A little over a week has passed since I first played Heavy Rain.  And I really wasn’t planning on doing any kind of review for it. Because, you see, it’s not really a game—in the traditional sense, anyway—and I was afraid many of you pubescent Modern Warfare gamers here wouldn’t really care.  But a few days after finishing the story, I just can’t seem to get it out of my head.  So, I’ve decided to do a small review.  If not only for closure for myself, to spread the word to you “hardcore” gamers about an amazing interactive experience that you really should play.

Spending a whole lot of time talking about the story would be a disservice to you, so I’m not going to talk too much about that here.  But as to not leave you completely in the dark, Heavy Rain’s story is about a father whose son gets kidnapped and the trials and pain he goes through to try to save him.  Think somewhere between the movies “Saw” and “The Fan.”  Just know that Heavy Rain’s narrative is really great, and not just great for a game, great for a movie.  And that’s really what Heavy Rain is—an interactive movie.

Though the main story revolves around the aforementioned father, you also get to play as a great cast of supporting characters like an FBI agent, a Private Investigator and a pretty lady who shows her boobies a few times.  As the mystery unfolds, the characters’ stories eventually intertwine to reveal the kidnapper/serial killer dubbed the Origami Killer.

The gameplay aspects of Heavy Rain are pretty simple.  As you explore your surroundings you will be prompted to press certain buttons to make your character interact with people or items in the environment.  It may be as simple as hitting a face button or it could be a timed series of acrobatic stick movements and button presses that test your fingers’ dexterity.  If you’ve played video games in the past five-years you are probably familiar with the QTE—well, it’s a lot of that.

Now, that may not sound very awesome, but somehow the quick time events feel strangely fresh here.  The tension-inducing exercises take a symbiotic coordination of eye and hand that really add to the suspense of the game.

Further adding to the suspense is the fact that your actions in the game effect the overall story in a much greater way than you’re used to.  If you make the wrong decision at crucial moments during the game or miss certain quick time events, things can go south quickly.  Maybe you won’t find your son alive or maybe you won’t find him at all.  Make a big enough mistake and you’ll just die—for good.

Quantic Dream and Sony have built a high budget action game with Heavy Rain.  The art direction rivals anything Hollywood has to offer.  Your mood is stirred by a great soundtrack and the above average voice acting carries the story for the duration.  And did I mention boobies?

Overall, Heavy Rain is an amazing interactive experience that you owe it to yourself to play.  It is a rare game; one that can be enjoyed by both the person who holds the controller and couch-lurkers like girlfriends and roommates.  If you have a PlayStation, go out and buy the game immediately.  If you don’t have a PlayStation, get one!  Show your support for fresh game ideas like Heavy Rain and we’ll all be rewarded with more great games like it in the future.  Believe me, Microsoft and the creators of Natal are playing Heavy Rain right now just dreaming about the possibilities.

It wasn’t too long ago that online shooters offered up far less intimidating experiences for first-timers.  There was little to no customization as far as what you could bring in to battle with you.  You just chose a basic loadout and shot at other people who were using the same basic loadout.  It was simple.  It worked well.  Everyone had a fighting chance—even the noobs.  The only real advantage veteran players had over beginners was more practice.  They knew the maps well.  They knew all the good spots and maybe a few glitches—but that was all.  They didn’t have increased health and armor, airstrikes or choppers, martyrdom or any other seemingly magical abilities.  Just guns and nades—it was the good ‘ol days.

But Call of Duty changed all that.  In 2007 Modern Warfare exploded on to the scene, bringing with it a leveling system ripe with Perks and rewards that would become the standard for online FPS’s.

Because of Modern Warfare’s popularity, more and more games are following its formula for character leveling.  In this new generation of online shooters, players are rewarded with better equipment as their skills improve.  This deadly mix of more practice and better equipment further increases the gap between ‘leveled’ players and players just starting out.  The result is an environment where natural ability can only get you so far.  What was once a pick up and play experience for casual gamers has become a case of the haves and the have-nots.

Now, this system is a great idea from the standpoint of developers who want you to play their game for countless hours.  It gives the player a reason to keep playing; and it gives you a sense of progression that some earlier games have always been missing.  It’s also a great system for competitive gamers who join clans and love playing against other clans with similar skills.  The problem is that it’s unfair punishment for the players who aren’t playing every night.  It locks out casual gamers who don’t necessarily want to put in the time and rank up enough to become competitive.  Frankly, the noobs are suffering.  Frustrated and mal-equipped, casual gamers are likely to crawl back to single-player and non-competitive game modes and leave the competitive modes for the rest of us.

So, what do you guys think?  What can the developers do to level the playing field?  MW2 addressed the problem a little bit with “Death Streaks” and Halo keeps it even by only letting you customize your armor’s appearance.  What’s the answer?  How can the developers give hardcore gamers and casual gamers an equally fun experience?  Is it even possible?

