Teletext : Heavy Rain Review (Abysmal)

[StephenSharp]

Okay, finished the game. I have to lower my rating about 15 points.

The plot takes a real nose dive in the second half, and invalidates some of the better moments in the earlier portions. That reviews points (I have to give them credit for avoiding spoilers) about utilizing every trope and cliche in cinema is spot on... The forced swerve was embarassingly poor in execution, there were countless pointless developments and dropped subplots that just Maguffined up the plot... The writing and plot get an F.

The acting remained inconcistent, though once the kids are out of the way, it was improved substantially, but those ciriticims DO hold true. C for voice acting.

The graphics were inconsistent with some pretty brutal glitches.... one happened at a very tense moment toward the end that wasn't even able to make me laugh anymore (earlier, I chuckled at this stuff, but a flying policeman during what was supposed to be a nerve wracking moment just killed it). Graphics get a B.

Somehow, despite getting to the point that I would have shut off a movie, despite being amess in plotting and writing, and despite giving lie to claims about every decision mattering and "22 different endings" (non-plot spoiler: it's 22 different possible 30 second vignettes and a HORRIBLE newscap summarry), I still enjoyed the experience enough where I'm going to replay it to see the varitions in the story, even though they're minor (I've seen a number of them), I would give the actual enjoyment a high B.

Overall, the game gets a 75. Great idea that deserved much better writing, acting, and attention to detail (some things my wife pointed out through her playthrough, like picking up the kids from school at noon on a Saturday, some more plot-centric points I won't spoil), and maybe another six month's polish to clear up all the bugs. If it weren't so engaging up to the utter fail of a finale, I'd have given it a 4 myself.

75