Okay, before I start in on my love-fest for this game I will make the following warnings.
Heavy Rain is an "adventure" game. It's like Myst, but with less sitting on the same screen and clicking and more walking around the room to see just exactly what your character can interact with. That said, it has 80% story and 15% gameplay with 5% crying. Actually, that may be more 50% crying. I'll get to that in a second though. So if you're looking for some fun hack-and-slash, don't play this (or
Dragon Age: Origins.
As I said, the gameplay is limited, but nearly perfectly integrated into the story being told. If you want to open up the fridge, stand before it and perform a gesture with the right thumbstick. Need to convince someone to give you the information you need? The conversation choices are all mapped to your face buttons (triangle, square, etc..). You can also see what your character is thinking at any time by holding the L2 button. This will give hints to what you probably should be doing, but also lets you know your characters state of mind (and, I'm fairly certain that only 1 of the characters in the 4-character plot is not crazy). Need to survive a fight, it's that old "press the right button at the right time" gameplay. However, it's all mixed in with gestures with the right thumbstick, and they make a better representation what your character "should" be doing at that time. Need to dodge out of the way of an incoming punch, push the right thumbstick to the right. Then quickly press triangle for a kick to the groin (triangles are like groins right?). Either way, the best part about these scenes is they feel better than any fight scene I've seen in a game. A testament to this, is that for the 9 hours I've played so far, the game has been entertaining and suspenseful enough to warrant Aotrom, his girlfriend and Saff's undivided attention. Seriously, they've gotten up to go get drinks and go to the bathrooms more times during an episode of Dexter.
So what is the game all about? It's about sadness. Seriously, if you are at all despressed, or have recently imbibed and are alone, don't play this game. It's freakin' sad. It's also about a serial killer, and sadness. AT this point, I would argue that the serial killer is the game, and it kills through sadness.
Other than that, this game is freakin' awesome.
