PS4 Review: The Heavy Rain & Beyond: Two Souls Collection

David Cage’s masterpieces get the HD treatment…

A few months ago, the HD remaster of Beyond: Two Souls came out on PS4…followed now by Heavy Rain on it’s own, or alongside as a bundle. It’s been a number of years since I played Heavy Rain, but was impressed with how good the game still looks. While some aren’t fans of the way Cage’s games play, you cannot deny the impact they have had on the industry.
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Personally I’m still holding out hope for a HD remaster of Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy, but maybe it’ll get the PS2 emulation that seems to happening with a lot of classics. The Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls Collection is only £35, which is a bargain in my humble opinion. Sure, there’s not a huge difference between these and the original releases, besides the upscale to 1080p. But being able to have them on PS4 is great nonetheless.

Perhaps I’m being a bit harsh, actually while playing I can see the improvements to performance and better visuals overall. They’ve definitely worked hard on the remakes, although I’m a bit baffled why I have to basically shake or twist the controller for certain parts, it all felt a bit silly…I preferred the standard control setup of the original, before Move support. I just felt daft as I was doing it, but other than that…the game handles the same it did.
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Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls are two very different games. Sure, they handle more or less the same…but the stories couldn’t be any more diverse from each other. Heavy Rain is about a serial killer called the Origami Killer, while Beyond: Two Souls is about a girl called Jodie played by Ellen Page and has a second soul that is linked to her called Aiden. Both are interesting games from a story point of view, while the way it plays divides gamers to this day.

They are both a collection of choice-based solutions and quick-time events, with an almost Hollywood vibe to the cutscenes. I personally love the gameplay, even if walking can be a little frustrating at times with the fixed cameras and having to hold a button down as you walk.

What is nice though is that you can interact with pretty much any item you see, from light switches to a workspace where you make a drawing of a house using the controller, and everything in between. Quantic Dream are busy working on their new game, Detroit: Become Human. I can only imagine how off-the-wall it will be if Cage’s past games are anything to go by.

The Verdict

The Heavy Rain & Beyond: Two Souls Collection is a must have for any PS4 owner. It’s hard to recommend if you have played the originals for anything other than new trophy lists and improved visuals and performance. But if you are new to anything by Quantic Dream, then this is the best way to enter these classics in remastered form.

Score: 8.5