Wonderful Soundtrack
The soundtrack of the game is excellent, but I thought it sounded a little cliché at the beginning. The music had that traditional horror sound that doesn’t really appeal to me, but it did fit the mood of the game.
It wasn’t until the boy meets up with the girl did some nice piano melodies kick in. These relaxing piano pieces occurred at points when they boy and girl were travelling and there weren’t any enemies lurking around. Needless to say, I loved the relaxing music as it reminded me of similar piano melodies that featured in Final Fantasy X-2.
Not
Not A Game For Everyone
As it is with several independent-type games, Rain is probably a game that won’t appeal to some people. The main example I can give is that my family members didn’t take too kindly to the game when they saw me playing it. I told them what the game was about and its premise, but they thought the game looked too drab and boring to even pick up and play…
Depressing Environments
I would have to agree that most of the levels look the same. Yes, this game is about the rain, but every location looks pretty similar to the next. You don’t ever get to visit any other location in the game other than the depressing city that is always drenched in rain. There are times you can visit inside some buildings, but even they are abandoned and barren. You may not want to play this game if you want to see a variety of locations.
Lack of Replayablity
Upon finishing this game, I liked the story and the majority of the gameplay. The only downside was the fact the game was over so quickly. Not to mention there’s not really any incentive or you to play through the entire game ever again. Once you have found out the puzzles and unraveled the mystery in the game, there isn’t any motivation to play the game again. Unless you want to collect the lost “memories” that are scattered when you play the game a second time, everyone else might only play this game once.
Verdict
Rain is a great little game that is a unique experience for all those that will get to play it. It is sure to find a niche audience much like other games like Limbo and Journey did. Having said that, the game is not one that I would play more than once and the depressing setting and level design will not appeal to some people. Still, the game is very creative and appropriate for gamers that want to play something outside of the mainstream.
[Editor’s Note: Rain was reviewed on the PlayStation 3 platform. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]
