Things That I Hate About Heavy Rain[Spoilers]
MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR HEAVY RAIN, IF YOU’RE STUPID ENOUGH TO READ THIS, DO NOT WHINE ABOUT SPOILERS.
Let me say this first, I love Heavy Rain. I think it is a great game and parts of the story are good. It also has tons of problems though, mostly with the story, especially after a certain point. The gameplay and premise are solid, but there are a lot of problems, some of which are just pathetic. There be spoilers below, so don’t read it if you haven’t beaten the game.
The Big Plot Twist is Stupid
A good plot reveal makes you go “Aha! I get it now” because there have been valid hints throughout and it makes sense. When you find out Scott Shelby’s the murderer, you don’t go “aha!”, you don’t realize that the plot had been building up to this, you don’t feel anything but annoyance because the game has been lying to you. By giving the player the ability to read Shelby’s thoughts, they made the game a giant lie.
A way around this would be to make Shelby have multiple personalities, and have the player and him discover he is the killer at the same time. This would probably end up poorly written and silly too, but if would be better. It would make him much less inconsistent, because if he is the origami killer, why save the woman who was committing suicide? Just steal the evidence and let her die. Why get the old man his heart medication? Just let him die. It just ruins his character and he just doesn’t make sense.
I really would have even preferred an NPC who had not yet been introduced, just anything besides Scott being the origami killer.
Also, in the butterfly trial, how did Shelby fit into the tunnel to fill it up with glass?
Madison is Psychic
Madison is the first character to discover the identity of the killer, and when she does it makes no sense. It, of course, doesn’t tell the audience the name, just Madison. When she hears it she freaks out and then acts like she just found out her mother is the murderer. Except, she’s never met Scott. Ever. I don’t think it is ever possible for them to cross paths. Maybe being a journalist she found out about him, but that’s no reason to react the way she did.
Another random thing that Madison shouldn’t know is after she survives the fire, she has to call someone. This section is stupid anyway since calling someone apparently take so much time that she can’t get to the warehouse if she does call someone, and for some reason she is incapable of calling multiple people. The worst part is she wanted to call Jayden. She never met Jayden in my playthrough, never. How would she have the personal phone line of someone she never met, let alone consider him a good person to contact?
JUST CALL THE POLICE ALREADY
Speaking on that, why didn’t Madison call the police? She knows where the kidnapped child is, she knows who the murderer is, just call the police already. Same thing for Ethan at the end. It’s more dangerous for him, but when he has to choose among the three locations(I didn’t kill the guy so I didn’t have all of the letters) he could have sent an anonymous tip or something and had them go to all of these places.
Also, why did no father of a kidnapped child ever go to the police with the information on the trials? The notes Shelby included never mention “IF YOU GO TO THE POLICE YOUR KID WILL DIE!” or anything. They all just accept that it is up to them and go on their merry little way crawling through glass and driving against traffic.
The one time anyone actually calls the police is when Shelby calls the cops on himself after killing the old man in the clock/typewriter shop. Why would he do that? Why not just pretend to discover the body and tell Lauren they need to clean up the evidence and get out of there. Why make it harder on himself?
The Police are Morons and their Suspects make no Sense
They are probably the dumbest police force in video games. None of the suspects even remotely seem like they could be the origami killer. None. The crazy religious freak was the only one who even seemed plausible. The plan was far too sophisticated for everyone else, especially Mad Jack. Aside from that, the police force just did so many stupid things in general.
There is the fact that Ethan and Madison managed to elude them so often and they never took a shot at them as they ran off. They’re happy to shoot Ethan at the very end if you don’t have Madison around, but until then nope. Although they may be less trigger-happy because they have absolutely no evidence on Ethan. Here is their case:
- Ethan has blackouts
- Ethan has nightmares
This incredibly airtight case of very easily explainable circumstantial evidence is clearly a reason to go in front of the press proclaiming you have identified the killer and are starting a manhunt.
Ethan’s Blackouts
I understand why Ethan is blacking out, what I don’t get is how he keeps waking up with origami in the area where Scott’s brother died. Is Scott spying on him at all times, sneaking origami in his hand and then dragging him to a separate part of town? It doesn’t make sense. What makes even less sense is the idea that Ethan is the murderer, according to the game timeline, Jason was alive when the murders started and Ethan was in a coma while the murders were still happening. How could anyone, especially Ethan, think he was the killer? I can understand grief making him less logical, but still it doesn’t make any sense.
