Heavy Rain GC Hands On

GamesCom was attended by David Cage from Quantic Dream, the developers behind the up-coming game / interactive cinematic experience Heavy Rain: The Origami Killer. Heavy Rain has been gaining a lot of press lately because of its hyper-realistic graphics and quality cut-scenes. However I'm here to tell you that Heavy Rain is unlike anything you've ever played and creates a whole new “emotional” aspect to what we could potentially achieve in video games from here on.

Cage, the Founder of Quantic Dream, started up the presentation by telling us of a new character who features in the game that was actually based around his own personal experiences. A father himself, Cage openly talked about a horrifying experience when he lost his son for a few moments in a crowded mall. Thankfully he was located soon-after but he will never forget those ten minutes of being filled with dread, guilt and panic when trying to locate him. He wanted to incorporate all of these emotions into Heavy Rain and the newly announced character called Ethan encapsulates all this and more. Ethan, a young and promising architect loses sight of his son for just a moment, just like Cage's experience, except in this case the boy is sadly struck down by a car and killed. Emotionally scarred and now seperated from his wife, his life lies in tatters. But an opportunity to put aside his guilt and terminal depression is presented to him when the Origami Killer emerges. Heavy Rain pushes the boundaries of all emotions through the lives of your characters, focusing on love, redemption, fear, loathing and especially the repeating theme of guilt. Ethan is just one of four playable characters, each one with their own emotional baggage and lives to lead.

Because of this, Heavy Rain is more of a cinematic journey than a traditional game. With slick camera angles and a cleverly integrated indicator system, it allows the player to completely interact with their environments. The only real way to try and describe the experience is to mention the twenty minutes of hands-on gameplay I had at GamesCom. I took control of Scott Shelby, a middle-aged private detective who has put on a bit of weight around the middle. The important thing to remember about Heavy Rain is that every character is just an everyday person in perfectly normal situations. How you behave in the game will tell you a lot about the type of person you are. Shelby entered a diary and not long after walking down an aisle towards the milk section, another customer enters the store – armed with a gun. With the use of 24 (the TV show) inspired multiple cameras technique, you can see yourself and what is unfolding behind you at the front counter as the poor shop keeper is held at gun-point and being robbed. What you do from here is completely up to you. In fact I witnessed three completely different possible outcomes with my short time with the game, but I don't want to spoil them for anyone.

Heavy Rain also has an unique control system to match the gameplay as well. It took some getting used to (and with me looking quite the fool in front of spectators) but within five or so minutes it seemed like second nature. Players control the head of your character with the analogue stick and hold the right trigger to walk – meaning you will set off in the direction you are facing. It screwed with my head a bit at first, but definitely added to the cinematic feel to the game. Just walking around the store, looking at products on the shelves or around corners felt beautifully natural. The other main control uses the remaining analogue stick which is flicked, rotated or tweaked to interact with objects. For example picking up a box of cereal is a flick upwards and taking out glasses or opening doors is a quarter-circle turn. There is no doubt that the game is set to mark some milestones for innovative game development. I can't wait to see the final build, although I'm not 100% sure I'm emotionally equipped to handle the experience!

NZGamer.com would like thank Activision, Capcom, Microsoft NZ, SCENZ, SEGA, THQ and Ubisoft for making this trip possible.

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