Heavy Rain Preview

There's plenty of gameplay here, even if it's not immediately obvious.

The rest of the scene progresses in a similar tone. Ethan cajoles Shaun into his homework, helps him to check it over, prepares his dinner. Later the pair sit together and watch TV. When it's time for Shaun's bedtime, he asks if he can stay up a little longer; Ethan lets him watch for another half hour, then takes him up to bed. None of this sounds particularly exciting, and perhaps it wouldn't be if it weren't for the poignancy of the scene. The whole half hour sequence was littered with genuinely affecting moments - and most of them were handled with a degree of subtlety rarely seen in video game narratives.

At one point while Shaun was sat at the kitchen table, Ethan picked up a few bits of fruit and started to juggle - an act that amazed and delighted the young boy. For a brief interlude father and son seemed to bond... and then it passed, and we were back to the cold reality of the dimly-lit house. Another highlight occurred as Ethan entered his office, picked up a remote control and began to watch an old home movie of his family. The tape was filmed in happier times and featured both Jason and Shaun fooling around in the back garden, as well as the kids' mother. In the end Ethan finds these memories to be a bit too much, and he breaks down in tears.

We've seen this kind of scene in films before, but never in a game. Despite the familiarity of the situation, it was still a strong moment - thanks largely to the fact that Ethan's sorrowful expressions look painfully real. Indeed, it says a lot that my favourite bit of the whole demo involved an almost complete lack of activity. As Shaun quietly ate his dinner, Ethan sat at the table and simply watched him. The soundtrack surged into a melancholy score, but it was Ethan's face that made the whole episode so heart-breaking: it was a look that spoke of sadness, regret, and the longing of a man who knows he's thrown his life away.

Now, I suspect that some of you are reading this and thinking, "Fine, but where's the gameplay in all of this?" Well, the short answer is that it's everywhere. As you walk Ethan around the scene, you'll be able to interact with pretty much any object you'll find. Some items, like the contents of the fridge, are there for a purpose, others are simply there for decoration. At times your interactions will lead to some form of brief mini-game: the aforementioned juggling takes the form of a a quick QTE sequence, while a spot of basketball in the yard requires the player to line up an icon over a target. For the most part, however, Heavy Rain is a game about role-playing. Our demonstrator chose to be a good father, but if he'd wanted to he could have been mean to Shaun - told him off, forbidden him from watching TV. Or he could have been a lazy dad, and watched TV all evening. Shaun himself has his own agenda, and will try to take care of himself if you ignore him. If left unfed, he'll grab a chair and push it against the kitchen counter, climbing up to reach the cupboards high above. All of these little factors and choices will feed into the game's twisting, branching plot.

Will you cry while playing Heavy Rain?

Maybe it's just me being a sap, or the fact that my relationship with my own father has always meant a lot to me, but I was really rather moved by this latest showing of Heavy Rain. There are certainly rough edges to some of the game's elements: the background music seemed a bit abrupt in its coming and going, and the dialogue was occasionally a tad stilted in its delivery. Given the conditions under which the actors must record their lines, in isolation and with sensors attached to their face, I guess this is somewhat understandable. For the most part, the voice acting in Heavy Rain is of a very high standard - but it's the digital actors and their lifelike expressions that allow the game to pack an emotional punch.

No, if Heavy Rain has a problem, it'll be one of public perception. David Cage clearly knows this, as he ended his presentation with an impassioned plea to the gathered journalists. He's worried about people comparing this game to Dragon's Lair, or to similarly non-interactive game. He asked us to underline the fact that player is in full control of their characters at all times, but I suspect that this isn't the real issue. The big risk is that people will be confused by Heavy Rain. It won't fit into most people's idea of what a video game can and should be, and as a result there's a real question over how many gamers will be prepared to give it a go. As Cage himself points out, it's rare indeed for a game like this to get so much financial backing; if Heavy Rain flops, it'll be years before a company like Sony takes a gamble on an innovative project like this. This game has the potential to be a masterpiece, but only time will tell if the masses are prepared for something this new.

Heavy Rain will be released on PS3 early next year.