Heavy Rain Preview

These are the most realistic virtual actors we've ever seen

"You won't see anything spectacular today," says David Cage, addressing a hotel room full of expectant hacks. "You won't see anybody killed, you won't see anything exploding. You will see a father, a single father, taking care of his son."

Naturally, the Quantic Dream boss is only giving us half the truth. While Heavy Rain's appearance in Cologne is certainly more low key than the game's previous showings, it's equally true to say that the game is still rather spectacular, albeit in a rather unconventional sense. For half an hour or so I watch a broken-down architect as he mooches around his drab home, doing things that any normal human being might do: watching TV, preparing a light dinner, putting his estranged child to bed. In terms of real life, it's nothing remarkable; in the context of a video game, it's positively outlandish.

The previous exhibitions of Heavy Rain weren't like this. In the game's debut presentation, we watched as a young journalist desperately hid from a psychotic taxidermist. At this year's E3 we followed the same woman as she charmed her way through a seedy nightclub; during the same event we met Norman Jayden - a drug-addicted FBI agent who ended up fighting for his life in a muddy junkyard. All of those moments were pretty gripping, but there's something different about Ethan Mars' moment in the spotlight. Because more than anything that we've seen of Heavy Rain before, Ethan looks and feels like a human being.

Let's have some context. Several years before the events of Heavy Rain, Ethan was a family man with nary a care in the world. He was great at his job, he had a beautiful wife and two lively young sons - Shaun and Jason. Then tragedy struck: while the family were visiting a fairground, Jason was hit and killed by a car. The trauma of this event pulled the plug out of Ethan's life. His work ethic slipped, his marriage broke up, and now his remaining son, Shaun, remains cold and distant. Unfortunately things are about to get a hell of a lot worse: Shaun will soon be kidnapped by the Origami Killer, and when this happens Ethan will be forced into some very difficult decisions.

We're definitely in uncanny valley

For the time being, however, the Mars family is left in piece. Today's scene, culled from the very beginning of the game, begins with Ethan collecting Shaun from his mother's house. From the moment the pair reach Ethan's dilapidated home, the scene proceeds in accelerated real-time. Shaun is still just a boy, and as such he demands a relatively static routine. If the player wants Ethan to be a good parent, they'll need to look after his child's needs, carrying out the action at the correct time. In light of this situation, the ticking clock on the kitchen wall is the only antagonist in the scene.

At the start of the demo, the demonstrator takes Ethan over to the sofa, where Shaun lies watching the TV. The architect kneels and attempts to engage his offspring, a variety of conversation choices orbiting his head. Unfortunately Shaun doesn't want to chat much - his short, dull responses further underlining the tension with his father. Eventually Ethan offers to fetch Shaun a snack, the one topic that elicits and enthusiastic response. Ethan heads into the kitchen and grabs a coloured packet from a cupboard.