Let your noob-flag fly!  Join the discussion in our Modern Warfare 2 forums.  We want to hear from both sides.

Halo: Reach is going to be 2010's biggest Xbox 360 game.  If you don't believe me, just take a look at the newest gameplay footage in this minute-long video.  Besides all the sweet, Halo-y action that we know and love, it looks like the graphical upgrade is coming along quite nicely.

What do you guys think?  Is Halo: Reach going to live up to your huge expectations?  Does Halo even need Mr. Chief?   Are you more excited about the new campaign or the online multiplayer?  What is the square root of 2,406,372?

Check out the video!  Then head on over to the KontrolFreek Forums and join the discussion about Halo: Reach.

Those of you in-the-know already know, but for those who don’t know or just pretend to know, you really need to check out Attack of the Show—‘cause they know, you know?  And the latest “Attack This” segment proves how much they really know.  Their World Class Gaming Gear feature this week is the single best segment ever featured on G4TV… EVAR!  Of course, we’re a little biased because KontrolFreek was spotlighted in this week’s slice—but whatever.

Anyway, we’re pretty excited about it and wanted to thank all of you Freeks once again for your continued support.  We love seeing our products on TV, we love Alison Haislip talking about them on TV and we love you guys and gals for helping us get there.  Thank You!

Before Call of Duty (or even Halo) ruled the world of online console shooters, Tom Clancy games were all the hotness.  Recently, the Tom Clancy games have suffered somewhat of a decline in popularity—mostly because of the paradigm shift in the industry away from tactical, squad-based shooters and in part because the Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon games just don’t feel as fresh as they once did.

Well, Ubisoft announced today what everyone knew was inevitably inevitable.  Ghost Recon: Future Soldier is officially on its way sometime later this year.  And since it’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, you can probably expect some nifty, high-tech weaponry and other future-y gadgets.  Not much more has been revealed at this time but you can bet that co-op and competitive multiplayer modes will be back—both are Ghost Recon staples, after all.

Development duties are being handled by the same team that brought us GRAW and GRAW 2, Ubisoft Paris.  Hopefully, they will be able to bring back Ghost Recon’s glory days and deliver the intense action and story-line gamers have become accustomed to since the last time a Ghost Recon game hit the shelves way back in 2007.  The teaser trailer shows promise, but I’ll wait to see the action for myself when the beta opens for owners of Splinter Cell: Conviction this summer.

You might not know this, but much like Punxsutawney Phil does for weather, John Madden does for football.  That’s right!  Earlier this week, Madden came out of his hole and saw his shadow, predicting a long overdue diet and a tough loss for the Indianapolis Colts.

Well, it’s actually Madden’s game that is used for the Super Bowl predicting—but the results are the same.

Every year for Super Bowl, EA cranks up the latest Madden NFL game and lets the computer figure out who’s going to win the big game.  The simulation is run each year in hopes to satisfy our curious minds and, more importantly for EA, sell a few more copies of the game before football is forgotten for 6-months.

 The computer simulation is usually pretty accurate too.  In five out of the past 6 years Madden has gotten the winner right.  The only recent championship game it failed to predict was Super Bowl XLII where the Giants beat the Pats—but who could have predicted that one?

This year the simulation predicted that the New Orleans Saints would be the victor by the very close margin of 35 - 31. Drew Brees turned out to be the MVP with 299 yards and three touchdowns; while Reggie Bush found the end zone twice with a rushing touchdown and a punt returned for a TD.  Peyton Manning had a solid performance with 322 yards and three touchdowns but came up just short of the championship ring.

Before you call your bookie, though, you should know that the Madden Simulation does not take into account certain intangibles like player hot-streaks, nerves and experience or Dwight Freeney's bad ankle.

Whatever the outcome is of the actual Super Bowl, the results of the simulation predict a good, high-scoring game that all of us should enjoy.  So, like my old tee ball coach used to say (he also used to hit on my mom and make sure I was wearing my jockstrap by “knocking”), “no matter who wins the game, we’re all winners!”

Since its inception, our Affiliate Program has been a great success—and the month of December was no different.

Now, it goes without saying that our affiliates are huge fans of KontrolFreek and use their own unique experiences to spread the word about our products to others.  But one affiliate, Boohoodman, used his awesomeness to generate some serious interest across the internet.  A couple of his Modern Warfare 2 Montages were so popular that they produced big numbers in KontrolFreek sales for the month of December.  As a result, Boohoodman was awarded $1,500.

A couple of our other affiliates, Dwestbrook and Flatline, earned $500 and $200 respectively.  Great job, guys!

As always, every one of our affiliate’s efforts is appreciated.  And we’d like to thank all of you for your continued support of KontrolFreek.  Keep up the good work!

December’s big winners prove that with KontrolFreek on your side, everybody wins.