Developer: Sony Japan
Platform: Playstation 3
Rating: 10+
Genre: Platformer
Told like a bedtime story, you play a nameless young boy who follows a young girl into a world much like our own… except it never stops raining, and both he and the girl are invisible, except when they step out into the rain, and every drop can be seen on their transparent frame. However, there are also strange creatures everywhere, with one in particular – The Unknown – who seems absolutely determined to capture and kill both you and girl.
Between the gorgeous graphics, the highly original visual mechanic, the creepy abandoned European city setting, the lush soundtrack and the general tone of the game, Rain feels like it should stand side by side with the likes of Limbo and Journey as immersive, emotional interactive experiences. However, due to the very basic gameplay, it falls just short of being truly memorable.
At the beginning of the game some new gameplay ideas are introduced, such as muddy puddles that make you visible until you find fresh water to clean yourself off, or when you finally catch up with the girl you’ve been chasing and you need to use team-work to solve certain platform puzzles, but none of them are particularly well built upon, and there’s no combination of these ideas to be used on more difficult puzzles. It’s a case of “Here’s a new obstacle, solve it once, and then move on to the next obstacle”, which is more than a little disappointing.
Rain does a very good job of trying to create a particular mood of loneliness, of isolation, of melancholy, but unfortunately, as a playable experience, it does come up a little short. At the end of its three hours play time, you will remember how it looked and how it felt, but what you won’t remember is whether or not it was actually any good.
Graphics: 5 out of 5
Gameplay: 3 out of 5
Replay: 2 out of 5
Overall: 3.5 out of 5
