I was really surprised to see Heavy Rain at PAX. There hasn't been a lot of trailers or press releases over the past 2 or 3 years. We've really only seen bits and pieces other than what the gaming press writes about after seeing a demo. Even then, there haven't been many press demos of the game either. Was Heavy Rain even at E3 this year?

I'm really intrigued by Heavy Rain because it's different. It's not an FPS, it's not an adventure game. It's an interactive movie, really. It is a lot like Dragon's Lair or Space Ace from the early 90s. It is entirely played by quick time events and conversation choices. Though, you can move about the environment when given the opportunity. I guess, you could call it the modern day adaptation of an old Lucas Arts or Sierra adventure game.

The PAX Demo (which was labeled GDC demo) put you in a convenience store. You're trying to get information from the store clerk. You could probably get the information with the correct conversation sequence, but I never saw anyone complete it. After you piss him off, you go to the back to get an inhaler, when a perp busts in the door and holds up the clerk at gun point. He doesn't notice you in the back.

You can carefully creep up behind him and knock him over the head with a frying pan or a bottle of whiskey, but there are several Quick Time Events to blow your approach. I didn't see anyone successfully reach the perp without him noticing. You need to put your hands in the air or else he'll shoot! And then you go through a conversation sequence that will make him leave. I didn't see anyone do that successfully.

Each time you say something, you'll inch close enough. So, after you talk with him for a while, you'll be close enough to start fighting him. Press X here, Shake the controller there, and you've knocked him out! You gain the clerk's trust and get the information you wanted. Taa-daa~!

When I played, I fucked up when approaching the perp. I wasn't about the put my hands up, so I kept them down. And the perp shot me through the shoulder. He ran out the door after that, and that gained the clerks trust. I would really like to see the other outcomes that were available, but most people screwed up and did the same thing over and over again, so it was boring after the 5th time.

Heavy Rain is a very beautiful looking game. The only environment from the demo was the convenience store, but it had an incredible amount of detail. Everything on the shelves had individual labels. The few ceiling lights cast very dark shadows in the dimly lit store. It was very rich. I can't wait to see what the rest of the game looks like. ^_^

The demo did not turn me off one bit. In fact, after playing the demo for Heavy Rain I'm more excited than ever to play this game. I can't wait. ^_^

Heavy Rain is only available for Playstation 3 and should be released "Early 2010", just like everything else that was supposed to come out this year.