jorimslist.com - Heavy Rain ESRB content review

Heavy Rain

Content review for this game:
Pertaining to the ESRB rating.

Blood | Intense violence | Nudity/Sexual content | Strong language | Use of drugs, alcohol & tobacco

Content sum up: While some of its seedier content is (obscurely) optional, like its scenes of female nudity (a shower, strip and sex scene among them), blood (including a segment where main character Madison must escape a murderous, power tool-weilding ex-surgeon, for example) and choices that include killing, drinking and abusing drugs, thanks to its moral "system" of sorts, all the above is still executable, and what non-optional content remains more than makes up for the elective, with frequent, pervasive language (over four dozen uses of the f-word included) and, most notably, the narrative, which is set around a father who must rescue his 10-year-old son from a serial killer—who drowns the child victims—by completing torturous trials that force him to crawl through broken glass, dismember his own finger and murder a man—all in gameplay. Add this, with the three other playable protagonist's disturbing, life or death plights, this "heavy" and emotionally draining experience is solely suited to older teens and adults. And as such, I strongly recommend it for ages 17+.

Blood: (There are no active blood effects in gameplay, as bloodshed entirely depends on any given scene's context, setting and player choice. Most of what's listed below is gameplay, meaning any and every failed or successful button press will either slightly change a scene's outcome, or drastically; playable characters can die from too many failed actions at a few key points later in. I'll list these when it concerns content, but since playthroughs will differ from player to player due to its wildly branching nature, most often, only the longer and more optimal outcomes will be listed; although I will list the branching choices when present. And to avoid the Origami Killer's identity and ending spoilers, I will not cover any of the—almost two dozen—endings in this review. In addition to "blood," the below scenes also contain intensely violent, disturbing and sometimes gory elements. There is no option to turn blood off.)

