The Heavy Rain hype has reached a crescendo, and the reviews are plenty positive. Now it is just a matter of waiting for Tuesday, and of course waiting for the kids to go to bed. There’s no way I can play this one with the kids watching!
Heavy Rain was really an impulse purchase. While I had read the various comments about the game over the last 12-18 months, I was not really interested. The lack of interest may have been due to my gaming doldrums, but I think it was more a matter of being completely disconnected from the content of the story. It just did not look like a day one purchase.
As Heavy Rain neared (or I should say nears) release day, the articles started to sound increasing interesting. Timing could be everything; my gaming melancholy came to a close about the same time Sony lifted the review embargo. I preordered the game, and played the demo.
I am looking forward to this game just because it is so different; new experiences matter, which is very much in line with my contrarian gaming view. This article from TheSixthAxis sums up why I am interested in Heavy Rain.
Is it because it’s so different, perhaps? It’s true, there’s nothing out there like Heavy Rain and, given the development time (and presumed budged) there won’t be another for some time, but is it really as powerful an experience as the hype over the last couple of years would have you believe? Maybe, but that’s not important.
What is important is the direction David Cage attempted to take console gaming. He may have stumbled with the plot (and clearly had some issues with controls) but Heavy Rain is, for its sins, a tale worth telling. It’s sometimes smart, occasionally sophisticated and frequently adult, unlike 99% of games out there.
I should be playing Heavy Rain 40 or so hours. Needless to say, I am excited, dare I say enthusiastic. In fact I cannot remember the last time I actually counted down the time to getting a game. Hopefully Heavy Rain does not disappoint.
