I remember the first time I ever saw Heavy Rain. Or, more accurately, the tech demonstration for the game that they unveiled at E3 2006. It was so strikingly realistic. As I watched the demonstration unfold, I could not believe that this French studio had so well re-created the human form and, being familiar with their previous work, Indigo Prophecy, I became overwhelmingly excited for the possibilities of their next title.
I waited nearly four years for this game. As Heavy Rain actually became Heavy Rain and not just some tech demo and as more and more information was released to the game news industry, I became more and more insanely ready for this game to arrive. On February 23, 2010, I got my wish. And... well, it truly is impossible to live up to four years of over-zealous hype.
Let me just say, I love Heavy Rain. The story and screenplay are incredibly well written, the graphics are absolutely mind-shattering, and it offers something truly unique. But all those descriptions are missing a key qualifier at the end of each one of them: the term "for a video game". But this piece is the most important step that the video game medium has made toward becoming a legitimate art form.
I will not dog the graphics, they're the most realistic that the world has ever seen in a video game, despite how some complain about some robotic animations and off-looking textures. Yeah, I noticed them too, but there's got to be a point where you look past those couple of missing pieces and accept that this was the most visually stunning video game of all time.
And it truly does offer something unique, at least at this time. Heavy Rain is an adventure game in an industry that has not embraced adventure games since the mid-1990's and a predominant amount of gameplay is spent on character interaction and plot development instead of action scenes. It seems like everything about the game, from the presentation style to the control scheme to the central themes of the narrative is so out of norm with the rest of the industry that it's hard to define it as a game.
But, whoops, there I went and mentioned the plot. Well damn. There is one major problem that I have with Heavy Rain and that is the narrative that ties the beautiful visuals, script, music, and outlandishness together. If there is one part of the game that truly disappointed me, it was the lack of risk-taking that David Cage took when writing this story.
The story is formulaic, blunt, holey, convenient, and, above all, safe for the video game audience. Why did David Cage push this game so far away from the stereotypical video game in every other aspect he could, but ran back so willing when it came to the story? '
Why does the story of the main character have to be so explicitly broken down into five challenges? Does David Cage realize how many games are broken down by fives? It's a very convenient number: introduction, trial, "sudden" surprising midpoint, right hand man, big bad guy. Why does one of the challenges have to focus on driving on the wrong side of the road? I usually drive on the wrong side of the road in any game with driving! Then a maze for the second challenge? Wow David, you've stolen such an original idea that repeatedly appears in Pokemon games and it breaks the pace just as bad in both places. After that, we get into some interesting territory making decisions to kill people, to cut off limbs, to poison, but there's one main problem with this that I promise I'm getting to.
And David, why does this narrative have to be so damn convenient? Why does Nathaniel pull out a cross during the stand-off? It would have reflected the importance of the choice of the player if he pulled out a gun and shot Blake instead of just trying to get a last attempt at exorcising him. Why does Scott Shelby show up right after the suicidal mother cut herself? If he had showed up too late to save the mother, then the baby would have been parentless, and players would have felt some actual remorse for Shelby's homicidal tendencies when they find out the truth about him. And, most importantly, why isn't the poison in the last challenge actually poison? It's so obvious, so expected, it killed me that Ethan didn't fall over dead once he had saved his son. Imagine the impact that would have had for the player, to see a father actually sacrifice himself to save his son. The predictability and convenience of the plot ruin any chance at real themes being expressed.
And finally and most damning of all, the characters have no character! The "characters" that are set up are merely the circumstances that surround the character in the story, none of them really have characteristics of their own. Because the player has so much influence over the decisions made in the game, the characters themselves are really only shells for the player to inhabit. And that is where Heavy Rain's story truly fails on a thematic and/or artistic level. There's no internal conflict, no progression for the characters so the narrative and the themes of the narrative have no weight. The whims of the player, not the will of the characters, decide the fate of the game, the story, the narrative. And since the themes have no weight, the game is completely incapable of enticing players through ideas and can only entertain them through events and that's the same thing that every video game story to this day has done already.
That really made it sound like I hated this game or the story. On the contrary, I found both to be very enjoyable. But I did not find it enjoyable for the reason that David Cage wanted me to enjoy it; I did noy find the human emotion that drives the plots of films like The Hurt Locker, Crazy Horse, and Precious. I found it enjoyable because it was thrilling and had a few surprises along the way, like an Indiana Jones or Star Wars film. The problem is that that has already been achieved many times over in the video game industry and David Cage wanted something trailblazing.
What could I tell him to do? Well, I'm no game designer or screenwriter yet, but I would say take the control away from the player. Don't let the player decide the course of the character's progression, just focus on developing interesting characters and stories for them to live through. And while we're talking about stories and characters, simplify it. You do not need multiple characters or branching paths, take it down a notch, and when you simplify it down to one set character and one set path, then it's easier to create a compelling narrative. And most importantly, David, please, take risks. Give the industry and the players something they really have not ever, ever seen before and take us to plateaus of thought we've never entertained while playing our video games. Just try new things.
That said, Heavy Rain is incredibly enjoyable, it has multiple endings, multiple paths through the main narrative, and interesting plot developments; it's a really enjoyable, pretty, intriguing choose-your-own-adventure novel. But that's all that it is. Unfortunately, though, that's the best we can do for now.
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