From the Butlerniverse

Tonight, I take a look at the first ever DLC for the phenomenal Heavy Rain.

Game Title: Heavy Rain

DLC: Heavy Rain Chronicles: The Taxidermist

A few days ago, I reviewed the amazing new PS3 exclusive, Heavy Rain. The game itself enthralled me so much that not only did I give it a rave review, but it also became the one and only game that I have spent hours going back to get every single possible trophy, earning my first (and probably ever only) platinum trophy.

Those who preordered Heavy Rain through certain outlets (Amazon for me) received a code for the Playstation Network Store to download the first DLC for free and early. That made for a good deal. At the moment, those who did not preorder the game (but instead purchased it since its release, even on the release date) will have to wait for it to become available as a paid download sometime in the future (likely within a month or so, I’d imagine).

The question here is whether or not the DLC is worth trying and whether it will be worth paying for down the line.

First of all, let’s talk premise. The story in the DLC takes place a while before Heavy Rain (about two years or so, though it seems more like months). Madison Paige, the journalist from the original game, is hunting clues on the Origami Killer to get a scoop. Instead of finding him, she finds herself in the twisted home and workshop of a different kind of monster. This supposedly helps explain why we first meet Madison during a nightmare, along with why she generally has insomnia (minus a few minor naps here and there).

The scenario is divided into three parts. You will select the story under the downloaded content menu, then start up one of three save slot (though you won’t need that many). You then play through a fairly short scenario. It runs for less than an hour of playing time for one playthrough, and you could probably skip a lot of exploration and finish the story in about fifteen minutes, I’d imagine. Once you finish, you will have discovered one of five possible endings, accompanied by a newspaper headline. The final screen after the credits will give you a checklist of all five headlines and urge you to return to the scenario to figure out how to see the other four endings. You can do so by jumping into the opening of the chapter, an exploration segment, or a tense final segment. Bear in mind that not all of these endings can be canonical, given that certain characters have to be around for the original Heavy Rain later.

Completing the five endings is interesting, but the path through them is fairly similar. You receive no trophies once you have completed all five (or any of them), but you do unlock a concept art gallery for The Taxidermist, which is a nice addition to all of the concept art galleries and such that are unlocked in the regular game.

What really bugs the hell out of me about this first Heavy Rain Chronicle is the voice work. The voice actor for Scott Shelby in the main game plays the voice of the villain in this scenario, who bears no relation to Scott at all. They have also completely replaced the voice actress for Madison, which, after hearing her voice for most of the original game, just feels out of place and, frankly, as if she has become a wimp. I’m not sure how I would feel about the performances if I didn’t have the voices of Madison and Scott in my head from the original game, but it just feels like a clunky choice here.

The Verdict: This is the very first DLC for Heavy Rain. Given how amazing the original game was, I was expecting more from the DLC. The voice actor choices, the lack of any trophies to go along with those I hunted for days on the original game, and the brevity of the scenario make it something that I want to recommend (because I love the Heavy Rain characters) but feel tentative in doing so.

If you preordered the game and have the free DLC code, then, obviously, get The Taxidermist. If you didn’t preorder the game, then, for now, you have no choice but to wait. When this finally becomes available for purchase, I would say that it may be worth $4.99 (as I’m betting it will be), but it isn’t worth a $9.99 price point if they go that route. Seeing more of Heavy Rain is exciting, but this particular episode of the Heavy Rain Chronicles left me wanting more, not because of how great the DLC turned out, but because I felt as though it was lacking. (I feel the same about this, I suppose, as I did about Resident Evil 5: Lost in Nightmares.)

Grade: C+