How far would you go to save the one you love?

Would you lie, cheat and steal? Would you kill a man? If this person meant the world to you, would you do everything in this world to get them back, or would you tuck your tail between your legs, abandoning all hope? In the dark, you slink through an eerie house to find clues. Instead you run into an unwanted visitor, and he’s out for blood. Do you attack him? Do you try to reason with him? Or do you simply run into the night? Every decision you make affects the outcome of the game, from the smallest choice to the more serious ones. The consequences of your virtual actions are so realistic that it is hard to believe you are operating in a virtual world. A true non-linear game was the goal that David Cage has always hoped to achieve. Has he done it with his newest pride and joy: Heavy Rain?

Since the game was originally announced at E3 three years ago, we’ve been carefully following the tracks of David Cage, the director for Heavy Rain. David is the founder of Quantic Dream, the company which produced a game similar to Heavy Rain four years ago called Fahrenheit, or Indigo Prophecy for U.S dwellers. Three years later, Heavy Rain’s The Origami Killer burst onto the scene at E3 this year, packing a punch with just released screenshots and a brand spanking new trailer:

Heavy Rain, like Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy, is an action-adventure game presented as an interactive movie. The player plays the role of different characters within this movie, with context-based controller movements determining actions and action sequences played out as quick time events, where the player will be given instructions to follow in quick sequence in order to, for instance, roll out of the way of an attack, or to save a drowning person. In this sense the action sequences are much like a rhythm game such as Guitar Hero.

There is no Game Over: Typically when the character you control dies it means Game Over for you, ‘reload to your last save point.’ Not with Heavy Rain; the stark realism is maintained even in death as when your character dies, the game continues, with the game world reacting to this death. If you’re skeptical of how this all could work, it is assisted by the fact the player controls not one, not two, but four main characters, and can at points switch back and forth between them. According to the developers it is even possible to complete the game after all the characters have been killed.

Regardless if you’re a fan of Omrikon: The Nomad Soul, Indigo Prophecy, or if you’ve never picked up a Quantic Dream game in your life, come the release date next year you will be scratching at the doors of your nearest game merchant, ready to experience a true interactive cinematic experience unlike any before it.