14 DAY TRIAL // Quantic Dream's Heavy Rain has generated quite a bit of attention on all fronts. In a gaming medium dominated by commercial titles and an over saturation with casual ones, the interactive drama, as it's been pegged, is more than just the ugly duckling of the family. But, from all points of view, it really looks like the game deserves all the attention it got. First of all, the developers behind it have some previous titles that do nothing but announce HR as a fascinating experience.
In 1999, the studio released its Omikron: The Nomad Soul, an adventure game that, even if weird and quirky, proved to have an amazing story and generate a truly immersive universe for players. Though it took another six years before it released its next title, Quantic didn't disappoint at all with Fahrenheit, or Indigo Prophecy, as it was released in North America. The psychological adventure had a lot of interesting and well-implemented game mechanics and, before some jump to critic its quick-time events, they should remember that games weren't drawn in this mechanic in 2005, so it was still rather new and fun to use.
The next project the company has prepared is Heavy Rain, and the 2010 title gives us a lot to look forward to. Even so, one thing that we can easily predict is that the title won't sell well at all. No matter how good the game is, it's not really a popular genre or concept, so there won't be a lot of players buying Heavy Rain. Not to mention that the market available to the game is drastically reduced, since it is a PS3-exclusive title.
These things are well known by the game's publisher, Sony, so Heavy Rain already has some long-term money makers on the way. The first DLC has already been penned and it's going to be part of a larger scheme. Heavy Rain: Chronicle One - The Taxidermist will follow investigative journalist Madison Paige as she searches for the serial killer, the DLC coming on as an update to the "Taxidermist" demo. If you preorder the title, this first DLC will be free, but, if you decide to wait it out, the offer will end and it's going to be priced at the same $4.99, as the rest of the DLCs.