DLC, or downloadable content, has changed the way games are made. In the days before consoles had online capabilities out of the box, if there were parts of a game that ended up getting cut in order to keep the production schedule, they would never see the light day.
This isn’t the case anymore—most major games have post-release game content in the form of new modes, extra goodies, or my personal favorite (and generally the rarest form), new single-player content that helps expand the story of the original.
Heavy Rain‘s first bit of DLC, The Taxidermist, does just that. If Quantic Dream’s psychologically mature adventure game, which followed four protagonists through the life-and-death scenarios centered around a series of serial killings already had a narrative rich focus of its own, think of The Taxidermist as a new chapter to the game’s story.
I was a huge fan of the original game, despite some minor quibbles I had with it, so naturally any new Heavy Rain content that delves into the narrative a little more is a good thing, one would think. However, The Taxidermist is just a little bit of a mixed bag (I say “a little” because it’s only five dollars): It’s more Heavy Rain, but does little more than just give you another episode to play around with.
One of the main draws of Heavy Rain was the ability to play a scenario in any number of different ways, whether you were having a conversation with someone, engaging in some detective work or trying to survive one of the game’s many potentially fatal scenarios.
Life or death is a literal thing in Heavy Rain‘s world, and once you’re dead, you stay that way (meaning the game goes on without whatever character you were playing, and there’s no restarting from checkpoints). This is also the case in The Taxidermist, which follows reporter Madison Paige to the home of a suspect who could be the nefarious Origami Killer.
This is one of the DLC’s strengths, as Madison’s fate can and will change in any number of ways. This episode is also pretty tense, much like many of the best chapters from the main game. In this regard, the DLC works well, and like the rest of the game will keep you in suspense, to some degree, about what’s going to happen.
The Taxidermist actually serves as a prequel to the events of the main game, meaning that players who have already played it (and you won’t get much out of this DLC if you haven’t, unless you want to go through it before tackling the main story) will be able to make some foregone conclusions. That’s ok. What is a little disappointing is that it’s just barely long enough to wet your whistle for more.
The whole scenario takes between 20–25 minutes to get through, though the replay comes from trying out different actions to see the kind of events that unfold. However, this particular chapter takes a turn for the horrific, even compared to some of the events of the main game, making it a good addition to Heavy Rain‘s story arc, even if it is self-contained.
For five bucks, it’s a pretty good deal. At the very least you can be thankful there are more DLC episodes planned to come out soon.