Video games on the whole don't grab me quite like they used to, but this one certainly did from the word go, so much so that I finished it in about three sittings. In Heavy Rain you play through four characters all amidst the tragedy of children being murdered by The Origami Killer. If you analyse this closely, a lot of the gameplay isn't anything special. A lot of it is pressing the buttons that arrive on screen like old SegaCD interactive movies. However, it's all put together really well, not punishing you too harshly if you press the wrong button, and features a great 'whodunit' narrative that is its main strength. There are also various decisions to be made making it non-linear. The only negatives with this are that the movements of the characters is clunky and sometimes I really wanted to run instead of walking. Also, when you are meant to make decisions it can be hard to distinguish between the O and □, at times it's hard to know exactly what each symbol will result in, and also because you are used to QTE, sometimes you accidentally rush it. Loved it though. A memorable gaming experience. Gameplay 4/5 Graphics 5/5 Sound 5/5 Difficulty 5/5 Originality 4.5/5

A lot of the ideas here are great. There are also a number of unique elements making this game stand out from the plethora of other open-world action RPGs. It feels a little like PS4's Horizon Zero Dawn. However, the developers made this too much of a grind. The need to do certain things before you can just progress the story meant that I never made it to the end of this game. Gameplay 4/5 Graphics 4/5 Sound 4/5 Difficulty 4/5 Originality 4/5

At first blowing up everything and using various contraptions in this open-world game is fun as, it also looks fantastic, albeit the minor frame rate and loading time issues on the PS4 version, but it becomes repetitive fairly quickly. Not that the story is engrossing, but there are too many side missions to do before you can continue the campaign missions, diluting the story even further. I've never loved this series though, it just feels a bit shallow. Gameplay 3/5 Graphics 4.5/5 Sound 4/5 Difficulty 4/5 Originality 3/5

This got absolutely destroyed by critics upon its original release. Having only played the patched version I am not sure how terrible it was, but the list of changes, such as more checkpoints, would've been vast improvements. Amy is the daughter of Lana, who is the character the gamer controls. Through interactions between the two, Amy also becomes an integral part of the game, either by crawling through a hole that only she can fit through, to help press an elevator button or use her special powers-which include healing Lana. This is the first problem of this game. Getting Amy to do certain tasks is frustrating. The developers probably should've just let the player control her. Overall it's a difficult game as well. While checkpoints were added, there probably still are not enough The puzzles are also confusing and not very exciting, and the slow movement at times of Lana makes an impatient person want to scream. Graphically it does bear more resemblance perhaps to the best of PS2 than PS3, but it suits the style and does nothing to ruin the experience. The combat system works fine, better than some other revered survival horror games and isn't an issue here. Overall for a game that was released for the bargain price of $10, and I bought for $3, it's not a horrible gaming experience, but just has a number of small flaws that probably won't make someone eager to finish every chapter on offer. Gameplay 2.5/5 Graphics 3/5 Sound 4/5 Difficulty 3.5/5 Originality 3.5/5

Way too hard imo. There is no time to react to enemies who appear from off the screen and jump at you. Difficult to shoot down when upright. Delay when pressing the buttons.