Heavy Rain, from Quantic Dream, is maybe the kind of game that would not have been made in years past. The PlayStation 3 title is decidedly not an action title, or a platformer, or a FPS, RTS or RPG. If anything, it's more like the old-school point and click adventures of the PC ... minus the pointing and clicking and plus a whole dose of quick-time events. While the Wii has had success with point and click games, Heavy Rain is the first game that's even like those titles to hit the PlayStation 3. But is it any fun or a total bore?
The Heavy Rain demo at PAX featured a chapter starring one of the four major protagonists, a detective named Scott Shelby looking for clues on the Origami Killer. In this snippet, Scott enters a store owned by a man named Hassan, who's son was a victim of the Origami Killer. Scott's there to try and find out some information, but Hassan refuses to talk, stating that no one was there for him when his son was killed. Every angel seems to get nowhere for Scott, so he resigns himself to getting an inhaler from the back of the store and leaving.
The game's animations look absolutely fluid and beautiful. From a movement perspective, it's definitely the most realistic game I've ever seen, but the fact that it's basically like an interactive movie certainly helps it look that great. Scott's movements as you control him, and the actual animations of the characters show no signs of clipping, floating, or sluggishness.
As Scott goes to look for an inhaler, though, a young man named Andrew enters the store and holds Hassan at gunpoint, demanding money. Scott, upon seeing this, is left with a few options to diffuse the situation. He can move from the back of the store to flank Andrew, avoiding things like falling boxes or potato chips under his feet that would otherwise give him away.
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