![]() His cold, uninterested responses further the feelings of hopelessness, putting you right into the shoes of Ethan Mars. At home you constantly search for things to do or talk about with your son, searching for some way to be part of his life. ![]() Sat silently in the car, rain drumming on the windscreen, you feel completely helpless as Shaun sits staring from the window. If Quantic Dream has achieved anything with Heavy Rain it’s drawing complete empathy from its audience. Two years on from the accident and we’re playing once more as Ethan, picking his remaining son Shaun up from school. A stark contrast to the blue skies and green grass of the game’s opening, from here on in it’s all run-down suburban plots, abandoned warehouses and industrial waste lands. In the following scene, Ethan witnesses the death of his son Jason in a tragic turn of events which sets the tone for the rest of the game. These provide an inner monologue, detailing potential courses of action or giving insight into the current situation, often fleshing out plot elements but occasionally acting merely as suggestions with regards to what to do next. In most situations it’s possible to hold the left trigger in order to bring up the character’s thoughts. It’s here that the game first provides the ability to make your own decisions, using the time to do some work in Ethan’s study, getting a cup of coffee and watching TV or just strolling around the garden, marvelling at the scenery. Once he’s washed and dressed, Ethan is free to wander the house looking for things to keep him occupied until his wife and boys arrive home. Other actions however, like violently shaking the controller up and down in order to clean Ethan’s teeth, are a little too overzealous to be taken seriously. In cases like these the system succeeds in providing the kind of feedback that puts you in the character’s place. ![]() In order for Ethan to shave, the game requires a slow and steady movement of the right stick, whereas to dry Ethan once he’s exited the shower the controller must be shaken from side to side, mimicking his movement as he dries his back with a towel. These three key actions are used throughout Heavy Rain, and depending on the situation bring with them varied results. Each action is performed following an on-screen prompt, be it a stroke of the right stick, the press of a button or the tilting and shaking of the controller itself. As an introduction to the game’s context sensitive control scheme, Ethan is taken through his morning routine – beginning with a shower, cleaning his teeth, shaving and then getting dressed. Heavy Rain begins with Ethan Mars waking up in his IKEA-furnished home. While it’s debateable that most plot-led video games could technically fall under this genre, Heavy Rain takes the far more literal approach to the term ‘drama’, providing an emotionally charged adult thriller with a maturity that is lacking from the majority of contemporary games. David Cage, head of Quantic Dream has been persistent in outlining Heavy Rain’s role as something more than a video game – intent on referring to it as an ‘interactive drama’. Heavy Rain has been causing quite a stir within the games industry since its announcement a couple of years ago.
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