After private investigator Scott Shelby (one of four playable protagonists) exits a prostitute's apartment (for investigative reasons only; she was the mother of an Origami Killer victim) and begins to walk the hall, one of her "clients" comes to her door and enters; shortly after, her panicked screams are heard. Scott (in gameplay) goes to the door and knocks; the man answers, tells Scott to beat it and slams the door. Scott breaks it open with his foot and finds her stunned on the floor. The man pushes Scott and starts a (in-game, Quick Time Event) fight; he knocks Scott into the open doorway and tries slamming it on Scott, but Scott side-steps, grabs a standing lamp and swings; but misses. The man grabs Scott and attempts to send him through a nearby glass wall but Scott swings the man around and bashes his head through it instead, as the glass shatters. After Scott and he exchange a few blows, the man grabs a chair and swings; Scott dodges, but the man grabs him and pins him to the table, lifting Scott by his trench coat and repeatedly slamming his head into the table. Scott kicks him, grabs a bottle and hits him in the head with it; the man's mouth and nose area visibly bloodies on impact. Scott manages to get up, but the man grabs him again and pins him to the fridge; Scott dodges his blows, as the man's fist breaks a glass cupboard. He then shoves Scott toward the stove, hands first, but Scott whips around, lifts the man and throws him onto the table as it collapses. Scott stumbles and falls to his knees while the man—his eye visibly bruised—scrambles to the discarded bottle, breaks it and takes a few swipes at Scott. Scott avoids the swipes, grabs the man by his arm, grapples and disarms him with a few bashing movements; Scott puts him in a sleeper hold and backs him up against the wall—pummeling his back with his elbow. The man breaks free, punches Scott in the side, backs him against the wall, grabs a bust off the vanity and swings away. Scott dodges his attacks, rams the man in the stomach with his head, throws a couple hooks and finishes with an uppercut, knocking him back; the man gets up and leaves. Scott (a bloody abrasion visible on his forehead, depending on failed/successful QTEs, or, if he loses this fight entirely—he can lose—a bloody and bruised nose) says his goodbyes to the (thankful) victim, and then slowly limps off.
As he investigates a recent "Origami Killer" crime scene, playable character and FBI agent, Norman Jayden finds traces of blood on a fence, and while inspecting the body of the victim (a young boy), he notes a visible cut on the body's thigh. However, the boy's body (face concealed) is only seen in quick, tight shots, and since Jayden uses his ARI (Added Reality Interface) glasses to inspect the crime scene, aforementioned blood only appears as a glowing blue substance.
When Scott enters a convenience store and asks its owner (father of a Origami Killer victim) if he can divulge any info on the case, the store owner turns Scott down. Scott, about to leave, recalls he needs a new inhaler and asks the owner where they are. After Scott goes to retrieve it, a man enters the shop and holds the owner at gunpoint, demanding money—Scott tries to sneak up on the armed man but he turns around and forces Scott to put up his hands. At this point, two scenarios can cause a bloody scene; the first is where Scott (in gameplay) fails to talk the gunman down, causing Scott to get grazed in the shoulder, as blood visibly stains his trench coat. Or the worst outcome in which Scott does nothing, causing the gunman to shoot the store's owner point blank in the neck and flee. Scott then kneels at the store owner's body—his blood leaking in a puddle under his head while he holds at his bloody neck wound, hand covered in blood—as he breathes his last, his bloodied hand dropping to his side; Scott gently closes the man's eyelids as a tight, close shot lingers on the bloody sight...it fades.
After trying to lull herself to sleep, (playable character and insomniac) Madison glimpses a figure dash across her apartment, and then sees that the fridge door is left ajar. She walks over and closes it, when another dashing figure confirms her suspicions; someone has broken in. Panicked, she crouches into the nook at the fridge's side, and eyeing the front door, tells herself it's her best chance for escape, which prompts the following in-game Quick Time Event: she runs to the front door and tries to open it, but finds it jammed, as a masked man comes up from behind and pulls her by the hair. She breaks free and tips a ladder into his path, as he falls over. However, a second masked man grabs Madison from the ankles and starts to drag her; she grasps onto a post, but soon loses hold as he pushes her onto the kitchen counter and pulls a knife; at this point, Madison can be stabbed (her bloody torso wound visible, staining her tank top) if you fail too many button prompts. Madison evades the attack, grabs a utensil and stabs him in the neck (with a *shff*; he screams in pain as it protrudes from his neck—no blood present), but as she runs, the second man flings her onto a kitchen table and attacks with his knife; Madison evades and knocks him in the face with her elbow when the first man makes a return and pulls Madison by the throat from behind, silencing her scream with his hand; she kicks him in the face and flings a chair at the other, running to a small hallway. Both pin her in from either side of it, as she screams and tries to ram into the one standing at the exit's end; he grabs her, knocks her against the walls, flings her down and grabs at her again, but she leans in and bites his ear (he screams in pain), and then hits him with a standing lamp. However, the other man picks her up and tosses her on the bed, pinning her there; Madison kicks him off and jumps on him (knocking him into a glass partition; he breaks through it, shattering it and splitting the wood frame) as she runs for the living room; he dives for her, but she side-steps. When she turns around, the other man appears and slaps her in the face; she falls near a coffee table as he takes her head, slams it, face first, into it, and then slaps her down again. As Madison lays there, both masked men stand over her; one pulls a knife and is about to strike, when she finds a sharp fragment on the floor and jabs it in the knife-wielder's leg, picks up another, and then jabs it in the second man's leg (both with a *shff* and *squish,* no visible blood); she crawls to the bathroom and quickly locks the door behind her. Madison—panting, nose visibly bloodied—waits in silence when a third man appears from behind her, grabs her mouth, tilts her head and (as it zooms-in) slits her throat; the bloody cut visible for a split second before she awakes with a start; it was all a dream.
After entering a disturbed man's apartment—a person of interest in the Origami Killer case—with his partner, Jayden searches for clues; crucifixes and scribbled Scriptures cover the walls from inch to inch of the man's otherwise empty living quarters. Soon after, the suspect returns as Jayden begins to question him; but when it goes nowhere, Jayden's abrasive, loud-mouth partner starts to taunt the already volatile man, as he shoves him to the ground, and then kicks him in the stomach. The man, however, abruptly gets back up and pulls a gun on Jayden's partner, saying he's the Anti-Christ come to persecute him. At this point, Jayden (that is, you, as the player) can talk the man down or shoot him; the bullet hits him in the head—viewed from his back—as he slumps to the floor; his body lies dead on the floor, a large puddle of blood gathering under his head.
As Scott knocks on the door of another person of interest in the "Origami Killer" case (a mother who also lost her son to said killer), there is no answer; a peek into a window reveals an empty house but for a crying baby. Seeing that there is something amiss, Scott tries the back door; it's unlocked. Once he enters, he finds a suicide note near the baby and rushes to the bedroom. He knocks on the bathroom door, no answer, breaks it open and finds the mother lying seemingly lifeless in the bathtub full of bloodied water, her wrist slit. As Scott inspects the the bloody wrist (blood smeared thickly on the edge of the tub near it, her wrist visibly cut open), he tries to wake her; she's still alive. Seeing this, Scott—with button prompts—picks her up, lays her on the bed and gets a few supplies from the medicine cabinet; he (again, with button prompts) presses gauze on the slit to stop the bleeding (bloodying his hand) and wraps it around her wrist.
To complete his first of five trails (doled out by the supposed Origami Killer, in order to prove his worth as a father and save his son; the current victim) Ethan Mars—a playable character—drives through traffic the wrong way (in gameplay) for five miles, evading police cars, barreling through a barricade and overturns his car into a ditch, as he crawls out of the flaming wreck—bloody wound on his forehead, blood running down it—and returns to his motel. Staying at the same motel he does, Madison later finds him outside his room and helps the bloodied, breathless Ethan (who holds at his broken ribs) in. There, in gameplay, Madison gives him pain pills for his broken ribs, retrieves disinfectant from the medicine cabinet and—with a few button prompts—cleans his bloody abrasion.
After Jayden pursues a fleeing suspect into a market butcher freezer—dozens of bloody pig carcasses hang from butcher hooks; headless, split open and gutted, blood smeared on the floors and walls—he slowly moves (in gameplay) through the hanging pig carcasses, gun drawn, as he searches for a now hidden suspect. When he gets further back, the suspect jumps out from behind a carcass, swats the gun out of Jayden's hand with a crowbar (prompting a QTE), and then takes another swing, but Jayden dodges, as the makeshift weapon imbeds itself in the carcass instead. Jayden pulls the crowbar out with some effort and throws it at the retreating suspect, which hits him in the back and knocks him over. Jayden approaches as the suspect gets up and shoves him into a nearby table, picks up the crowbar and swings twice, but Jayden evades and punches him in the nose, bloodying it. After the suspect tries a few more swings, they grapple with it, but Jayden fails to wrestle it away; the suspect headbutts him and puts the crowbar around his neck, pushing him face down on a table while attempting to strangle him. However, Jayden soon breaks free, disarms him of the crowbar, uses it to hit him in the head—giving him a bloody gash just above the eye—hooks him at his neck and knocks him unconscious into a hanging carcass. Jayden catches his breath as the disabled suspect lies there; his hoodie stained with blood.
As Scott converses with a later suspect, the suspect watches cartoons on his tv. The CG animation shows a chicken running through a kitchen as, at one point, a butcher knife flies, cutting the chicken's head off; blood squirts heavily from its neck, its severed bone and muscle tissue visible as it continues to run.
For Ethan's second trial, "The Butterfly," he must infiltrate a closed power plant; He soon finds a break in the fence, lifts a barbed wire (in gameplay) and slowly crawls through it, but when he releases the wire, he snags his finger; he winces in pain and sucks at it, as the shot focuses on the bloodied barb. Once he enters the power plant interior, he finds his only way forward is through a tight, pitch- black crawl space lined with large shards of broken glass. He proceeds to crawl (in gameplay; he must move slowly or he'll pass out from the pain) through the cramped tunnel—at one point finding a man's body tucked in a dead end—as he uses matches to navigate its maze-like structure. Ethan reaches the end several minutes later and collapses on the floor; his pant legs visibly ripped and heavily bloodied from the shards of broken glass. When he enters the next room, Ethan finds a grid of live electrical wires straight ahead, and a door marked "Coward" to his left (enter said door and he fails the trial—though any 2 of the 5 trials are elective). If Ethan (that is, the player) decides to go forward, he'll—with button prompts—start to crawl through the spaces between the live wires; if Ethan hits them, he will sustain some burns, as the edges of the screen redden. Once he's finished or failed this trial, Ethan returns to his room, where Madison finds him injured and bloody on the floor. Here (in gameplay), she lifts him to the bed (as he moans in pain; she notes a fever) removes his shirt and surveys his bruised, scorched chest, along with the slices up and down his forearms from the glass. She then (with button prompts) gives Ethan pills for his fever, puts ointment on his chest burns, wraps them in gauze and disinfects his shredded arms.
Ethan's third trial, "The Lizard," is located in an old dilapidated apartment with a video screen propped on a table in the targeted room. He sits and listens as the recording informs him he has 5 minutes to retrieve a sharp object of choice and cut off one of his fingers at the last joint just above his knuckle. You then direct Ethan through the room as he searches for tools; a pair of pliers, butcher knife, saw, hatchet and scissors, along with several items to reduce the risk and pain: disinfectant, whiskey (to dull the pain), a wood scrap (to bite into) and a heated steel rod to cauterize the wound after the cut. Once Ethan finishes gathering his tools of choice, he sits down at the table (as the screen records) and begins the painful, horrific process, starting with the most optimal scenario; butcher knife, hatchet or pliers with the whiskey, wood scrap and cauterizing rod. After Ethan disinfects his finger, he—in gameplay, with button prompts—gulps down a flask of whiskey, bites down on the scrap of wood, calms his racing heart with a few deep breaths, tests the sharpness of the chosen cutting tool, stands up, extends his pinky finger onto the table, braces himself, and—with a downward thrust of the controller—strikes, as blood splatters (with a *squish*) onto the cutting tool (though the full impact is not shown) and he screams in severe, agonizing, very convincing pain; Ethan immediately follows up with a second stroke (if he does not use the hatchet, that is; it cuts in one stroke), lopping the pinky off (with a *squish*; actual dismemberment and severed finger not shown) as it stains the cutting tool and table further with his blood and causes more of his excruciating screams of pain. He falls to his knees with his injured hand pressed between his legs as he continues to scream out in this (again, extremely convincing, painful-to-watch) fashion, and—after several seconds—gets up while holding his injured hand at his chest, sobbing in spurts of pain. He then (with your direction) walks over to the table—his hands, pants and shirt covered in blood, the bloody stump visible—picks up the heated steel rod and presses it into the stump to cauterize it, garnering searing sounds, smoke and more of his pained screams. However, this is the best case scenario. If you choose to use the saw or scissors, all goes the same way...until he starts to cut it off; Ethan must scissor/saw (with button commands) violently, and multiple times (repeated *squishing/crunching* and a larger amount of blood included), as he screams in even more intense pain and and falls to the floor, sobbing in agony; Ethan must finish with a final (*crunch* audible) cut, earning you the "Butcher" Trophy/Achievement. Chosen techniques for the amputation aside, the recording informs Ethan that his "reward" is under a floorboard; he breaks through with his good (still bloodied) hand, retrieves it, and then leaves (still in very visible pain) as he cradles his injured hand (which, on a side note, can be seen fully wrapped in gauze—the stump visibly bloodying it from underneath—in character Ethan Mars' remaining scenes).
Suspecting Ethan Mars of the Origami killings, Jayden and his cop partner pay a visit to Ethan's psychologist, hoping to gather clues based on his overall psyche; but as per doctor-patient confidentiality, Ethan's psychologist refuses to divulge any info, tells them to leave and begins to call the police. Seeing this, Jayden's brash partner rips the phone away from the man's hand, pushes his rolling chair into a corner and starts to threaten him (Jayden tells his partner to stop, but to no avail). Jayden's partner then picks the shrink up by his suit jacket, flings him over the desk, lifts him up again, pins him to it and starts to punch at the man's face. At this point, Jayden can push his partner off the shrink or let it go longer. Either way, the shrink (his mouth very bloody, or at worst, his mouth, nose and cheek will be cut up from a prolonged beating) will eventually talk.
