Drowning in Emotions: Heavy Rain

Decision based video games were created when gamers called out for more of a challenge. One of the most revolutionary of these games is Heavy Rain, released in 2010 and written by David Cage. Cage was inspired to create this game when he lost his then 6-year-old son in a shopping mall and wanted to write about what could have happened if his son was not found (Snider and McLean, Heavy Rain Inundates Players with Rich Detail, 2010).

One of the characters the player controls is the father, Ethan Mars. Mars is forced to complete five trials to piece together the location of his son, Shaun, who has been kidnapped by the Origami Killer. The player makes life or death decisions within these trials and therefore decisions are made with a deeper consideration of the consequences, rather than a player choosing an action at random. This deeper consideration of actions is enhanced by immersion, which is created through the eye-level camera angle (Schiesel, Murderer’s Young Prey; A Father’s Torment, 2010). By including the gamer in a position where they act as co-author to the narrative, all decisions made are given added emphasis. Through decision making Heavy Rain becomes an emotive game, causing the player to feel guilt and distress.

One of the most traumatic trials Mars must complete is ‘The Lizard’, where he chops off his pinky finger with one of five tools: pliers, saw, butchers knife, hatchet, or scissors. This trial is also presented within a time-frame. As a result of the added time pressure, the decisions made have an increased sense of urgency and meaning (Heron and Belford, It’s Only a Game, 2014). After completing this trial the player feels guilty because they can see the direct connection between their decisions and Mars’ pain. The player’s sense of guilt would not have been achieved if there was no connection between them and Mars.

 

The final trial, ‘The Rat’, involves Mars drinking poison which would kill him but provide the final clue to Shaun’s location. At this stage of the game there is such a strong connection between the gamer and Mars, they are almost one person. The player feels a sense of distress as they must sacrifice ‘themselves’ to complete the objective of the game (later it is revealed that the poison was not fatal). If there was no decision making in Heavy Rain there would be no personal connection between Mars and the player and so this decision would not be as distressing.

The decisions made in Heavy Rain evokes senses of guilt and distress throughout the narrative. These emotions are evoked due to the decisions the player must make when determining Mars’ actions. By having a direct link between a character and the player, Cage’s game involves a gamer on a more personal level. The emotions that Mars feel, the player feels too, making Heavy Rain an intensely emotive video game.