Of course everyone has their secrets, some malevolent and some hilarious, and sifting through the radio programs, manuscript pages, and talking to everyone helps solidify their identities. While many still come off as stereotypical – there’s the staple comic-relief character, the batty old woman, the good-hearted local cop, the troublesome FBI agent – the way they behave and interrelate keeps them entertaining. Remedy built in a large amount of extraneous dialogue that’s worth hearing so if you find a character be sure to hang around and listen to what they’ve got to say, even if not all the voice acting is of the same high quality.

Additional character is exuded by the design of the environments. Remedy’s skill with crafting spaces that feel lived in is readily apparent. Locations are packed with detail and feel rusted and worn. Weeds choke the back lot of the police station, surrounding the husk of a long forgotten vehicle. A recliner ringed with beer cans sits atop a construction container overlooking a brilliantly lighted power plant, reinforcing the idea that there isn’t a whole lot to do for fun around these parts. A mental therapy building is lined with inspirational posters and idyllic paintings that reflect the ego of the proprietor and function of the establishment. This intimate scale of detail is then juxtaposed with sprawling vistas as you peer deep into moonlit mountain valleys rippling with shadow. It gives the game a sense of place and purpose. It isn’t a copy and paste environment, but a space of routine and work, making it an easy world to accept and identify with.

During the day in each episode Wake can wander and talk to NPCs, but once the clouds roll in and the moon lights up it’s a whole different beast. Shadows flit across the ground at supernatural speed like X-Files black oil when threats are imminent. The lighting effects can be stunning. Moonlight pours from above, streetlamps and construction bulbs indicate the way forward, and Wake’s all-important flashlight is a tool for exploration and, more importantly, to vanquish threats. Just because there’s such a focus on story and presentation doesn’t mean the game lacks a responsive and satisfying combat system.

Wake’s arsenal isn’t gigantic, but everything’s useful. Emerging from the woods are humans infected with darkness, voracious birds, large pieces of machinery and automobiles that get tossed around like toys, and even massive construction vehicles that burst from their resting places to flatten you. The first order of business in stopping anything taken by darkness is to hit it with light. Wake’s flashlight is the most direct method. Point it at a dark target and a shower of sparks like a circular saw on sheet metal go flying off. Sound effects shriek like power drills and with continued exposure to light the darkness surrounding a target is shattered. Follow it up with a shot from a pistol, shotgun or hunting rifle and you’ve got a kill. It’s a simple interplay that’s helped along with some smooth animations and weighty sounds that give firearms and collisions a powerful feel.

The more you play, the more variety is added to the combat. Flares sparked in Wake’s hand push back the shadow enemies, keeping them stumbling for the light’s duration. For a quick escape Wake can drop it to the ground and dart off while the stick burns down. Running away is frequently an option in the game, though limited in a few ways. Enemies are fast, attack often by swinging shovels and knives or by tossing axes. You have a dodge move that can duck under individual attacks, but it requires precise timing. Combine that with the fact that Wake does not have an unlimited sprint and you’ll have difficulty running to the next lighted checkpoint with regularity, forcing you to consider ammunition reserves, distance to the next checkpoint, and how thoroughly you want to explore each area before advancing.

When packs of foes gang up Wake can also take advantage of other light sources. A flare gun acts like a rocket launcher by detonating in a brilliant bang, disintegrating any in range. Flashbangs burst like grenades, clearing enough room to let you squeeze through or duck behind cover to try and regenerate health. Environmental hazards can be utilized as well by ducking out of the way as an enemy lands a blow into exposed electrical wiring, detonating an explosive container, or flicking on construction lamps. Foes advance at different speeds and getting familiar with the wrinkles of combat – like a how a concentrated blast of light can momentarily stun – can help keep things in order and allow you to pick apart the shifting shadows one at a time. It’s a system that’s best when it’s challenging, so crank the difficulty to hard if you’ve got any experience playing games. The normal setting is very forgiving and it’s tough to appreciate how rewarding a killshot can be if you haven’t put much effort into the process.