As Scott and Lauren (his new, unofficial case partner; mother of a boy who was murdered by the Origami Killer) visit his elderly friend at the man's repair shop, Scott's friend goes to the back to see if he has any records that could be of help in catching the Origami Killer. However, hearing no answer when he calls out to his friend, Scott walks to the back and finds the man lying dead on his back, his blood gathered in a large puddle under his head—it lingers and cuts to said shot a few times as Scott and Lauren deal with the situation's aftermath.
In Ethan's fourth trial, "The Shark," he must decide whether or not to kill a drug dealer for his next reward; as the dealer answers his apartment door, Ethan (in gameplay) pulls a gun and enters. This prompts an in-game QTE, as the dealer stuns Ethan and retrieves a shotgun; Ethan does his best to dodge the shots (he can be injured—but not killed—if hit), which splinter the doors and tear through random objects, as he scrambles desperately through the man's apartment. The dealer eventually corners Ethan in a children's bedroom and fires at point blank range, but finds his shotgun empty; seeing this, Ethan waves his gun, motioning the man to drop it—he does. The drug dealer proceeds to beg for his life, as he shows Ethan a picture of his two little girls and drops to his knees. At this point, you as the player, may have Ethan non-lethally knock the man in the head with the butt of his gun and leave—failing the trial—or press the gun into the dealer's temple and shoot (with a button prompt) point blank; full impact is then shown, as the bullet penetrates the drug dealer's skull with a *squish,* his blood spurts out in heavy amounts from the exit wound and he falls (blood trailing) lifelessly to the floor. Ethan hesitantly takes a picture of the body—as it lies face down in a large pool of blood—for proof of the kill, and then, in his disgust, kneels down near the body and throws up, the thick greenish/yellowish stream of vomit (and adjoining wet sound effects) fully visible. Ethan takes his leave, as it again cuts to a shot of the drug dealer's dead body—which lies face down in a large puddle of blood; Ethan's vomit still visible near the dealer's shotgun—and then pans to the discarded snapshot of the drug dealer's two little girls...it fades.
As Madison visits an ex-surgeon's house for leads on the Origami Killer case, he offers her a drink, which—unbeknownst to her—is spiked with sleeping drugs. If you let Madison drink it, or, after he goes to the back, you let her snoop around in the kitchen for clues, the creepy Doc will sneak up on Madison and knock her over the head with a bloodied bat, capturing her; otherwise, the following scene can be entirely skipped if Madison does not accept the drink and exits while he's busy in the back. If she is captured, however, Madison will awake in the "Doc's" basement, her hands and feet tied to a makeshift, bloodstained operating table (a table of bloodstained "tools" to her right, the floor smeared with blood), as a shot from her first-person view pans to a dead, bloodied man slumped at one of basement walls; the Doc's former victim. The Doc (who stands with his back to her as he prepares his "tools") explains that this victim "claimed" he came from the census, and "knowing" said man was a "government spy," the paranoid (and obviously disturbed) Doc killed him; all the while, you can have Madison let out horrified screams and struggle at her bonds (with button prompts)...to no avail. After his oddly nonchalant, one-sided chat, the Doc turns around, holding a live power drill, as he slowly edges it to her inner leg; she screams and struggles in terror, but just when it's about to make contact, his doorbell rings. Annoyed, he sets the drill on the table between her legs and goes to answer the door, which prompts a split-screen; one showing Madison on the table, the other showing as the Doc walks to the door, answers it and converses with what (ironically) ends up being a Bible salesman. Here Madison (with button prompts) shakes the rope on her right foot loose, slides the drill to her left hand bond and breaks free (on a side note, if Madison fails in freeing herself the first time around, the Doc will come back down and try to continue where he left off, when the same salesman rings again; however, this time the Doc will invite the persistent man in and hit him over the head with a baseball bat, presumably killing him. If she fails for a second time, the Doc will come back down and succeed in drilling into her, as it cuts away to a front shot of the house; she screams in pain). Seeing her just at the moment she breaks free, the Doc runs toward her—laughing maniacally—as she picks up a nearby tool and flings it at him, it hits; the Doc returns the favor by throwing a drill, which she evades. He then turns on a handheld rotating saw and proceeds to take a few swipes at her; Madison evades the swipes (although she can be hit—with audible *shffs*—causing her to scream in pain), as the Doc knocks her onto the table and tries again, but she kicks him off. Madison backs up against a pillar, as he approaches with the rotating saw and tries to press it toward her body, but she blocks it with her hammer. They shortly lock the tools before she breaks free and runs toward a table; he jumps her from behind, but Madison counters with a blind, over-the-shoulder knock to his forehead with the hammer, which leaves a large bloody imprint, as he staggers back in pain. She runs for the stairs, but stumbles as the Doc grabs her by the legs; she grasps a nearby shovel, knocks him in the head with it, and then kicks him in the crotch as he stands over her. He then straddles her where she lays and starts to choke her, but Madison knocks him in the head repeatedly until he lets go. She tries to run again, but the (now weaponless) Doc grabs her by the ankles and begins to drag her toward his tool table; she grabs onto a chair, which prevents him from reaching his saw, forcing him to let her go. He retrieves the saw and backs her into a pillar, swiping at her, she evades; the Doc backs her into another corner and tries again, but Madison, now armed with a circular saw, evades, swipes at his wielding hand, and then his arm (with a *crunch/shff*), as the Doc stumbles back, his hand and arm cut and bloody. He takes a few more swipes as Madison blocks and makes a few of her own, as he then pins her to the table and lowers his saw, but Madison knocks him away with a smack to the nose. Madison tries running for the stairs yet again, but the Doc grabs at her; she whips around and swipes him in the forearm with her saw—he holds it in pain, his forehead, hand, arm and shoulder all visibly bloody and cut open. Madison swipes at him again, but he grabs her by the throat, pins her to a pillar, grasps her hair, bashes her head into it and flings her onto a table. She lies there, seemingly unresponsive, as he stands over her (laughing maniacally), flips her over and leans in, as she, without warning, takes the drill in her hand and plunges it into his chest (with a *squish* and *crunch*); he screams out in pain, as his blood heavily stains the penetrated area, and he falls dead on top of her. Madison hurriedly pushes him off her in disgust, gets up and angrily kicks at his leg, as his lifeless body slides into a sitting position onto the floor; a tight closing shot shows his lifeless eyes staring into the distance, his head slumped to one side, the bloodied wounds on his head, arm and chest evident...it fades. On a final side note, Madison can die at several points in this scene—if you fail too many button prompts—including a scenario in which he plunges the circular saw into her back, as Madison's spine apparently severs (with a *crunch/squish*); the Doc can slash her throat with a circular saw—with a *shff/squish*—as he straddles her on the floor—though her collar and the shot's side view conceals any graphic detail; the Doc can slash at her throat where she stands (viewed from her back), as she grabs at her throat and drops to the floor; and some of her death scenes focus on her lifeless face, eyes staring, all the while, the Doc laughs maniacally over her body.
As Jayden looks for clues in a junkyard garage owned by a person of interest in the Origami Killer case, he, at one point, spots a long trail of blood with his ARI interface (that sees it as a glowing blue element only) leading to a covered vat of acid; he lifts it and finds a human skull, as the junkyard's owner, "Mad Jack," comes up from behind and presses a gun to the back of his head. Mad Jack then directs him to the back to finish the job, prompting an in-game QTE, but Jayden kicks the nearby Car Creeper—a sliding platform used to work under cars—from behind, tripping Mad Jack, and uses his newly acquired wrench to knock the gun away. The hulking Mad Jack responds by hitting Jayden in the crotch, lifting him over his shoulders and tossing him onto one of the garage's cars, as he takes a nearby metal pipe and starts swinging; Jayden evades with a couple of rolls, as Mad Jack plunges the pipe into its windshield. Mad Jack then forces Jayden onto the car roof; Jayden evades his blows and soon rushes him, stunning Mad Jack, as Jayden rolls off the car and grasps for his discarded gun—Mad Jack attempts to tackle him, but flips over Jayden and falls into several empty barrels instead. Jayden, now armed, demands info; when Mad Jack refuses, Jayden shoots near his head, this works, as Mad Jack tells Jayden what he knows. Jayden then goes to read Mad Jack his rights, when he starts having withdrawals (see the "Use of drugs, alcohol and tobacco" lower in the review), as his vision blurs, face drains of color, his nose bleeds, eyes go bloodshot, and the veins bulge from his head; said symptoms recur at few key points throughout the game. Here, you (as the player) can have Jayden take the drug, as he then arrests Mad Jack—ending the scene there—or abstain, possibly saving him from an eventual overdose; he can die from the drug near the end of the game, as blood runs down his eyes/nose and he grasps at his throat/heart and chokes on his blood, slumping dead to his desk). If he chooses to abstain, Jayden will fall to the floor, as Mad Jack knocks him unconscious. In this case, Jayden will awake from a car—handcuffed to the steering wheel—while Mad Jack uses his crane to drag the car toward an active crushing machine, but Jayden crawls out (with button prompts) just as Mad Jack drops it into the crusher. Jayden, dazed, nose still bloodied, looks for Mad Jack, but finds the crane's seat to be empty, as Mad Jack jumps him (triggering an in-game QTE) and they begin to brawl; Jayden grabs and throws any refuse he can find at Mad Jack, but to no avail, as Mad Jack eventually lifts and throws Jayden into the path of the slow but still moving crane's treads, and then pins Jayden to it, as he pounds at him, lifts him by the neck, tosses him into the mud, tries to stomp his face, picks him up, and starts to press his head into the crane treads. However, Jayden struggles, forcing Mad Jack to throw him away from the crane and into the mud. Mad Jack looks on—with his back to the crane's treads—ready to walk over and continue his beating on Jayden, when the sweater tied around his waist gets caught in the crane's treads; he is dragged under, as he screams (light crushing sounds audible)—however, the shot cuts to Jayden (who watches in relief) before revealing any graphic detail. A closing far shot shows the crane still slowly rolling on its own, as Jayden looks on; Mad Jack's blood gathers in a puddle under the crane treads, gradually leaking from his unseen crushed body. On a side note—if you fail too many button prompts—Jayden can die at several points in this scene, including a scenario—no blood's present in the following—in which he is shot in the back of the head (execution-style), he is beaten to death with a metal pipe; dragged down in a car crusher—it cuts away before showing any detail—as he lets out a long scream of agony; choked to death; fist-beaten to death; or crushed under the crane's treads (it shows from his upper body, as he screams in pain; but again, cuts away before showing any detail).
After Madison knocks out a person of interest in the Origami Killer case and ties him to a chair—a small, bloodied cut visible just below his eye from a lamp she knocked him out with—Madison (with button prompts) smacks him hard several times to wake him, and when he won't talk, Madison may (with button prompts) hit him in the head with her fist, gun or press the gun to his forehead.
As Jayden enters the "Blue Lagoon" and makes his way to the owner's (a person of interest in the Origami Killer case) office, a split-screen view shows as Paco, the nightclub's owner, speaks with a masked figure in his (very isolated) office; the figure (from silhouetted view on the wall) pulls a gun and shoots Paco in the head—it cuts away before impact. When Jayden finally reaches Paco's office, he approaches Paco, sitting in a desk chair, and swivels it around, finding the body slumped in the chair, dead; a bloodied bullet hole in his forehead, blood running down it. Jayden goes to put on his ARI glasses to investigate, when the masked murderer sneaks up on Jayden from behind the shadows and attacks, prompting an in-game QTE; the killer flings Jayden onto the desk (who then slides off onto the floor) and tries to escape through the door, however, Jayden leaps from the desk and tackles him away from it. The killer shakes free and advances to said door a second time, but Jayden grasps him from behind and pulls him back. The killer again shakes free, going for the door when Jayden kicks it shut and starts to take a few swings at the killer, as his last punch connects, but the killer then grabs him, presses him against the wall, flips him onto the desk, grasps him by the neck and begins to knock the back of his head into it. However, Jayden hits him in the nose and kicks him away, as the killer grabs a sword hanging on the wall and starts swinging; Jayden evades the killer's many swipes—at one point, narrowly missing impalement. Eventually, the killer drops the sword and knocks Jayden down near the office's wall-sized fish tank; as Jayden slowly tries to get up, the killer flings a chair into him, forcing Jayden to break his fall into the fish tank's glass, shattering it, as the fish and water spill out. When Jayden attempts to get up, the killer kicks him down and goes for the door; Jayden grasps at the killer's jacket pocket, tearing it, but he smacks Jayden down and escapes. On a side note (if you fail too many button prompts) Jayden can die at several points in this scene, including a scenario in which the killer impales him just above the crotch and escapes, as the sword sticks out of his body and the shot focuses on his lifeless face; and Jayden can be run through his lower torso or the heart, as the killer heaves it all the way in, the sword visibly sticking from the other side. However, while Jayden does have a visible, pre-existing bloodstain on his upper torso (under his tie), none of his death scenes garner any visible blood.
After Gordi Kramer's—suspect in the Origami Killer case—"Businessman" father attempts to drown Scott and his partner Lauren in a submerged car, Scott pays a visit to his mansion, pulls up to the gate and—with button prompts—drives his car through one of its windows, pinning a pool table to one of the guards in the process; Scott exits the car and, without looking, shoots the pinned guard in the head—full impact not shown. When he reaches the foyer, the remaining guards open fire (prompting an in-game QTE), as Scott proceeds to—bloodlessly—shoot all of them down; they fly to the floor, others fall from balconies, one through a second story window, etc. Scott continues to force his way to the father's office and kicks his door open, finding the panicked man as he hurries to load his gun, and then points it hesitantly at Scott. Scott knocks it out of his hand, grabs him by his suit jacket, flings him to the floor, picks him up, presses him against the desk, punches him in the face—visibly bloodying his mouth—picks him up again, presses him onto the desk and begins choking him—with button prompts—as he tries to force the father to tell him what he knows about his son: the suspected Origami Killer. When he refuses to talk, Scott flips him over the desk, picks him up, presses him onto the desk and starts to choke him again, when he concedes (a close up here shows his still bloody mouth and newly cut and bruised cheek). After telling Scott what he knows, he begins to have a heart attack as he grasps at his chest and struggles to breathe. Here, you (as the player) can direct Scott over to the desk drawer and retrieve his pills, or leave to let him die. On a side note, if you fail several button prompts during the gunfight, light blood is visible on Scott's sleeve as he confronts Gordi's father, and if too many button prompts are failed, he'll be grazed in the face and hit in the stomach during the gunfight (both of which are visibly bloodied), forcing him to flee the mansion.
On a lesser but still mentionable note, many of the game's more bloody, violent and disturbing scenes are reshown in montage form during the credits.