If he was just waking up with origami, the guilt thing could work, but how is he waking up where Scott’s brother died? It’s just an excuse to make you think “HEY GUYS, I THINK I KNOW WHO THE MURDERER IS!“
Only Policemen Wear Watches
The way Jayden finds out who the killer is makes no sense. The characters admit that the watches worn by the police are cheap and just bought at some random place. Somehow Jayden decides that the only person capable of wearing the watch is a police officer and goes to the really detailed records the police keep on every single ex-cop’s address and their detailed records on any property that they might happen to own. Seriously? How did the writers not realize how silly this was?
Disappearing Problems
Remember how Madison had insomnia? Remember how that never affected her after the first scene? She seems well-rested and perfectly fine the rest of the game. Remember Scott’s asthma? That never really affected him through the game, despite claims that it gets worse in heavy rain. At least Jayden does still go through withdrawals. Speaking of which, how does the FBI not notice his drug addiction? I think they would not approve of one of their employees being a drug addict.
Shoot-out at the Kramer Corral
This is by far the dumbest scene in the entire game. Action-Scott shoots his way through all of Kramer’s bodyguards, taking multiple bullets if you miss the quicktime events. He then busts into Kramer’s office and roughs him up. The police are never notified. Why? Because then we couldn’t have a scene where Scott kills a bunch of people. Also I like that Scott never has to reload in this scene, ever.
Good Luck SDTV Owners
I only have an SDTV, and as such using the dialog menus consisted of squinting and guessing. I could barely read half of the text floating around my characters heads and had to hope that was a little circle next to it and not a triangle. The subtitles are readable, other in-game text is readable. Would it have killed them to make the dialog options a bit bigger?
English Voice Acting
The English voices are absolutely atrocious. In a game that is essentially an interactive movie, maybe you should try to hire good actors. I switched to French voices and everything was much less painful. Even if the JASON? JASOON! JASON!? SHAUN? SHAUUUUN! SHAUN!??!?! got annoying no matter what language was used.
Scott’s Actions at the End
The poison trial didn’t have poison it. The only possible reason for Scott to lie about the poison is that he wants to reward the father who made it this far. If he wants to reward the father, then why did he pull a gun on Ethan just as he was saving Shaun? Why on earth is Scott doing this? He’s been looking for a good father all these years and he’s just going to blow it by murdering him. Also, Scott says he saw Ethan try to save Jason, why didn’t that count as a good father? Jumping in front of a vehicle and getting put in a coma to save your son is the mark of a good father, so why doesn’t Shelby count that?
I don’t hate the game though, I just think that David Cage needs someone standing nearby to tell him when an idea is stupid. I love the game overall, so tune in a bit later for Things That I Love About Heavy Rain.
I agree the game is good, a fresh way to play games. The story flaws u mentioned are likly correct, but i think u feel like you made the game and understand it fully. Dont get me wrong there are things i dont think are right and i agree with u, but i will tell u my thoughts from your reference points.
Plot twist: The goal is to collect the evidence, I dont think scott is the real and only killer, just a person for this story, as david gage said there is a second part. So this would explain why he was a good person all his life being a cop and and now he decides to kill, someone seems to force him or convince him what to do or even set him up. This is the reason why he gets to choose if he wants to kill people or not on his own feelings. thoughts dont make us know everything he is thinking, just at that moment.
Just call the police: well u dont know how people will react if there child is going to die, but mostly i agree with u here. comon sense would probably tell u that hes dead if u call the cops, since the killer is giving u a chance to help the victim. but nothing was mentioned either way, so i agree with u.
Madison is Psychic: I think shes suprised she might have found out the person, shes a jornalist doesnt mean she is correct, so she searchs further for the evendence and true, a risky job. To me seems plausable.
At the end i dont think she knew what to do, time is on her mind.
JUST CALL THE POLICE ALREADY: those people didnt call the police bcause they already went against the law, and again time was the key here, i know it doesnt seem that way since the gameplay feels longer then the story.
The Police are Morons and their Suspects make no Sense: the one hardcore cop was a moron, he wanted to put away anyone who has commited a crime for life. i think that was the point, the police didnt help much.
Ethan’s Blackouts: i think hes losing it nothing more. stress from the situation he is in,and the effects of the accident.
Only Policemen Wear Watches: when he got attacted in the bar, the guy wear a gold watch, and buy chance he seen the watch on the desk at the police office. didnt have any clues, so u look up what u can. i dont think is caught anyone thou.
Disappearing Problems
madison said she can sleep in hotels, not a normal life i would say thats why for this story her symtoms didnt come back, jayden was sick throughtout, and scott always complained about this breathing.
