Video Game Review: Heavy Rain

Monday evening I finished playing the Undead Nightmare expansion pack for Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption. It was a lot of fun after having spent quite a few hours on the original game. The expansion only took about 15 hours of total time to finish. When I was done, I wanted something a little different and just picked up Heavy Rain from Quantic Dream. Heavy Rain is an older game available on the PlayStation 3 video game console but still manages to hold up well. The reasons I picked the game are that it is significantly different than the other games I have finished playing, I knew it to be about a 10-hour game, and it is not another zombie game. It was a lot of fun to play in the evenings on my boat.

I didn't know what to expect when I sat down to play Heavy Rain. I imagined it would be similar to watching a movie with the chance to make choices that would effect the outcome of the story. There was actually a bit more involved in the game play and so it was a lot more interactive than I originally thought. During the game, you take turn playing 4 different characters as you try to find the "Origami Killer." You also try to make sure all 4 characters make it to the end of the game as you also try to save a young boy. I was not successful except for saving one of the characters and the young boy. I probably could have done better but one of my choices had far-reaching consequences. I did fairly good figuring out all of the clues and knew who the killer was before it was revealed.

Heavy Rain is rated Mature and definitely should not be played by anyone who is not an adult. There is violence, nudity, and strong language, so it is not a game for kids. Personally I enjoyed the game and would recommend it to adults looking for entertainment and a great tutorial on how to use the PS3 controller. I got the game from a recent sale "insider's only" sale for only $1 and while you may not be able to find it for that price, it has been out for a while and you should be able to find it for between $10 and $20. I should also remind you that I work for a video game company that may or may not be associated with this title.