A look back at: Heavy Rain.

Shortly after finishing Heavy Rain, I thought to myself: Did I just finish 2010's game of the year? It's barely March, and already we have been blessed as gamers with the likes of Mass Effect 2, Bioshock 2, Darksiders, and more. But, as I sat there on my couch watching the credits, I couldn't help but think: "What's going to beat Heavy Rain?"

Moreover, is Heavy Rain even a game? Well I guess that depends on your definition of "game". If to you, a game is you controlling a character on screen and running around environments, then yeah, Heavy Rain is a game. The difference here is that, instead of moving level to level taking out bad guys, then encountering a boss, you are really just interacting with scenes.

And these "scenes" are what set Heavy Rain apart. By presenting the gamer with scripted event after event and letting you make decisions that impact each character, Quantic Dream grips you the way that a great movie would. Fully invested in these characters, each with his/her own demons, you care that much more about them. Couple that, with a good story, and you have a great piece of entertainment.

So that brings us to the presentation. Heavy Rain is a great looking game, not the best, but great. What really helps the presentation here is how everything flows together to make a cohesive experience. The camera angles are well done, often adding to the drama. The biggest part of all this is the "Quick Time Events" that make up a major part of the gameplay. With Quantic Dream's last game, Indigo Prophecy, the QTEs were always right in the middle of the screen, more times than not punishing you for paying attention to the scene rather than the button prompt. In Heavy Rain, they are used to draw your attention to the action by putting the QTE in the middle of the action. This really does go a long way to drawing the player into the scene.

Will Heavy Rain be game of the year this year? Way to early to tell. But what I can tell you is that I am ready for more of this "Interactive Drama".