Pretentious the game. Rarely have I played a game so high on its own self-importance. Heavy Rain really thinks it tells a dynamic and emotionally resonate story. For those that made the effort to play the game, they were rewarded with a straight to DVD cinematic experience that is both exploitive and derivative. Where to start? The villain is Walmart brand, diet Jigsaw. Madison exists to get naked, sexually assaulted, and be a mere love interest in the best of the game’s its endings. Do you like quick-time events? You know that popular mechanic from the early 2000’s that EVERYBODY loved? Well, you better because that is all the game is.
What is the story really trying to say? What is anyone supposed to take away from it? “How far are you prepared to go to save someone you love?” Well, if you don’t go far enough, I guess you are at fault, not the serial killer. I suppose the motion capture was pretty good for its time, and the actors do their best to make the stale characters presentable, but that is the best that can be said about Heavy Rain. I will never understand how David Cage was able to keep making games after this nonsense.