Heavy Rain is a story-based interactive cinematic game where you control various characters to solve the Origami Killer case.
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Debug Mode#
The game has a fully functional debug mode still exists in the game but is unable to be accessed by normal means. However, in December 2012, gamers discovered a way to enable It. The debug mode has a menu with several options such as free camera, leavel loader and other functions Players usually use it to toggle free camera to explore locations and normally inaccessible areas.
The debug menu was completely removed from the game in future releases.
Unused Chapters#
Underwater and Swimming Again#
Originally, Ethan's blackouts were meant to be caused by a psychic bond he formed with the Origami Killer on the day of the accident, which causes him to see disturbing visions whenever the killer claims another victim. Ethan would find himself in the ruins of flooded houses where he would explore the area only to eventually stumble onto the body of the latest victim in the water. He would then wake up on a street with significance to the killer, holding an origami figure in his hand.
Those supernatural elements were scrapped two months before the game was released to anchor the game firmly in reality. However, the last-minute removal meant that the story and script couldn't be rewritten to remove all the various references to those scenes in the game. Therefore, Ethan's blackouts were never explained in the final game and several instances where Ethan would recognize the previous victims from his "visions" and mention "the bodies in the water" resulted in several plot holes and confusing moments.
The files for those scenes are still intact in the original PS3 version but are unable to be triggered by normal means. "Father and Son" still has the water assets for the original Blackout transition scene stored out of bounds. Those files and unused assets were later removed completely from the PlayStation 4 and PC versions.
Later, when an early build of the game was released, the full blackout scenes were able to be triggered, thanks to the debug functionality of the build that made it possible. The flooded house segments (titled "Underwater" and "Swimming Again") are fully playable, but the original blackout transition scenes leading to them can only be viewed by using the debug menu to trigger their cues manually.
A user named Dragonbane uploaded several videos to YouTube where they explored the scrapped scenes using the early build.
The Making of Heavy Rain: Behind the Scenario |
The Scrapped Flooded House Segments |
Exploring the Flooded House Areas |
Restoration of the Original Blackout Transitions |
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Wake Up#
Set after "Father and Son", this chapter would have consisted of Ethan preparing to take Shaun to school. Unused dialogue meant for this chapter shows that there would have been consequences for the player's actions in the previous chapter, such as not reminding Shaun to finish his homework or allowing him to stay up late. It also would have been possible to bring Shaun to school late, resulting in a conversation between Ethan and Shaun's teacher, Mrs. O'Donnell. Unused dialogue from "The Park" also shows that Shaun's responses to Ethan originally varied depending on the player's actions in "Father and Son" and whether Ethan brought Shaun to school on time.
On the way to the car, Ethan would've been able to check his mailbox and find the letter from the Origami Killer. After this chapter's removal, the letter was moved to "Father and Son" and be interacted with the same.
Like the blackout scenes, the files for this chapter are still present in the final game but left unused. Since the chapter itself is in a complete state, it is possible to modify the game to trigger the chapter. This chapter was also fully removed from the PS4 and PC versions.
In August 2018, a user named Dragonbane posted a video on YouTube showing a walkthrough of the chapter after they managed to activate it by manipulating the script and loading the files still present in the game.
Walkthrough of the chapter by Dragonbane |
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Unused Graphics#
The chapter "The Shrink" has a unique skybox which can never be seen during gameplay, as the windows in the room are not translucent. The skybox also has animated clouds.