Combat progression culminates in a handful of thrilling sequences that I can’t really describe in detail here for fear or spoiling things, but Valve fans might find one to be especially familiar. In open spaces enemies can attack from all angles, meaning you need to be constantly on guard and must shift the angle of the camera to get a good view. This also leads to one of the game’s issues where it’s easy to get the camera rotated behind a tree or other environmental obstacle, obscuring the action. In many cases on a high difficulty setting this means an axe to the face or step off a nearby cliff, which can be unfortunate if it’s been a fair amount of time since the last checkpoint. It’s not a major flaw but it’s noticeable enough to make an impact on the experience.

As for the actual story, it’s a case where the questions raised are often more interesting than the answers, and where deeper meaning is often brushed aside in the name of entertainment. By the time everything’s wrapping up at the end you might feel a slight pang of disappointment since enough loose ends are left fluttering to allow for future episodes, and the climactic encounter teased throughout the course of the game leaves quite a bit to be desired. To learn everything about the world and the story a second playthrough on Nightmare mode is required since that’s the only way to collect all the manuscript pages, some of which aren’t especially interesting and too plainly written. Nightmare mode is still at least worth a look to relive events with full knowledge of how they’ll eventually play out to get a true measure of how well you can fight.

Exploration is limited to small areas around the linear path forward and, aside from the radios and televisions, there are a wealth of collectibles to pick up and hidden ammunition and weapons to uncover. Occasionally Wake will have to hop into a vehicle instead of proceed on foot in which case the headlights can blast away darkness from enemies and a tap by the car can put them down for good, but these parts can’t really compare to the excitement of the on-foot action. It’s a welcome change of pace to be able to get out and cover large distances swiftly while admiring the scenery, but you lose the sense of vulnerability and isolation felt as Wake ventures into underground mine shafts and hedge mazes as the wind howls and strings surge on the soundtrack.

I also have to point out that the choice of product placement in Alan Wake is absolutely atrocious. There are less offensive examples like branded batteries and car radios, but one particular television broadcast and a number of roadside billboards are heinous eyesores. I suppose these were necessary to get the game out the door, but it’s still an unfortunate commercial blight on an otherwise excellent game.

The Good

* Powerful and emotionally engaging narrative
* Story continually adapts to your actions
* Unique controls convey drama and tension
* Highly detailed characters and environments
* Stirring soundtrack.

The Bad

* Plot holes and heavy-handed villains
* Technical issues break immersion
* Poor movement controls.
The goal of every story is to form some degree of connection with its observer. Most often, this link is fleeting at best, but every now and then, a much deeper bond is formed. This bond is one in which the observer is less of a passive participant and more of an emotionally engaged accomplice. Though many video games (as well as most novels and movies) strive to be the latter, Heavy Rain is one of those few games that can claim to have truly achieved this lofty objective. A powerful interactive drama, Heavy Rain is an intensely absorbing experience that meticulously conveys the tension, urgency, surprise, and tragedy that its characters feel. Though the overall direction of the plot cannot be changed, the ongoing narrative adapts to your every action and cultivates a deeply personal journey that leaves everyone who undertakes it with something different.

How far are you prepared to go to save someone you love? This is the central question of Heavy Rain and one that the protagonist, Ethan Mars, is compelled to answer. After Ethan’s son goes missing and is presumed to be the latest victim of the mysterious Origami Killer, he vows to do whatever it takes to rescue his boy. Besides Ethan, you also take control of three other seemingly unrelated individuals that have been drawn into the case: private investigator Scott Shelby, FBI criminal profiler Norman Jayden, and insomniac Madison Paige.

Though it takes a little while to pick up, Heavy Rain is an immersive interactive drama that sucks you in and doesn’t let go. As you control each of the four characters, onscreen prompts have you press buttons in sequence, move the right analog stick in specific directions, shake the controller, and more to interact with the scenes. Each input is proportionally difficult to the task being performed, and when a character is scared or stressed, the floating prompts tremble accordingly. This unconventional control scheme does a fantastic job of grounding you to the characters and their emotional states. Your actions approximate theirs, and the often short amount of time you have to react to new situations mirrors their own reaction time. There is plenty of action to be found in the form of brutal and violent brawls, heart-pounding chases, and deadly gunfights, but even such mundane tasks as brushing your teeth or rocking a baby to sleep are surprisingly engaging, and help to strengthen your bond with the characters.

