Heavy Rain: PS4 Review

Heavy Rain: PS4 Review

Developed by Quantic Dreams
Platform: PS4

Enhanced for PS4 much like fellow stable mate Beyond Two Souls, Heavy Rain comes as part of a double pack that celebrates the interactive drama that's become such a common thing on the platform.

Mixing whodunnit with lots of shaking the dual shock controller, the game Heavy Rain is an interesting experience, one that would have been ahead of its time back in 2011 on the PS3, but one which feels a little slower to engage as a game on the current platform.

It's a dark game as well - one that features on a child serial killer called the Origami Killer and your chance to play as one of four characters within the game, giving you multiple perspectives on the story as it unfolds.

All four of the characters are intertwined and it's easy to see why Quantic Dreams received so many accolades for the game. It's certainly ground-breaking for the time and looks stunning back on the next gen console. While some of the game movements and controls feel a little archaic (using the R2 button to move), they're certainly cleverly executed, even if the environments control what you can interact with.

Characters feel a little robotic though and not quite as smooth as perhaps they should and the vocal capabilities of their execution don't quite gel as well.

Quick time events form the basis of large swathes of the game and they're executed reasonably successfully to the overall proceedings. It helps that they build the tension of the situation well and help to escalate the story into a level that's befitting of its B-movie intentions.

Graphically, the game looks impressive and really stands up on the PS4 front, much like Beyond Two Souls which still feels brutally expressive with the next gen grunt of the engine behind it.

If you're willing to stick with some of the plot's slightly rougher edges and the story's poorer execution of its female characters, it's easy to see why the cinematic Heavy Rain has had more than its fair share of accolades and praise. It's gritty, grimy and was trailblazing for its time - it rewards patience and sucks you into its story-telling web, despite some of its occasionally weaker elements.