Intense violence: Two years after Ethan Mars leaps in front of a car to save his son, Jason, and fails—Jason dead, Ethan in a coma for six months—he tries to go on with what remains of his life; he and his wife separated, his sole motivation, younger son Shaun. Still suffering from his loss, Ethan has sustained multiple psychological issues, among them, blackouts; at the most inopportune of times, he has one, and awakes to find Shaun missing. Ethan and his ex go to the police, and learn that Shaun has been abducted by the "Origami Killer," a serial murderer who captures boys between 9-13, locks them in well-like structures and, in the rainy seasons, lets the water fill up until they drown; the bodies are found post mortem with an origami figure in one hand, an orchid on the chest. Soon after, Ethan gets a letter from the Origami Killer: if he is to find and rescue his son in time, Ethan must fulfill five trials. Meanwhile, investigative reporter Madison Paige, private detective Scott Shelby and FBI agent Norman Jayden conduct their own investigation—which, along the way, intertwine with each other—as they try to uncover the Origami Killer's identity and save Shaun Mars...

Like many "adventure" games, the base gameplay consists of directing your character through linear, scene-like chapters (regularly shifting the story's perspective—thus, in turn, control between Ethan, Madison, Scott and Jayden) while using contextual button prompts to interact with your surroundings (this includes anything from picking up or activating random items, opening doors, cupboards and windows, to sitting, drinking, accelerating cars, maneuvering through cramped areas and tending to injuries, etc.), selecting from multiple dialog responses while speaking with other characters, and in the more action-oriented "Quick Time Event" sequences, pressing a series of buttons via on-screen prompts in a set time. However, beyond moving your characters about, pushing buttons, and watching (what there is of the non-interactive) cutscenes, this is where it branches off from most (in fact, with prevalent QTE sequences, moral choice and branching plot, even its adventure brethren), with nary a recurring task, enemy, weapon or combat system in sight, and instead, focuses on eliciting a deep emotional response from the player, and solely through its interactive narrative.

