Every once in a while, there comes a game which challenges the very way games are played. Something that takes you on a road less travelled. You may not necessarily like the path but it's new and in most cases refreshing. Quantic Dreams' Heavy Rain is one such game.

So, what makes Heavy Rain different? For one, the game is as QD would themselves describe it - an interactive drama. The emphasis here is on story telling rather than gameplay and the beauty of it all is that the story evolves based on your actions and decisions. The focus is on having a great story, realistic graphics, engaging background scores and building an emotional bond with the player. You do not have your combos, weapon upgrades, health and magic meters, level ups and the other such bricks that have built video games for decades. Lives? Hell No! One of your main characters can die and your story would just carry on without him.

And Heavy Rain does well in these areas for the most part. It succeeds in its mission to look like an animated movie - not just any animated movie - one that's extremely engaging. One where you play a part. It's a highly ambitious idea and an idea that needs viewers ( read players ) with an open mind. Their biggest success would have to be the emotional chord that they strike with their audience. They do this so well that you find yourself making gaming decisions with your heart - which is a rare feat. Kudos to QD for getting this right!

Now, don't get me wrong - the game's not perfect. It is groundbreaking, though. This will hopefully be the beginning of something new - a genre that will be bettered over the years. It will probably be remembered as a game that started a new genre - the first of its kind. But, it's not everyone's cup of tea. Some will love it. Others will hate it. Either way, the weather patterns in Gamerville are a-changing. The rains have started!

After delivering the knock out punch to Joker in Batman : Arkham Asylum on the PS3, I must say that the reviews were spot on. The game was fun to play. The Riddles were fun and the Combat had a distinct "Comic Superhero" touch to it. You know, the Bang, Ka-Pow,Ka-Boom. And then, I thought to myself - "Definitely, this can't be the first Superhero game that is this enjoyable !!"

Or, is it?

If we take a look at the Superheroes (from Marvel and DC) who have tried to make the jump from the comic book to the console - we will notice a lot of big names - Superman , Spiderman, The X-men, The Fantastic Four and a host of others if you include Marvel Ultimate Alliance 1 & 2 and The Rise of The Imperfects.

These kind of games have been around for a long time. I remember there was a Superman game for the Atari 2600 !! A very pixelated version though. That has progressed (Can we really call it progress?) over the years to games for the PC, Playstations and the X-Boxes.

So, what's been going wrong for our masked friends?

There is no short answer. Looking at the games, one thing stands out - razor thin plots. A lot of the time the game developers just hope that the fans of the series will flock to play no matter what they put into the game. I am not sure what exactly they put into the game but it definitely wasn't thought. A lot of the games feature superheroes beating up waves and waves of goons or robots with absolutely no character. Yes, my fellow gamers - that tends to be pretty repetitive.

That is sometimes made worse by the pressure of releasing the game along with a movie. And that results in a lot of half baked games that are absolutely no fun to play. I'm sure Superman would rather eat Kryptonite than play Superman Returns. ( Yeah, Don't ask me why but I have a copy of that for the PS2! )

Some of the better ones (albeit, slightly) were the X-Men Legends Series. Those were favorably received by critics and did keep me interested for some time. But, it had fallen behind other games of its generation in terms of graphics and gameplay.

Don't even get me started on Rise of The Imperfects!

That said, it looks like Arkham Asylum has broken down a few barriers and come up with a formula that works. I guess it's important for all games to have a decent storyline. A good combat system is a must because combat should not get repetitive. The multiple types of takedowns, the gadgets and stealth gives you a wide array of options on how to plan your attack. Throw in some good platforming and some creative side missions (the riddles were a blast !). It's also not easy to recreate the city or actual places from the comic but a lot of effort should go into recreating the environment from the original comic.

I am very hopeful of an equally entertaining sequel.

Now the question is -

Will more heroes get the better of the console and make this successful transition?

Or

Will the Consoles emerge as the new super villain that our heroes just can't beat?

For the answers, tune in later, same Bat-Time, same Bat Channel !

P.S. Well, for the sake of us gamers, let's hope the game developers get it right from now on!