Shoot-out at the Kramer Corral: wouldnt u kill someone who doesnt follow the law and tryed to kill u and wouldnt stop until your dead? i agree the scene was meant to be action which it was, but it was off.
Good Luck SDTV Owners: This is sad, PS3 is an hd system, your lucky u see anything on a sd t.v, why complain just get a ps2 which is great on sd t.v.
English Voice Acting: maybe its just me, i didnt think anything major is wrong with the voice’s. parts of the script yes, voices no.
Scott’s Actions at the End: i agree with u here, not sure of his actions, but i dont think he expected anyone to make the trails, or someone else didnt, either way that not in this story, it just ends his part in this ordeal and seems to wrap everything up. good way to keep a seqel. my guess again.
tell me what u think of my ideas, thx
Thanks for that comment, it really brightened up my day. Especially the bit about Shelby not actually being the killer.
Scott is the real killer.
This article mostly petty plot holes which can easily be answered with small assumptions.
And yet you’ve never nitpicked a 360 game. It just had to be a PS3 game, right?
GTFO.
Nitpicking a 360 title would probably be a hell of a lot easier to do if he owned a 360, amirite?
Yeah, I don’t actually own a 360. At all. Also as I said in the article multiple times, I liked the game.
If someone mails Kyle a 360, I can _assure_ you that he will be nitpicking those games.
I think i answered most of the authors mentioned flaws in heavyrain.
The did mention the killer is scott, i was also “guessing” someone else might be invloved. What made him change his mind as a professional cop to a killer after so many years, a guess again is he had influncnce from someone and he acted on those feelings of betrayal from his father. Maybe it just mentally affected him after so many years. But why after doing so good for so many years. Again just my thaughts since this is not explained.
U can see some of his actions as a flaw in the the story. but how do u explain any killer and the reasons to act to whatever they do anyway, once they dont think rational. He killed all those kids, and at the end when he doesnt want to give ethan a chance i wouldnt say this is a flaw, what if he just wanted to test people, and never expected for someone to pass, but if they did, he would kill them anyway just to keep doing what he started, hopeing his feeling’s of his problem would go away once a father passed the test, but they did not.
i like the fact its a mystery, makes more sense with a serial killer, it gives us the feeling, we would like to think we understand everything, when we dont. And never might understand the actions of scott since hes dead now.
tell me what u think, i love the gameplay, its very cool and different, compared to aim and shoot games.
I thought the game had some obvious plot holes but I think this article has a bunch of holes in it as well. Alot of the things it brings up can be explained. Though you cant explain how madison got Jaydens number things like why Shelby wanted to kill Ethan were made apparent at the Old Warehouse Scene…the n*gga aint wanna go to jail! lmaooo
i think this article has a lot of holes and it sounds like the author just didnt like the game but was intrigued by the QTE’s.
There were a lot of things that some basic thinking could provide for these “plot holes” but there are a few plot holes that really can not be explained. As for playing as Shells, i didnt feel cheated or lied to about his thoughts, it seems very apparent Shelby was just a really giant asshole trying to cover his tracks. Such as the suicide woman Mrs Bowles, if she dies he wont find the phone…this article is a bit too critical IMHBWO(in my humble but worthless opinion)
Interesting article.
Thought I’d return some of my own takes on the views you had.
Big Plot Twist: I was surprised to find it was Shelby, I actually liked him as a character throughout the game.
As for letting others die, I believe that the point Shelby is trying to make is purely based on bad fathers. He has been a cop for years, he protected people, he isn’t inclined to murder anyone other than incompetent fathers.
Letting the mother commit suicide, maybe, but remember he goes on to talk to her to get information about the phone and he finds it. Kramer’s medicine, it’s a judgement call, until then your not aware Shelby’s the killer so to just make him a cold hearted murderer throughout would make the game pointless as you’d know the killer. I will say though that maybe this is a contradicition of the game to have him as apparently nice but to then kill, but you can see the trial side of him is almost a second personality.
Madison is Psychic: Totally agree with you here. On my playthrough she was like, “Oh My God! It’s him!”. Then suddenly she is at Shelby’s apartment and I was just like…..Seriously, she doesn’t even know the guy?!?!
This was then seconded by watching my sister’s playthrough who had Madison have the option of ringing Jayden…I actually said to my sister at that point ..”How the hell does she know Jayden?”
That was a flaw. I imagine the writers might argue Ethan could have told Madison about Jayden when he helps him escape, but that would be clasping at straws.
Just call the Police: Hmmm, I think it’s a standard Hollwood approach, someone’s kidnap, your set a task/ransom. It makes out as if he is being watched and is under a deadline, as well as being suspicious of his own involvements in the murders, I feel Ethan just decides the best chance to save Shaun is to do so himself.