Mixed with the aforementioned emotion-heavy nature of the story, the realistic visual style and relatable, pedestrian setting, and right from the start you're immersed into its universe; it's just you, your character and their inner dialog, no hints, no clues, no clear direction on what to do next. This presents an insecurity and intensity not found in most gaming experiences, and with its moral choice, non-linearity; even the tiniest of things can produce consequence, either for the story itself, or simply your personal conscience as the player, from Ethan mock sword fighting with his son, Jason (take it easy on him, or win like the jerk you are), to trying to cheer up his distant son Shaun (post-big brother Jason's death) by playing with him at a local park; a presentation so convincing that you'll want to succeed, as you do your best to have Ethan throw out a boomerang correctly, buy Shaun the right candy (you can fail both), push him on the merry-go-round, etc. And if an earlier choice not to enforce his homework schedule is made (by you), Shaun will relay to Ethan that he got in trouble at school for not doing said homework; making an already distant Shaun even more withdrawn...

Choices only step up from here, and dialog responses can often be picked; from being calm or angry, cold or understanding, truthful or deceiving, etc; which, depending on what responses and in what order they are chosen, can save or doom your characters at many points throughout. Examples of further "moral" choice include anything from sleeping with someone, or resisting, and drink alcohol, or refraining, to the more life and death decisions, like whether or not to rescue characters from beatings or death; free an ally from a sinking car; save a corrupt man from his heart-attack; kill a drug dealer in cold blood; allow a character's—eventually lethal—drug use, etc. This ability to shape the story as the player, along with an overall sense of unpredictability, adds further impact to the already suspense-filled sequences throughout, from the anxiety ridden; walk the mall's throngs as a panicked Ethan, calling out for his son—his sheer helplessness palpable; laboredly drag an injured Ethan, as Madison, through a subway station to safety from pursuing cops; as Scott, save a mother from a botched suicide, and tend to her crying baby (feed and change her, rock her to sleep), etc...

(Continue past specific scenes below for the "Intense violence" section's closing paragraph)

Specific scenes of intense violence:

(In addition to intense violence, the below scenes—most of which are gameplay—also contain disturbing, suspenseful and sometimes tragic elements.)

