Heavy Rain is a pivotal game. On its face, because it appears to be exactly the type of game we’ve been asking for: an emotional, character and story driven piece. In many ways, this is the flagship that shows what games could be.

It is a major undertaking for Sony, who backed French developer Quantic Dream during the 4 years of development, calling it their “most important release.”

Heavy Rain is the studio’s third game. Both previous games, The Nomad Soul and Fahrenheit, have been praised for their efforts in movie-like presentation and immersion, but were criticized for their lack of “game” aspects.

According to the game’s Director, David Cage, the game is "a very dark film noir thriller with mature themes.” It tells the story of the Origami Killer (who kidnaps and kills young children), from the perspective of several characters: a depressed father, a neurotic woman, an addicted FBI agent, an apathetic private investigator.

Where Heavy Rain Fails

The game makes several self-conscious efforts to be different and to be everything.

As a movie, it feels disjointed: one scene will have you black out in a paranoiac outburst. In another, you will be putting plates on a table. Then comes a CSI-like investigation, followed by playing with your kid in the park.

The story deals with themes such as parenthood, death, suicide, paranoia, but the fact that it mixes those elements characteristic of thriller movies with a constant sense of loneliness which recalls movie director Aki Kaurismaki makes it feel very inconsistent.

As a game, Heavy Rain is… different.

There are no specific buttons bound to actions (eg: Press B to jump). Everything is contextual. Stand near a mirror, and an icon will appear, prompting you to do a movement that simulates what you’d be doing in real life. David Cage explains that his goal is to immerse the player by playing daily routine things. In practice, you will get to play games with your kids, put plates on the table, brush your teeth, dry yourself after the shower.

While this simplification of controls, due to the fact that there is nothing to memorize, is step in letting everyone enjoy the story, its implementation is rather poor. One has no idea what an action will do. Will turning the joystick slap the guy, tickle him, or kill him? Very often, you will find yourself doing things you didn’t want, which gives the general feeling that the game hides what you should be doing from you.

In movies, preventing the viewers from knowing what happens is a very effective way to keep them hooked.

In this case, it is a handicap.

Lastly, the graphics are amongst the most advanced in this generation. The game features extremely detailed character models and realistic animation, in particular for facial expressions.

However, this sets the expectations of the player very high in terms of realism, which makes flaws much less bearable. In that sense, Heavy Rain is the best example of the uncanny valley to date.

Heavy Rain is a fascinating experiment. It is achieves most of the goals that have been set for this generation.

That the combination of such forward-thinking from both Quantic Dream and Sony resulted in such a difficult to enjoy game is confusing.

Can the formula be perfected? If so, will it be a more enjoyable experience? Is there room for story driven games in the future?