Games Abyss: Heavy Rain Review

Over the past year, Heavy Rain has been promoted as the videogame to change all videogames: one that proves games can trade the gun-toting, monster-slaughtering muscle men for a story about love, death, family, compassion, and all those things that move us in real life. The game has been billed as a work of "interactive drama," something akin to a "choose-your-own adventure" movie-a largely scripted story with all the panache that makes film so engaging, yet allowing for player agency during key (and not-so-key) choices. This idea has a lot of promise. Unfortunately, Heavy Rain falls short of it on almost all accounts. 5/10

[dafonz]

score
Hey, I didn't agree with the score either... But it is what it is and if someone doesn't like the game you can't force them to like it. They have to be honest about how they feel about the game. Can't do anything about that.

[shoinan]

Agreed
Way off or not, it's his opinion.

[SlamVanderhuge]

Absolutely, but...
DAMN...thats a low score :)

[midi]

I do admire honesty for sure, but having finished this game twice now, I can't agree with this review at all. It's an incredibly special video game.

[tehk1w1]

It's a review folks. They're based on opinions. Some of which periodically fall contrary to your own.

[BetaChris]

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I understood why the mundane tasks (teeth brushing, showering, shaving, etc) were included. Not so much filler, as the reviewer implies, but instead as an added level of immersion surrounding the 4 protagonists. Think about it this way - we are seeing the world through their eyes, and are responsible for everything they do; be it something as harrowing as Ethan's trials, or something as boring as cooking dinner. Does the latter do anything to enhance the story? No, but it *does* make the characters seem more human. When was the last time someone went a whole day - much less the duration of an entire criminal investigation, without a shave or a shower? Why should an interactive drama be any different?