What would you do to rescue your child from a cold-blooded serial killer? Heavy Rain puts you in that intense situation from the perspective of four playable characters with very different lives.
Each character is more realistic, more human than any game character you've ever seen. These characters have emotions, suffer from ailments, and have one thing in common: They're all searching to save your son from the origami killer.
At GamesCom, we met Ethan, one of the four playable characters in Heavy Rain and the most important. Ethan is a broken man filled with guilt and sadness.
Two years ago, Ethan lost one of his sons in a shopping mall. He witnesses his son leave the mall and run into the street where he is hit by a car and killed. This emotional scene is completely playable as you'll fight against the crowd to catch up with Ethan's son. Fast forward two years after the accident, Ethan is a single father left to raise his remaining son, Shaun. Shaun is crucial to the story of Heavy Rain as he will be the origami killer's next victim.
In our demo, we did not see Shaun's kidnapping or Ethan's desperate struggle to locate his son and find the origami killer. Instead, we were shown a playable scene that establishes the broken relationship between father and son. I
n this scene, Ethan picks up Shaun from school and they go home to watch TV, make dinner, and go to sleep. Again, this is all playable and it can be played however you choose.
Playing this scene stresses the emotional distance and detachment between Ethan and Shaun. They barely talk, and you can further distance yourself from Shaun or vice versa try to take care of him. A chalk board reminds Ethan that Shaun should have a snake around 4:30PM, do homework at 6:00PM, eat dinner at 8:00PM, and be in bed shortly after. Time does advance in this scene, and
what you do with that time is up to you. You can be a caring father or completely ignore Shaun's needs. If you ignore him, he'll help himself to snacks, continue to watch TV, and eventually fall asleep on the couch.
Or you can talk to Shaun about his day, school, and homework. You can even grab chips for him to snack on and make a microwaveable dinner. Then putting him to bed with his favorite teddy bear really attaches you to both of these characters.
It's like watching a movie, but you're in control of what the actors do. For example,
we watched in awe as Ethan noticed Shaun was sneezing, a sign that a cold might be coming on. He went upstairs, grabbed medicine from the bathroom cabinet, and gave it to Shaun. You don't have to do this. You don't have to do anything at all if you choose. Shaun can be forced to finish his homework and go straight to bed without being rewarded with more TV, but he will hate you for it. Oppositely, Ethan will kiss Shaun goodnight if you help him with homework, cook dinner, and let him watch a little more TV. What's more are how many options you have at all times. Another example is leaving Shaun to fall asleep in front of the couch and you can carry him to bed.
The choice is yours as you command the actors of Heavy Rain, the closest thing to an interactive movie we've ever seen.
The next playable character we were introduced to is Scott Shelby, a private investigator and former cop. He's primarily hired by the victim's families who feel the police aren't doing enough about the origami killer. He's a bulky man who suffers from asthma.
The scene we saw with Scott Shelby takes place in a convenience store. The owner lost his son to the origami killer and Scott is looking for more information than what he can find in the police reports. Scott questions the man behind the counter, but he's reluctant to talk about his loss. Remember, this is all playable and you'll choose what to say from the available options assigned on the face buttons of the PS3 controller. Scott resigns from questioning further, but needs to buy an inhaler before leaving the store.
While Scott is in the back of the store, a young suspect enters and holds a gun up to the man behind the counter. He wants the cash from the register. Like the scene between Ethan and Shaun, you have many options for what to do about the robber in the convenience store. One example is to sneak up behind the crook, quietly grabbing a bottle of liquor to knock him on the head. Gently pushing the thumbstick on the controller performs actions more softly and slowly. Another example is to let the robber know of your presence. Hold your hands up with the L1 and R1 buttons and try and talk him down.
The robbery scene can end in a number of ways. The robber can be knocked out cold, talked down to retreating, the store owner can be fatally shot, and so can you.
Yes, even the main characters, such as Scott, can die in Heavy Rain. But it doesn't mean gameover. You can keep playing the game and the story to save Shaun will continue. If all four main characters die, then the story is over and you will get one of the multiple endings. The point is to keep playing no matter what happens. It's life and you have to deal with it.
That concluded our demo of Heavy Rain and we left the room totally stunned. It was like seeing an intense, thought-provoking movie like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, all we wanted to do was discuss the implications of a game like this on the interactive movie level. Because that's what Heavy Rain is, the first interactive movie.