When his wife asks him to fetch their young son, Shaun, for dinner, Ethan (one of four playable characters) finds him upstairs sitting on the floor in front of his bird's cage, the bird dead on the floor; Ethan comforts the crying boy.
After Ethan's wife asks him to watch their son, Jason, while she and their other son, Shaun, shop for shoes in a crowded mall, he and Jason wait outside. When some time has passed, Ethan looks over and finds Jason starting to wander off, as he follows after and, with button prompts, repeatedly calls out Jason's name. Ethan soon finds him standing near a balloon stand and tells him not to wander off, when Jason interrupts, asking Ethan to buy him a balloon. Ethan agrees, but as he pays the stand's owner, Jason wanders away with his red balloon in hand; Ethan, this time, loses sight of him. The panic-stricken Ethan proceeds to shove his way through the mall's throngs as he repeatedly (with button prompts) calls out Jason's name, doing his best to trail the bobbing red balloon. He soon spots Jason across the street from just outside the mall. Jason sees Ethan and goes to cross back when a car speeds toward him; Ethan screams at him to stop, as he leaps in front of the car and grabs Jason, but can't clear the car: it hits (panning up before the impact is seen). The father and son's condition unclear—it is later learned that Jason died, Ethan went into a coma—Ethan's wife runs to the scene and cries over their bodies, as their son, Shaun, looks on in confused silence; it closes with a shot of Jason's balloon, which slowly rises into the sky.
Ethan goes to the train station to get a box from one of the lockers, which holds instructions from the supposed Origami Killer on how to prove his worth and, in turn, save his recently abducted son, Shaun, from said killer. But when he sees the throngs of people walking the station (all too similar to the scenario with his son Jason in the shopping mall), he begins to have a panic attack, as he falls to the floor and enters a hallucinatory state; the pedestrians freeze in time around Ethan, as he relives the events preceding Jason's death and follows a phantom version of his son, all the while, the pedestrians ragdoll to the floor when Ethan runs past them—knocking down 50 earns you an Achievement/Trophy.
After he opens the box from the train station, Ethan finds a memory card and a cellphone. He quickly places the card into the phone, which shows a video of his trapped son, Shaun, in a what looks to be a drainage pit that gradually fills with rain water; the very pale young boy (his face visible from between the grating) calls out, "Dad! where are you? I'm so cold." After Ethan completes each of the five trials, these cellphone videos (but for a higher water level, depict the same scene), are remotely "rewarded" to him by the supposed Origami Killer.
After Scott (playable character, and private eye investigating the Origami Killer case) questions Gordi Kramer, a person of interest in the case, Gordi tells Scott he's had enough and sics his guards on him, as the two stand on either side of Scott and grab him by the arms—prompting an in-game QTE; Scott breaks free of their grip, but one punches him in the stomach as the two grab at him again. He tries to break free a second time when one guard hooks him in the face, the other holding him by the arm; Scott, in turn, hooks him, as the other grabs him from behind again, but Scott punches him in the crotch, and then elbows him in the face, flipping the stunned guard over the couch. The first guard goes to kick Scott, but Scott evades his blows and knocks the guard away, when the second guard begins to climb over the couch; Scott kicks it, sending the man backward onto a glass coffee table as it shatters. The first guard proceeds to pull his gun, as Scott grabs him by the arm, knocks him against the wall, headbutts him and tries to shake the gun away; the guard punches him, but Scott dodges his other blows, twists his arm behind his back, spins him around, knocks him face first into the wall, bashes the gun out of his hand and flips him over onto the couch; all the while, Gordi giggles. On a side note, if you fail too many button prompts, Scott can lose the above fight, as the two guards then drag him away.
When Scott and his investigative partner, Lauren (a mother of a former Origami Killer victim), visit the suspected killer's brother's grave for clues on his origins, the groundskeeper approaches and offers to tell the two how the boy died. This initiates a flashback, as the 10 year-old twin boys are cussed out of their trailer by their drunk father. Pouring "Heavy" rain outside, the twins make the best of it by playing around the construction site near their trailer, as the nameless boy (who you direct in gameplay) follows his brother, John (aforementioned grave's present-time occupant), through a makeshift and somewhat hazardous obstacle course. After conquering it, the two give each other a couple high fives, as John suggests the other counts while he hides. After he finishes counting, John's twin (in gameplay) runs to find him, when he hears John calling for help, finding him neck deep in a open drainage pipe full of flowing rain water; he attempts to pull John out, but discovers that his foot is stuck fast, and then tells John he'll go to get help. The scene's outcome is shown later in the game, as John's brother (in gameplay) runs to his father—sitting drunk outside the trailer, as rain continues to pour heavily—and pleads for his help, pulling at him to go, but his father tells him (slurring his words), "That will be one less greedy mouth to feed, won't it?! Go away!" and pushes the crying boy to the ground. The boy (in gameplay) runs back to him and helplessly falls to his knees, as John speaks his last (the water rushing over his pale face) and dies; his brother holds his limp hand.
After Madison is trapped in a sealed safe room of a burning apartment, she—in gameplay—must find a way out before the propane tank set in the middle of the apartment goes off; finding a hollow wall, Madison breaks through and proceeds to navigate the cramped rooms—coughing from the pervasive smoke—while she narrowly shimmies past the fire (Madison can be set aflame, as she screams in panic and hurriedly pats it out—with a shake of the controller) and pushes down random objects for makeshift bridges, all the while, the propane tank's pressure gauge steadily increases. When she arrives at the kitchen, Madison (that is, you as the player) has one of two choices with successful outcomes; she will either jump from the kitchen window into the building's hall and reach the exterior (all covered in soot and coughing up smoke), as the windows blow out in a fireball, or, she will clear the fridge and get inside, shielding her from the explosion. On a side note, Madison can die at a few points if you fail too many button prompts or choose the wrong way out, including a scenario in which she suffocates from too much smoke inhalation and falls dead—focusing on her lifeless face, mouth agape; she can be set aflame, causing her to scream in panic and flail about, as she (non-graphically) burns alive—again, focuses on her lifeless face, eyes wide open, mouth agape; she can jump out of the wrong window, as she screams all the way down—it shows her body (after impact) sprawled out on the pavement; and if she takes too long escaping, Madison can die in the building explosion, as she screams and it cuts to the windows blowing out into a fireball.
In a bonus movie titled, "Heavy Rain Prototype: The Casting" (under "Extras" at the title screen) a woman (that is, a woman playing the part; it's mock casting) speaks of her cheating husband, "I tell myself, if this is all life has to offer me, then I can do without—she stares at the camera, a prop gun held to her head, a tear runs down her eye. But then I change my mind (she lowers the gun); after all, I'm not the one who's cheating...I wait for you...sitting in my average little kitchen...you don't expect a thing...I press the...gun against your forehead and I take a few seconds to watch the fear grow in your eyes. You (the husband) tell yourself...she doesn't have the guts, she's just trying to teach me a lesson. But you are so wrong honey, I sentence you to death for turning my life into a soap opera cliche, for stepping on my dreams...and for lying to me and betraying me and humiliating me...Goodbye my love (she presses the prop gun to the camera and "fires," as a canned shot rings...it fades to the rehearsal room)."

To the downright horrific, most notably Madison's segments, in which she (always the victim) fights off a pair of knife wielding masked men; attempts escape from a crazy ex-surgeons basements as he tries to murder her with power tools; and later races to escape a flaming apartment building before it explodes. Or worse yet, Ethan's sadistic and suicidal trials, where he's forced to drive into traffic the wrong way, as he dodges incoming cars and rams through police barricades; crawl through a small, pitch-black tunnel filled with broken glass; and cut off a finger in front of a recording camera. In all of the above (along with the spontaneous, visceral QTE fight sequences—fist/blunt weapon brawls and a shootout among them) you can fail, but instead of it rolling back to the last checkpoint, so you can try until you succeed, you can't go back, meaning if you miss a button prompt during a fight, you get hit and the fight continues, if Ethan's caught by the cops, he's caught, if a protagonist dies, they die. The narrative goes on regardless, giving a unique sense of total finality not found in other games; "Murphy's Law" holds a definite truth here: what can go wrong, will go wrong.

Nudity/Sexual content: (The majority of "Nudity" and "Sexual content" is intermixed throughout, so, I have merged both into one category. Beyond the above descriptors, the below also contains partial nudity, suggestive themes and crudity.)

