a defining moment in gaming history. Story telling has come a long way in gaming with the likes of the Metal Gear Solid Series, Mass Effect, Bioshock, and GTA. Heavy Rain is definitley the next step in that departemnt, but Heavy Rain is not perfect. It does not meet the balance between perfect storytelling and gameplay. I think MGS4 holds that title right now for me. But in MGS4, I never felt Snakes pain metally or physically and that story can come off a cheesy in alot of instances. I symphasized with him, but in Heavy Rain, I felt the stress level of all the characters I controlled thanks to the demanding control scheme, hearting hitting musical score, and great character development.
On top of this, Heavy Rain is not a FPS or TPS. With so many games focused on killing people, monsters, aliens, etc, this is a nice change of pace. And that is the point of Heavy Rain and this is why it is 'BRILLANT'. Its a breath of fresh air. I would love for Quantic Dreams to keep making games like this, but only them, if some one else can top them, then do so, but I know copycats only fail in the end. Play Heavy Rain, and even if you don't like it, you will know that gaming can be more than just killing or racing.
(P.S. Now if a game could mix this style of gameplay with what we call 'solid gameplay', we might just have the best game ever conceived and created...heres to hoping. Heavy Rain gets a good rating because this is the first time I have played a game like this, but if they make another game just like this...it will be hard for me to give it anything higher than a 8.5 unless they do something to make the game truly great. With no gameplay, it will be hard for me to not to just rent the next installment if it doesn't advance what they have already done, but QD already said this is the last game they will do like this, so I will just enjoy this...can't wait for the DLC)