Heavy Rain might have been last on the list of games I expected to demo at E3 2010, but the allure of added Move support couldn’t be denied. Random thoughts in the character’s head were detached from buttons and replaced by pointer controls, and actions bolted to analog sticks or sixaxis waggle were transferred to pure motion control. The point of all of this (or at least the one Sony kept trying to emphasize) was to make your actions with Move more closely replicate what the characters were doing on screen. In this regard Heavy Rain was hit and miss.
Playing Scott Shelby’s Sleazy Place sequence with Move support was a great way to demonstrate the new controls. Knocking on a door required I point the Move upward and push it toward the screen, and using his inhaler required I point it upward and away from the screen. Checking his pockets required diagonal downward swipes, but sitting on the bed and a few other actions required some additional wrist turning.
Where it didn’t work so well were the fight sequences. The period of adjustment where I had to retrain my brain to recognize the different icons was expected, but I wasn’t really feeling the added context of Move support. Punching a guy or wrestling him off me was a little more understandable, but thrusting Move forward to issue a kick or actions to stand back up were just as abstract as they were with a controller. The same was true for Madison’s Sleepless Night sequence; a bit more context in the mundane actions of toweling off or opening a refrigerator, limited success with fighting off imaginary aggressors. It’s till make believe, but just a little less obvious.
Move support, especially patched in free of charge, certainly isn’t a negative. I think it would be a fantastic way to enjoy the game the first time around, but it felt a bit like window dressing if you’ve already played through Heavy Rain a few times. Then again, I the only sequences I spent time with were action heavy, and maybe Move works better in the slightly more subdued sequences. Either way we’ll find out this fall when the patch arrives!
