While personally I loved the game. I found it engaging and full of great technique and mastery of player/character bonding not shown in any other IP. The plot is brilliantly done and well honed.

It steps out of the mould in several areas that give leave the average casual gamer that thinks the Call of Duty series is "hard core" and "the masterpiece of gaming" with a what the fuck is this shit moment.

Heavy Rains prologue level starts the player out by introducing you to the main character and controls in a rather mundane setting its bound to make them switch off and moan "heavy rain is shit!" across forums like CVG to their fellow 14 year old's looking for the latest action fest.

In fact Heavy Rain's prologue is a masterpiece of game design. Rather than your average games prologue being a cutscene (a technique borrowed from film) to try and give the "cool factor" of a normal game centred around action and set up the games rather limited premise. Heavy Rain goes for the under used but properly suited for an interactive media, the prologue level. That both introduces the player to games controls and more importantly gives the player a decent introduction to Ethan.

Taking the player on a playable and engaging introduction to a family man who's career as an architect means he works mostly from home and spends time with his sons is an unusual introduction for a game to the leading man. Infact its unheard of in the world of big budget tripple A games. It fits perfectly with Heavy Rain and its premise of an every day person doing everything they can to get back a kidnapped loved one. Not only that by Heavy Rain pulls off in the first 15 minutes of gameplay what Jonathan Hensleigh attempted rather clumsily in half of a film to do with The Punisher in 2004. An introduction to your average family man shaped by a terrible traumatic event.