It’s difficult to describe Heavy Rain because it is not really a videogame as defined by a generation of gamers and it’s not really a movie as defined by Hollywood. Developer Quantic Dream used the term “Interactive Drama,” but somehow that doesn’t feel quite right either. The only fitting label that should be stamped on this game is “great.” It redefines what we know as videogames and delivers an intense, pulse-pounding experience that has never been offered before.

Players enter the shoes of four protagonists: pretty photojournalist Madison Paige, estranged father Ethan Mars, private investigator Scott Shelby and FBI agent Norman Jayden. Each are on the hunt for a serial killer known as the Origami Killer and each have their own motives for doing so. The story is quite compelling, expertly paced and will keep players guessing until the very end. Once players get through the painfully slow beginning, they will find it hard to put controllers down.

Though the story has a set beginning, middle and end, how one gets there is what will keep players interested in Heavy Rain. The game is all about choices and the consequences that come with them. Unlike most games that have promised that choices matter, none have quite delivered as effectively as Heavy Rain. Players may miss some essential clues, a suspect may get away or one or all of the main characters may even die. None of this affects the game. There is no win or lose. Heavy Rain will never try to interfere and make the important decisions for you. It also never tries to preach, should players have a moral relapse. The game does have an auto-save feature, in case players make a decision they do not like. However, it is recommended that, even if something didn’t turn out how you wanted, stick with it until the very end.

First looks can be deceiving. If you have watched game play footage of Heavy Rain, you probably dismissed it as “just a bunch of Quick Time Events” (QTE: that means that the game will offer a button prompt that players must press in order to continue). It is true that it has that sort of feel, but unlike other games that have used this mechanic (such as God of War), Heavy Rain does not have a fail state. Should players miss a few of the button prompts, characters will stumble a bit, but there is always room to catch up before the sequence is failed completely. Also, the prompts that are offered try to mimic what is happening onscreen. For example, if an adversary is getting ready to punch your character, the X button might appear on his fist rather than in the middle of the screen. It’s really hard to call the game play a bunch of QTEs and it’s even harder to express why this shouldn’t be a problem to the average twitch gamer. It’s simply something that players must experience themselves. If you’re not a hardcore gamer and are not familiar with the Six-Axis controller, there are different difficulty modes.

Heavy Rain does so much right, that it is cringe-inducing to find all the noticeable wrong. First, the voice acting can be terrible, especially one scene where a suspect tries to pull off a comically cliché Hispanic accent. Pascal Langdale as Ethan Mars is excellent, but the rest of the cast can range from good to average. There are also plenty of scenes where it is apparent that none of the cast is American (Quantic Dream is a French developer). You can’t make enough cement to fill in the plot holes that are dumped unceremoniously onto the story. Walking is also a major pain. Writer and director David Cage described the controls for walking “like a racing game.” What he should have said was that it was like controlling a beat up RC controlled car. Players move forward by pressing R2 and turn using the left analog stick. It feels awkward and gimmicky, like the developer used this interface to keep going with the “we’re being different” motif. None of this should dampen your experience with Heavy Rain, but they are flaws that players should be aware of.

Heavy Rain is certainly a game unlike anything on the market. Never has there been a game that has intensely delivered an emotional and uncompromising adult experience that will stay with players long after the credits roll. As a gamer, you shouldn’t ponder how to describe Heavy Rain. Just ask whether you should take the time to play it. Without a doubt, that answer is yes.