Madison actually does call the police when she escapes, so don’t see your point there.
As for the 3 points, that my friend is a great ploy, imagine ringing the cops pretending to be the killer and saying the child is in one of these locations. That, I have to say, is a very good thought, I wouldn’t have thought of that in the cold light of day let alone under a deadline to save my son!
Police are morons: Yeah, Nathaniel seemed flawed until saw his apartment and seemed plausible. The freezer guy, still I don’t get his involvement.
Reasons for not shooting at Madison and Ethan is because they were not armed and also as you said, poor suspects. Couldn’t shoot Madison just for aiding Ethan to escape.
Blackout’s: Very good point by you. They don’t make sense, I didn’t even realise they were by the Building plot until you said it. Timeline, I’ll take your word, didn’t look at it extensively in the game. But all in all, these are all plotholes, your correct.
Watches: Clasping at straws for clues. Just going on the attacker with the same watch Jayden saw on the desk. It does allow him to associate the killer being an ex-cop, allbeit a diluted view, but he is at his wit’s end, he is taking a chance on dubious clues. This only allows him to think it’s a cop though, doesn’t tell him who the killer is, he finds that through different evidence about the plot held at Shaun’s water cage thing.
Problems: Madison’s insomnia, you are right. I saw a comment saying she is ok in hotels. Meh. If that’s true why even have it as such a big scene in the beginning, could just be a throw in mid conversation as to why she is at the hotel. The asthma I felt was a link for when you play as young Scott, as he is wheezing away. A slight early clue until you figure out the kid is Scott. The drug addiction, is 50/50 as you can beat it and you do have the one point where you stumble through the station to the toilet. It’s apparent Jayden keeps himself to himself, as he does his addiction. Being outsourced from the FBI, means he works alone thus allowing his addiction to go un-noticed.
Shoot-out: Yep you are right. Even I was like, “Wow, Shelby is bad ass Bruce Willis now!”. Sadly made me like Shelby even more! But granted its flawed. Also Kramer wouldn’t report it as he tells Shelby his son killed a child, if he reports it Shelby can blab.
TV & Voice: Tv, I wouldn’t know as just played it HD but the button annoys me, one scene where Madison takes a drink from the creep. I said CIRCLE NO, he asked again, I instinctively said CIRCLE NO, but the game annoyingly had changed the answers, so Madison said yes. I actually shouted at the telly.
Voices, I didn’t like the lack of emotions in some voices. I found Ethan very dull and Jayden at times. I felt Shelby was good and Madison ok.
Shelby at end: Poison, I took your view, he was rewarding the father. As for wanting to shhot Ethan, your right again. Only view I can see is that he realises his trials are over and plans to kill Ethan and move on with his life, but thats flawed on so many levels.
Apologies for the long comment, if anyone reads it! Just throwing my views back.
All in all, loved the game, was a breath of fresh air compared to the same churned out games.
I like Heavy Rain a lot, and some of the points made above I completly agree with. Some of the voice acting is rubbish – the construction scene(s) really grinds my gears. The boy that dies is sooo annoying, when he is trapped in the water, the voices are really bad. Also, the one character who I really hate in this game is, 9/10 I also kill her off, Lauren Winter. the lines for her after Sleazy hotel is really bad. Every second line at the party, the cementry, the at the old typerwriter dude was “who Is the origami killer?” “Is this where the origmai killer lives?” “Do you think he is the origami killer?” “where is the origami killer?”. Give it a rest hen! The tone and the way she says it really bugs the hell out of me lol.
Also, what really gets on my tats in heavy rain is that although Selby is the origami killer – why does it have to be just Selby? I know there are 20-odd different endings to this game (which is great), but I feel that the game could of went much deeper. They should of made several characters (not just the lead characters) potential killers. Maybe we will get this their next game on the ps4!
After completing it the third time, the game lost its mystery, edge, and got a bit boring until you reach the end of the game. More killers please? This would of made the game less repeatative at times, I would of played it more (I honestly complete heavy rain in one day, but I cant jump right in new story, I get bored with storyline and I play something else, then before you know its 2weeks since last play).
I know I’m spouting on, but there’s too much first aid and omelette making in this game and not enough action. Phew! Rant over. But Heavy Rain is brillant and one of my favourite games….but fahrenheit is better.
I think you should watch all the endings of Heavy Rain on Youtube.
Some of my opinions:
The blackout of Ethan is just meant to keep you thinking that the other him was testing himself. So throughout the game, you may want to figure out how Ethan thinks in order to find out the truth about the other side of him.
