The highly anticipated adult thriller is still some way off from hitting stores.

Heavy Rain screenshot

Today, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has announced that PlayStation 3 exclusive Heavy Rain is to be released in late 2009.

Heavy Rain is described as a dark, immersive and emotionally-engaging experience. The game will expand on the innovation shown by 2005's acclaimed Fahrenheit to create a noir-thriller where decisions are charged with importance and actions can have drastic and unforeseen consequences.

The game's looking very impressive and is already being held up as a title Xbox 360 owners can only dream of seeing on their system.

We'll reserve judgement until we check the game out later this week.