Rain. Well all know what Rain is, especially if you’re in England. Heck it’s probably raining whilst you’re reading this! Though I didn’t come to talk to you about the weather kind of rain today, but to give you a preview into Sony’s new adventure game rain.
rain was first shown off at Gamescom and is due out on October 1st (North America), October 2nd (UK) and October 3rd (Japan). The game is a Playstation 3 exclusive and is a brilliantly made an effective title. Though enough of talking about what you probably knows… let’s take a look at rain.
You play as a young boy who has turned invisible and whilst out in the rain sees a young girl only visible in the rain. Whilst he follows the young girl he notices that they are not the only ones that invisible, but dangerous creatures are also looming around.
When you first start off you have to find the young girl and from this point there are so many questions you’ll want answered. That is the beauty of rain. Whilst on the outside it seems like a simple and beautiful concept it has so much depth to it that makes it a true rival to many of the current releases this month. If you’ve ever played the game Journey before you will already have a feel for how rain will play out, and it works so well.
The one thing that makes you eager to keep playing is how little you see of the girl in the early moments of the game. The tiny little encounters you have with the girl are from the distance with the girl not even noticing you. Perhaps the young girl isn’t aware there are others like her in this world? Perhaps she is afraid? That we will hopefully find out as the game progresses.
I can’t tell you much of the story as this is only a preview of the game (check out the full review in October for more details) so it’s best we move onto gameplay. Gameplay is brilliantly done even though it is, compared to other games, fairly simplistic. You control a young boy throughout the environments using the analog stick and use the square button to allow yourself to run. Stop there though. It isn’t all running around environments from point A to B, oh no that would be far too simple! Remember the dangerous creatures I mentioned earlier? Well they’re looming around ready to pounce and attack. Avoiding these creatures is where the true beauty of rain steps in. As you’re invisible you cannot be seen where there is cover from the rain. The second you walk into the rain though your silhouette becomes visible, meaning that enemies are able to see exactly where you are. Using shelter from rain effectively allows you to avoid encounters with enemies and even avoid those near death experiences!
Music is always a huge part of games and if you have read any of my previous reviews you’ll know how much I love music in gaming if it is done well. Rain has a brilliantly composed soundtrack which really fits the soft downpour of rain in the quiet city at night. Most the soundtrack includes use of piano and this really creates the correct mood for the game. Though the game’s theme tune is also perfectly fitting. “Clair de Lune” by Claude Debussy and arranged by Yugo Kanno is atmospheric and sets the tone for this excellent game. I say it rather too regularly, but the game uses music effectively and well that it will capture you into its brilliant world.
Graphically rain is also beautiful. Whilst set at night, meaning that you will be playing in a dark setting through the game, the rain and street lights add to this little city. In game models look great and are perhaps some of the best I have seen on the Playstation 3. Whilst it may not be entirely graphical based, the enemies and characters in game are well thought out and work well in the environments together. The unknown creatures/beasts that loom the streets look scary yet have a somewhat nice animalistic look to them, whilst the characters – only seeing them in the rain – look fitting the way the creators have shown them in the environments.
So I have only played the first three chapters of rain and so far I am loving it. It looks visually amazing, has a great soundtrack and an excellent yet somewhat mysterious story. I don’t think I’ll be putting this little game down for a while longer as I haven’t played something so simple, beautiful and engaging since Journey first released and that’s been far too long in my books. Make sure to check out our full review in October for my final thoughts of the game.
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