Madison’s insomnia: there is an ending that shows how Madison suffers from that.
Big Plot Twist: There are very few numbers of characters introduced so definitely one of the 6 guys must be the killer. Shelby is definitely a very true suspect since he involves a lot in the story and his role only reveals after John Sheppard calls Scottie.
Cops: if she called the cop, it will not be a hollywood movie anymore.
The developer said that you should only play once. Second time spoils the mystery.
«SPOILERS BELOW, BE WARNED»
Wow, after reading all of this, it seems to me that you (and a few other people) didn’t think about what you were writing at all, and that you seemed to only complete the game once because absolutely everything you wrote here has an explanation to it except the fact that when Ethan blacked out, he had an origami in his hand. Other than that, everything else makes absolute sense if you think about it for just a bit.
Ok, read this and learn a bit:
All of Scott’s thoughts in the game never actually lie to you; they are just smart double entendres. Note that he never says something like “I will get closer to finding the killer”. If you analyze his thoughts carefully, you will realize that he always means something else. A good example might be when he thinks about Lauren in Manfred’s shop, “She thinks she is going to find the killer. She will be disappointed”, this is a perfect example. He knows he is the killer and as such he knows Lauren won’t find anything because he is there to sabotage things.
Madison is a journalist, Scott Shelby used to be a cop, and you don’t know what happened in the past. Also, it seems that Scott was well known in the police, (if you had played the game more than once and took different paths you would know this) so maybe he was a pretty popular cop and was known by a lot of people in the past.
They can’t call the cops because Scott has cameras in some of his trials and the police would not be able to complete the trials by themselves. All the trials imply that something dangerous or ‘against the law’ must be performed. Besides, the killer wants the fathers to prove their strength; it is more than obvious to assume that he doesn’t want the police involved. In the shark trial, do you really think the police would kill anyone? Or do you think they would drive against traffic? I think not… And they can only find the address if they complete the trials… And Madison doesn’t call the cops because she was also being wanted.
Play the game again, please… They have a lot more against Ethan than what you mentioned… His wife’s statement, Dupres (his shrink) statement, the origami figure… Were you sleeping during the game?… And Mad Jack was never a suspect to begin with… And they shoot Ethan in the end because he makes a sudden and dangerous movement… And Jayden selected the 2 individuals based on the evidence he gathered… All of it makes sense…
Ethan’s blackouts are perhaps the only really unexplainable event. Not because he blacks out, but how he ends up with the origami figure is a real puzzle. But then again, we don’t really know what happened when he blacked out.
The town where this game takes place doesn’t seem to be very big. Every cop is awarded with a gold watch when they are promoted. It made absolute sense to assume that the killer was a cop. After that, he checked all active and non-active cops in the area. A dumb detective would only search for active cops. A smart detective like Jayden would search all cops, retired, out of service or active. And with all Jayden knows, the victims are always kept in open areas, not inside houses, so he went to the warehouse of the cop. And he works in the FBI; he has access to a lot of data.
The problems don’t really disappear… Play the game again please…
The shoot-out at the Kramer villa could have been more refined, it is true. But you don’t know what pistol Scott is using, and he might have even reloaded during any of the scenes were you don’t see his gun. Why the cops aren’t called? Doesn’t Kramer try to kill Shelby too…? Calling the cops would be bad for both. Besides, Kramer is rich; he can easily dispatch this situation on his own. If he is dead, his crazy son would deal with things. It’s true someone can’t really get away with killing people with ease, but there is so much room for what could be done here… And don’t forget that Kramer’s son also killed a young boy. Everyone wants to stay out of trouble…
Buy a HDTV? It’s about time… And if you can’t really afford one, you can configure the game settings to match an SDTV easily by adapting the screen and decreasing its size.
The English cast, for me, did a competent job (except the children’s voices) but here it’s about everyone’s personal tastes. What you may not like, others may love it.
If you played the game more than once and with different endings you would know that Scott WOULD NOT shoot Ethan. He would in fact hand the gun over to him. What happens here is that Jayden or Madison arrive and start a fight with Shelby. If Ethan arrives alone, then Scott gives the gun to Ethan and gives him the choice of killing him or not. If you arrive with Ethan and someone else, when Scott points the gun at Ethan, he would be handing the gun over to him but the other character would assume he was going to shoot Ethan and so he/she intervenes.
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So as you can see, all that is said here can easily be countered. After playing the game a few times, all falls into place. Maybe playing the game at least more than once before writing all this in the future…?
Don’t want to hate anyone here lol, just stating information. Thanks. Keep up with your work.