rain

Introduction

'rain' is the product of PlayStation C.A.M.P. ('Tokyo Jungle' and 'echochrome.'), with help from Sony's Japan Studio and Acquire, but more than that 'rain' is presented as the kind of low-key, independent style game that Sony has managed to associate with their PlayStation Network. Probably the most famous of these avant-garde, Sony-backed games is thatgamecompany's 'Journey.' And much like studio-backed independent films, these games can be simultaneously pretentious and laudable.

With 'rain,' Sony has promised the kind of interactive journey that is more meaningful than the destination. Key for this kind of game is the story, which will not be spoiled in this review, and keeping the player engaged. Now, let's see if 'rain' is worth the price of admission.

The Game Itself: Our Reviewer's Take

As a game, 'rain' is a composition of simple elements. The somber fairytale story is told through some basic platforming, stealth, and puzzle gameplay, all in a simply made environment. There is no voice acting, nor is there any dialog. Instead, narration comes in snippets of text that appear in-level as the player progresses.

The game begins with one of its few water-colored cutscenes, a boy awakes feverishly in the night to see the outline of a girl outside. Suddenly, a fearsome being, (called 'The Unknown') appears and maliciously chases the girl. The boy pursues and follows the chase through a large door. Once through the door, the boy is startled to find that he is reduced to invisibility, and only is visible when outlined by the falling rain.

From there, the player controls the boy, who is at times pursuing the girl, and other times attempting not to be found by the Unknown (scary thing) or one of the many creatures that are similar to the Unknown.

In general, this means progressing though the nighttime town, which maintains a mid-nineteenth century European feel. The player can jump and climb over or under some small obstacles, but the main mechanic is one of concealment. By standing under areas like a shop awning, the player's rainy outline disappears. Such concealment, where the player character is invisible onscreen (usually partly offset by wet footprints) is not something most games are willing to allow. The Unknown and the other creature/enemies also become invisible in the dry shade, but the game only rarely confronts the player with concealed enemies.

Although the playable area, characters, and environments are in 3D, the game's camera is old school in nature, and the player is at its mercy. Most puzzles, obstacles, and enemy encounters occur in a segment with a fixed camera, so despite the player not being able to control the camera, there really isn't any camera angle issues of the 'Resident Evil' severity.

The game's controls and puzzles are simple enough that novice players should not be baffled. The game even has a hint system. Should the player die a few times in a given segment, pressing Select will bring up a hint along the lines of "The creature can be distracted by noise."

But while the puzzles are simple, the solutions can be tough to execute. Every enemy is faster than the player, and the player dies instantly when touched. The game over screen, a water color dotted "The children were swallowed by darkness" screen, is never far off. The timing for most enemy evading maneuvers has little-to-no margin of error or allowance for hesitation. While this aspect might kill the game for those completely unfamiliar with video games, both the checkpoints and the short time interval between dying and playing again should keep most players from throwing the controller.

The levels are broken down into chapters, each with a little "Chapter 'Number' fin" message at the end. Levels are tight, and puzzles have single solutions. There are few-to-no offshoots and only just enough blank level space to keep the player contained. The likelihood of dying and being chased keeps the tension up, but also can affect the telling of the story. The narration can be forming a nice sentiment when "Oh, crap I ran slightly left of the crawl hole and the Unknown got close to the boy, which means 'bam, children dead.'"

The game eschews the normal temptation to hide collectibles throughout the levels. (more on collectibles later) This allows the player to focus on the story, the puzzles, and enemies, rather than trying to look in every ugly nook and cranny of each level. For me, this makes a big difference, and games like 'Max Payne 3' can be sullied by collectible hunting.

The game's story, which is presented as a mysterious fairytale set of circumstances, "Who is the girl? Who is the Unknown? What's with the invisibility?" isn't ground-breaking, and is fairly predictable. The end even falls prey to some bad movie tropes. And yet, the means of telling the story and the restraint employed in using various techniques makes, for lack of a better term, for a journey that has the right amount of hot and cold touching moments. (Players will be hard pressed not to think of 'Ico.')

The in-game narration and pleasant gameplay allows the brief game to nail that excellent indie game/foreign film feeling, which helps it to serve as a nice break from a massive, mainstream and violent game like 'Grand Theft Auto V.' It's unfortunate that the game does not indulge a bit more in surrealism, which is reflected by one of the later levels, an obvious stand-out.