Ethan Mars (one of four playable protagonists) is shown at the game's beginning lying in bed, garbed only in boxer briefs. After wandering around upstairs a bit, you direct Ethan to the shower, prompting him to pull down his briefs, affording a partial view of his upper pubic hair (his genitals concealed by a shower wall), and then a full shot of his nude back—complete with bare behind—which lingers for a few seconds before cutting to several shots as Ethan continues his shower, intermixed with a partial shot of his bare behind, and then a full shot as he gets out to grab a towel. After you dry him off (upper body only), he slips on a clean pair of briefs—his middle concealed by a towel rack in the foreground.
After helping his wife bring in the groceries, you can (optionally) direct Ethan to her as she works at the kitchen sink and prompt him to put his arms around her waist then kiss her; they begin kissing moderately, but she reluctantly refrains, stating, "I know what's on your mind, Ethan. But now is not the right time for it. I've really got to focus on this [birthday] party (for their son, Jason)."
After he locates the seedy apartment building where a person of interest in the Origami Killer case lives, you direct playable protagonist and private eye, Scott Shelby, to her door. She (garbed in a skimpy bathrobe—an apparent prostitute) answers and, thinking Scott is another client, exclaims in a matter-of-fact tone, "Sorry, I only see clients by appointment." Not having the time to argue his real reasons for being there, Scott plays along and insists on coming in. She agrees and recites in a tired tone, "It's 50 bucks. I don't kiss and I don't do weird sh*t." She then begins to remove her bathrobe (two posters visible on her wall, one of a woman in a scant camisole, another in a skimpy bikini-like cowboy getup); he tries to explain, again, that he isn't there for the seemingly obvious reasons, but she interrupts with, "Oh sh*t, a cop! What you want? A freebie, is that it?" Scott conveys he simply wants to ask her about the recent killing of her young son at the hands of the "Origami Killer"; depending on your chosen responses, she will either tell Scott about her son, or lash out and show him the door.
Playable protagonist, Madison Paige is introduced in her apartment late at night, garbed in a scant pair of panties and skin tight tank top. You soon learn she is a chronic insomniac, and in effort to lull herself to sleep, she elects to take a hot shower to relax. After you direct her to the bathroom (her scantly garbed lower behind "flexing" as she walks in a slinky, runway model fashion; she walks like this throughout the game) you have her approach the shower and, with a couple of button presses, slip off her panties (her lower body concealed by a large sink in the foreground) then her top; shown from her bare back with a partial, out of focus shot of her upper behind. She then enters the shower, giving a clear shot of her bare body from behind, then another of her upper body and bare breasts as she turns on the faucet. This shot linger for a few seconds, but then switches when she sticks her head under the faucet's stream and leans her hands against the wall, affording a top down view of Madison's bare upper breasts and behind, and then cuts to a full side shot as she leans with her back to the wall, showing a side view of her bare breasts. At this point, you are given a choice to turn the faucet off and let her exit the shower, or you may ignore the prompt and let the scene linger a little longer. If you allow it to linger, Madison will eventually turn the faucet off automatically, giving another full view of her bare breasts, and a full shot of her bare body from the back as she exits. It switches to a front view of her bare upper body as she reaches for the towel, cuts to a shot of her bare behind as she flips the towel over her back, and then cuts to a far shot with the sink in the foreground blocking the view of (only) her middle area. You then use the towel (with a controller shake) to dry her off in a "utilitarian" manner (arms and legs only), all the while several intermixed close shots focus on her breasts (which are not imbued with any form of "breast physics" whatsoever). She then slips back into her panties and tank top and exits with your direction. However, this entire scene of nudity can be completely bypassed if you linger outside the bathroom for long enough and perform all other optional tasks available.
After Madison rings for the desk clerk at a rundown motel, said clerk exits from the bathroom and, seeing Madison, begins to eye her in a creepy manner. After she signs for the room and he gives her the keys, Madison says, "Thanks" while walking off; he stares at her tight jeaned behind and replies, "The pleasure was all mine..." Madison retorts—from under her breath—"That's for sure."
When Scott and his new, unofficial case partner, Lauren (a mother of a boy who was murdered by the Origami Killer), enter a mansion belonging to a man that could be a person of interest in the case, the two find a party in session; people drinking in phased-out stupors, women scattered about in scant, skin tight bikini tops and short, short mini-skirts (one women garbed in this manner dances in a provocative, stripper fashion on a table set in the middle of the room). Several couples make out; a man kisses and caresses a woman in a corner, a woman in skimpy garb "lap" dances over a man sitting in a chair, a man makes out with a woman as they straddle against the wall, her leg wrapped around his thigh; two scantily clad women dance provocatively on either side of one man, "bumping," "grinding" and shimmying down the man's body on the dance floor, etc.
At the same party, when Scott approaches the stairs to see Gordi Kramer (main occupant of the mansion and person of interest in his case) Gordi's guards block him and refuse him entry. To get them away, Scott's partner, Lauren, begins to dance in a suggestive manner (shimmying down one man) and motions them to join her, but they ultimately resist; she then mocks fainting. Once Scott reaches the room, he finds two strung-out girls weakly making out on a couch as a very high Gordi giggles at cartoons on the tv next to them—and as he and Scott talk, a (David-style) statue's genitals in the background are clearly visible.
After investigative reporter Madison follows a lead on the Origami Killer case to a shifty, older ex-surgeon's—now illegal prescription drug peddler's—house, she cautiously questions him while playing the role of the buyer. At one point (in an optional dialog branch) he says, "Everyone has a price my dear" and asks, "Do you have a 'price'?" (hoping she's for hire); she quickly responds, "Forget it! I'm not for sale!" Eventually, he goes in the back to get her "order," giving Madison the chance to searches around for clues; one drawer contains a few magazines, and as she skims through them, she observes, "The Doc seems to be interested in property, amongst other things (perhaps dirty magazines, although nothing is seen)." If Madison's caught by the doctor (you can prevent this by leaving while he's still in the back), he tells her—assuming she knows more than she does—"I ran into Paco if you must know. I've no idea what he does there....Maybe that's where he fornicates with his dancers from the Blue Lagoon." And after she tries escaping, the Doc throws Madison face down onto a table; she plays dead as he stands between her legs and briefly runs his hands down her behind.
As playable protagonist and FBI agent, Norman Jayden searches an ex-convict's junkyard garage for clues, a pin-up poster hung on a side room wall is viewable and can be zoomed in on; titled, "Merry Christmas" a woman (in pumps, scant, teddy-like top and bikini bottoms) squats, legs spread. And after fighting off the garage's hostile owner, Jayden holds him at gunpoint and demands information, prompting the ex-con to angrily exclaim, "Go f*ck yourself in the a**!"
Following her lead from the Doc's house, Madison visits Blue Lagoon nightclub in effort to meet with its owner, Paco; like Gordi Kramer's party, couples stand at walls, straddling and making out, and women dressed in little dance on stripper poles over the club bar, all the while, people pulsate—some bump and grind—to the music. After spotting Paco in a isolated corner of the club, Madison attempts approach, but is turned away by his bodyguard—as she leaves, she notices Paco eyeing a woman dancing provocatively on a platform to gain Paco's attention; it works, as Paco has his man call her over. Madison gets the idea, prompting you to direct her to the womens' room for some, "sexing up." You then, with button prompts, button down her blouse (she grabs both her breasts and adjusts them; "bounce" not included), cake on more makeup, messy her hair and rip off some of her (already tight/short) skirt to reveal more skin. Once done with this, you'll direct Madison to a platform in Paco's view and begin to dance in a provocative (though, not quite dirty) fashion with button prompts; he'll eventually notice her and swap Madison out with the first girl. When Madison reaches Paco, he offers her a seat next to him, informing her, "I like the way you move Madison. You're making me all hot under the collar," queuing her to suggests they go someplace more private; upon hearing this, a very willing Paco tells Madison to follow him, as you direct her upstairs to his office. Once there, Paco turns on a music track intermixed with "moaning" women, relieves Madison of her (gun-holding) purse, saying, "I'll take that. Just gets in the way of good 'things', sweet cheeks!", sits on his couch and orders her, "So, show me what you can do. Take it off, slowly. Take it all off, baby." At this point, you will have her stall, asking (among other things), "Could...could I have a drink? You know, just a little drink to break the ice"; Paco suggestively replies, "We've already broke the ice, mamma, let's get 'wet'!" Madison attempts to leave, but Paco pulls a gun. Now forced to strip, you have two options; you may have Madison only unbutton her shirt (awarding you with the "Pride Saved" Achievement/Trophy), direct her to a nearby table lamp, and then have her begin to dance (gyrating her hips with a couple shakes of the controller) as Madison leans toward the lamp and pretends to happily shake her behind in his face, all the while, Paco stares at her behind, stating, "Baby sweet cakes! You've got it going on down below!" Or you can draw the actual stripping part out longer, and take off both her skirt and shirt—at one point you can have her consider, "Maybe if I told him I'm a lesbian. Hmm...no time to start getting funny"—then bra, leaving her in her tiny pair of panties and fully topless; either way, after grabbing the lamp, Madison will knock Paco out. When Paco awakes, tied to a chair—a framed picture briefly visible in the foreground on his desk of a bikini-clad woman lying on a bed in a sensual fashion—she begins to question him, as he replies, "You haven't got the balls lady. But you're gonna know balls when I catch up with you!" After this dead end discussion, one of Paco's guards asks if all is well from outside the door; Madison thinks quick and starts to fake orgasmic moans; the guard leans at the door and grins, and Paco stares, mouth agape. Upon the guard's departure, Madison grabs the cheap, gaudy Paco by his crotch and says, "If you value those prize balls of yours, Paco, then it's time for you to talk," and—with button prompts—begins to progressively sqeeze.
After he completes (or fails) his fourth trail, Madison finds Ethan sobbing on the floor of his motel room. She sits by him, and as he shares his feelings with her, they edge in to kiss; here, you, the player, are given the choice to resist (which ends the scene there as she walks out), or give in. If you decide to give in, they (with several button prompts) will begin to kiss heavily and proceed to undress each other—again, with button prompts. At this point, you direct Ethan to nuzzle her neck, take off her shirt, and then optionally remove her bra, or leave it on. Either way, Ethan will turn Madison onto the floor (with another button prompt), as they—both are sans shirts but still in their jeans—straddle on the floor while caressing, rolling, moaning and kissing heavily; many quick, cutting shots linger on this for several seconds before switching to a shot of their bare legs sticking out from behind the side of the bed—light thrusting movements are seen before it fades. It opens with them on the bed, Madison (in a shirt and panties) asleep, Ethan laying (in his boxer briefs) behind her. As he puts his clothes back on, he checks to see if she's awake, affording a view of her scantly garbed behind, and once she does wake up, it is seen again as she shimmies into her jeans.
Lauren's bathrobe reveals moderate cleavage after getting out of Scott's shower (not seen), and nearer the end, Lauren and Scott have a drawn-out kiss.
In a bonus movie titled, "Heavy Rain Prototype: The Casting" (under "Extras" at the title screen) a woman (that is, a woman playing the part; it's mock casting) speaks on her husband's infidelity, "Starts with something small. A little lipstick on the collar, a few nights when you come home a bit late. At first I tell myself I'm crazy...to ease my mind, I follow you as you leave the office...to the seedy hotel where you meet the girl...and then my whole world falls apart."
A few Concept Art stills in the "Bonus" menu (under "Extras" at the title screen) contain some suggestive imagery, including a nighttime street view with a neon sign of a scantily clad, silhouetted woman, it reads, "Heavy Body"; a stage with a scantily clad woman posing in its center, four more women in the background (in similar attire) hold at stripper poles; and an office with a framed, wall-sized (real-life) snapshot of a topless woman leaning on her elbows (viewed from the side; only her torso is visible, and her arms fully conceal her breasts).
On a somewhat dissimilar and miscellaneous, but still significant note, at many points in the game, you can optionally have three characters relieve themselves (a.k.a, pee) at the toilet; the first time with Ethan at his house; the second with Madison in her bathroom before she gets in the shower; the third with Ethan at his motel room; and the fourth with Scott at his house. However, their "stream" and the "source" of said stream are never seen; sounds are heard, but the men are viewed from behind—with their pants still up—and while Madison's bare legs are seen as she sits at the toilet, camera cuts fully conceal the details.