Unlike other games that make extensive use of quick-time events, Heavy Rain does not track your progress in terms of success and failure. There is no right or wrong way to play; thus, no matter what your outcome is, the game will move forward and adapt to the consequences of your actions or lack thereof. Though the overall narrative framework is unyielding, your performance throughout the game can have a variety of effects, ranging from subtle changes in how a scene plays out to much bigger adjustments. Entire events may not occur because your actions and choices caused the plot to branch in a different direction. It’s even possible for key characters to die, thus eliminating any subsequent contributions to the story that they might have made. No matter what happens in your play-through, the adaptive plot of Heavy Rain becomes a deeply personal sum of your experiences.

Though Heavy Rain’s involving story is its greatest strength, it is also somewhat of a weakness in terms of the game’s replayability. Clocking in at an intensely satisfying eight to 10 hours, Heavy Rain is full of branching plot points and permutations, but it’s hard to actually go back and play through the game differently once you’ve completed it. Your story-the one that you got so caught up and invested in-has already been told; thus, the characters you bonded so closely with won’t be the same if you do things differently. A chapter-select screen allows you to smartly play through some of these «what if» scenarios if you like, but scenes are rarely as impactful the second time. Minor issues with replayability aside, Heavy Rain is not a flawless narrative experience-it suffers from some bigger problems as well.

Scene to scene, the game does a fantastic job of drawing you into the action and the minds of its characters. However, there are a number of plot holes and inconsistencies that work against this immersion. For example, there are several obvious leads and key pieces of evidence in the case of the Origami Killer, which the police department seems completely unaware of. And a major plot point that haunts Ethan throughout a number of early scenes is never explained in the slightest. Depending on how you play through the game, you may be left scratching your head wondering what happened or how characters that never seemed to meet know each other. The story also features a number of over-the-top or cliche villains that seem out of place in the realistic setting, including an overly-aggressive detective and a super-sleazy nightclub owner.

Heavy Rain’s problems aren’t strictly limited to the plot either-there are a number of other flaws as well. You move your character forward by pulling the R2 trigger and alter the direction he or she is facing by moving the left analog stick. On paper, this is a sound system, but in practice, it is clumsy and imprecise. The frame rate is inconsistent, screen tearing is frequent, and noticeable texture pop-in occurs almost every time something is closely examined. Rare immersion-breaking glitches can also occur, including audio that doesn’t match what’s happening onscreen, and textures failing to load and leaving you with either an all-black environment or a silhouetted character.

These technical issues are particularly unfortunate, because Heavy Rain is generally a beautiful and fantastic-looking game. The visual design of the various environments is outstanding, and whether you’re visiting a dirty double-wide or an intensely creepy room filled with webcams streaming live video to nearby TVs, the painstaking amount of detail that went into constructing each locale is incredible. Character models are hyperrealistic-particularly in how they move and interact-and in many ways, they emote just as well as any real person. Occasionally, a stiff or awkward animation will crop up such as a robot-like march upstairs, but for the most part, characters move extremely well. Finally, an excellent orchestral score stirs up your emotions in just the right way, and the mostly great voice acting completes the human element to round out the experience.

Though it suffers from its share of plot and technical problems, Heavy Rain is nonetheless a bold and visionary step forward in the medium of interactive storytelling. Part adventure game and part psychological thriller, Heavy Rain is far from the quick-time-event-powered movie that it may appear to be at first glance. Every action you perform or decision you make-from the simple and mundane to the dark and disturbing-brings you closer to the flawed but realistic characters you manipulate. Their stories become your story, and their hardships become obstacles that you feel compelled to overcome with them. No matter how your adventure plays out, Heavy Rain is a profoundly personal experience that should not be missed.