Heavy Rain

I started playing Heavy Rain today and I must say that I really like what I've seen so far! The quality of the graphics and the 3D models isn't too great, it's easy to see the typical "broken" lines where curves have been divided up into separate polygons for example. People's faces tend to have this glassy-eyed look and depending on the person can have this "plastic" look to them. Movement around the world can sometimes be a bit of a chore for somebody like me who's not used to a console's controller but to mouse and keyboard.

Now those were the main bad points. The good points are: it's just a fun, engrossing game with a great atmosphere. I'm not even sure if you could even call it a game as such, although it definitely has game aspects, like when you are an FBI agent looking for clues with your futuristic scanner glasses. Then there are the "action" sequences which are like those horrible console, press the right button at the right time, sequences... except that this time they aren't horrible. There doesn't seem to be a way to do anything really wrong, the game doesn't punish you for reacting 5ms too late, the sequence just takes a different turn.

As you can see in the video above you just walk around until some symbol appears indicating there's something to do there. There are lot's of little things to discover, most of them are just there for fun, to add some depth to the entire thing, but luckily most of those disappear after the first time you use/perform them so you don't get swamped all the time with symbols floating in the air. It also keeps you focused on the story, which turns this more into an interactive movie than just a graphically advanced adventure game. Which might turn some people off because (so far) it isn't very difficult, I don't think you will ever feel much of an achievement having encountered the solution to a particularly devious puzzle for example. But I still think it's worth it because the story is just so compelling. For a movie it might be your average psychological thriller about trying to catch a serial killer, but for a game it's great stuff that hasn't been done enough before.