Strong language: (The following is what my playthrough contained; since the game's story is branching in nature, and allows you to choose from multiple actions, you may find a tad more or less profanity in your playthrough) There are over two dozen uses of sh*t, over four dozen uses of the f-word, under a dozen uses of hell, d*mn, a**, a**hole, God d*mn, God and Christ, three or under uses of bastard and p*ss, and one use of b*tch, SoB and Jesus. Lastly, the Bonus menu under the title screen's "Extras" has two videos that contain language: "Making of 2: Casting Real Actors" has one use of sh*t, and "Heavy Rain Prototype: The Casting" contains two uses of the f-word and one use of sh*t and a**hole. There is no option to turn language off.

Use of drugs, alcohol and tobacco: (The ESRB did not mention a use of "alcohol and tobacco" in their rating) Playable FBI agent, Norman Jayden is introduced sitting in his car; one hand trembles uncontrollably, the other holds a vial of the fictional blue drug known as "Triptocaine." This drug is what seems to enable his use of a device dubbed "ARI: Added Reality Interface," which, with special glasses and a glove, is an overlaid interface on real world objects used at crime scenes to scan an area, catalog samples and help Jayden solve what normal agents otherwise cannot. Jayden has withdrawals from the "Triptocaine" throughout, evident in an anemic complexion, trembling hands, bloodshot eyes and sometimes bloody nose, often at the most inopportune times. And you, as the player may choose at several points in the story to either take it—making Jayden dependent; he will eventually die from an overdose—or abstain. In addition to this, playable protagonist Madison briefly notes in her inner dialog that she must take prescription drugs for her insomnia; as Jayden searches a disturbed man's apartment, prescription drugs litter the bathroom cabinet, kitchen and bedroom...

Madison gives Ethan pain killers for his newly broken ribs, and later, after Ethan runs a high fever, Madison gives him pills for it; While Scott is at a party (for investigative reasons) his (optional) thoughts note, "Booze, babes and coke...Gordi Kramer seems to be quite the party animal" and later, "Finding someone who isn't smashed or doped up to the gills would be a miracle"; after Scott's partner Lauren drops for a distraction at the same party, a guard is overheard saying, "Sh*t! Another one is going to OD on the dance floor"; once Scott reaches Gordi, he finds him obviously high—Gordi giggles giddily at cartoons; when Ethan goes to a drug dealer's apartment for the fourth trial, the dealer answers, "I don't want...junkies at my door...if you wanna score man, you gotta...call first." and after Ethan holds him up with a gun, he begs, "Dope...You want some dope?" And while Madison visits an ex-surgeon's house, prescription drugs (that "Doc" deals illegally) are littered about. As for the alcohol and tobacco, a man holds a lit cigarette in the intro; Lauren lights a cigarette, offers Scott one (he refuses), puffs from it once, and holds it (fume wafting) for the scene's remainder...

During the same conversation, she tells Scott her son's father was, "A loser without a job who liked to beat me after a few drinks"; and Madison walks by one man smoking at a motel balcony. Scott can optionally take a swig of alcohol with a tilt of the analog stick while sitting at his desk; Gordi's party is filled with alcohol bottles, visibly drunk partiers (who stumble about) drinking from glasses and whole bottles of it, along with cigarettes, which lay discarded on tables and in the hands of many partiers, who take puffs from them. Scott can electively ask for whiskey at the same party, "Straight up, no ice," and drink it; Scott can optionally pour a very drunk partier another glass, as the man slurs his thanks; and after making a diversion for Scott, Lauren says, "Sorry! That liquor's strong, ain't it!" Ethan may optionally swig some whiskey (as the screen sways) to dull an amputation; as Madison enters a man's house, he offers her alcohol (she can refuse); an old friend of Scott toasts him with scotch—he must drink; people are seen drinking alcohol at a later nightclub (along with its owner); and a drunk man slurs and gulps from a bottle of alcohol in a later flashback scene.

Content review posted: 05/08/10

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Available on: PS3
More information: Wikipedia
Cover scans: MobyGames - CoverGalaxy
GameFAQs.com: PS3
Press: IGN: 9.0 - GameSpot: 8.5 - Metacritic (average): 87

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