The whole incident where Ethan is standing on a street corner (near where the Origami Killer just happened to grow up, we learn later in the game) holding an origami figure makes you go “hmmm…” at the time but strains credulity when you reflect back on it after finishing the game. They’re never explained, which makes them a ham-handed attempt at a red herring. The blackouts serve no purpose other than to make us think Ethan is the killer. After all, there are only eight or so major characters in the whole game, so they’ve got to leave some doubt as to the identity of the killer. The misdirection is a noble goal in and of itself. At one point, Ethan even seems to believe it. “Heavy Rain” makes a pretty big investment in making the player think that Ethan might have some kind of split personality disorder that’s somehow related to the death of his first son, Jason, at the beginning of the game. Not long after, Ethan has a second blackout, during which Shaun is kidnapped. It’s pouring rain, and he’s holding a little origami figure in his hand. He comes to in the middle of a street in a residential neighborhood. What was up with Ethan’s blackouts?: Before Shaun is kidnapped, the game’s third chapter ends with Ethan putting his son to bed, then blacking out. In examining the contents of the other endings, these plot holes largely go unexplained unless otherwise noted.) Though I made a few mistakes, I managed to play every chapter but one and unlock several of the epilogues. (In the interest of giving an informed critique, I’ve taken to the Internet to check out the other ways my playthrough could have resolved itself. With all that in mind, here are the plot holes and inconsistencies that jumped out at me once I finished the game. I’ve since gone back and experimented a little to unlock some of the other epilogues and nab some trophies I missed. In other words, it was kind of a mixed ending. Ethan, however, was reunited with Shaun and ended up moving into a new place with Shaun and Madison, whom Ethan forgave earlier in the story. Despite what I felt was a pretty solid fight, I missed a few cues and Norman died, leaving Scott to escape. Whoops.)Īll of the above left Ethan to rescue Shaun and Norman to duke out it out with Scott, the killer, on the conveyor belt. (Lauren also died, when I stupidly kicked out the window of the car before trying to rescue her. Though she survived the harrowing encounter at the Origami Killer’s pad, I never was able to guess the password for the computer that would have revealed the killer’s location. (I got the “nerd” trophy for finding all of them.) Madison, however, was less lucky. Norman also found Shaun, reviewing the clues he’d discovered. That gave me enough clues to narrow Shaun’s location down to about a half-dozen places, and I was able to figure out where Shaun was being held by using the foghorn cue. I managed to get past three of the five trials with Ethan, failing at picking my way through the electrical wires and killing another human being. Before we get to the picking of nits, I’ll share the details from my first playthrough of the game. OK, we’re definitely in spoiler territory now. To make sure your innocent eyes don’t accidentally read any spoilers in the next paragraph, I’m even throwing in a picture. If, however, you’ve finished the game and are looking for a spot to talk about your experience, this is the place. If you have not yet played “Heavy Rain,” do not read any further, as this discussion will spoil a number of plot points. So now I’m going to do something I hope to do a little more of on this blog, and offer a no-holds-barred, spoiler-filled discussion of the game’s story. It’s just that the inconsistent narrative and gap-filled plot detract from the overall experience enough to knock it down from “game of the year” contender to merely “good game” status. “Heavy Rain” is well-executed enough to recommend. That’s probably why I felt so let down by the game’s story. It’s a video game for the folks who aren’t skilled enough to enjoy playing “Modern Warfare 2” online or willing to invest the time needed to learn the intricacies of “Final Fantasy XIII’s” so-called “battle system,” yet want something a little more nuanced than casual titles like “Wii Sports Resort” or “Rock Band 2.” The game’s marriage of mature story with populist design and easy-to-grasp controls show what we should come to expect from single-player, interactive entertainment. I enjoyed Quantic Dream’s “Heavy Rain,” but I wanted to love it.
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