Staking ground in the limbo space between movies and games, Quantic Dream’s open-ended Heavy Rain looks weirder and weirder with every new video. Here, Guillaume de Fondaumiere showcases a scene with the Ethan character, and explains how the player’s actions drive the narrative:
We already knew that Heavy Rain would allow for major character deaths as a result of player choices, but it’s worth noting how minor some of these choices are. Feed your kid an apple, and you just might get hit in the balls with a pipe. The video also shows off more of the Quick Time Event system, which has button icons orbiting around the characters and integrated into the environment. A few months ago, I made a quick joke about “pressing down to reminisce about dead son,” but it looks like you can do exactly that in the game.
Ethan looks pretty good for a virtual Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but his kid is terrifying. Heavy Rain arrives in early 2010.