Heavy Rain (image: heavyrainps3.com)
It’s funny how particular game seems to resurface at different times. After the announcement of Heavy Rain’s Move edition-enabled re-release I had been revisiting what I’d made of the game when it was first released. We really enjoyed the Heavy Rain PS3 experience in our family – the older members at least. And it had become something of a favorite topic of the dinner table and we compared our different routes through the game.
This was enough to get me playing it all over again – not to mention featuring it on Game People’s podcast (iTunes/rss). No huge surprise there. But then, while watching the BBC’s excellent new Sherlock series I started noticing a whole range of similarities to Heavy Rain. It’s not often that TV copies a videogame for its aesthetic, in fact gamers are usually busy trying to claim that games are like TV and film. But Sherlock puts Heavy Rain PS3 to excellent use. As well as the general art style, the short focal length of the cityscapes and origami killer of episode 2, Sherlock makes frequent use of Heavy Rain’s publishing of emotions and thoughts to the screen via text.
This must just be a coincidence I thought, and more about my recent obsession with the game than anything in the production of this BBC show. But then, as if to disclose the source of their inspiration for those in the know, as the show reaches for the words-on-the-screen technique Sherlock says
“It’s obvious isn’t it? She’s been in Heavy Rain in the last few hours… where has there been Heavy Rain and strong wind in that time?” (Audio available here)
Surely this is too much of a coincidence? Or am I just projecting my video game habit onto my favorite new TV show? GeekDad sanity check please.
