Failing Every Prompt in Heavy Rain is Surprisingly Hilarious

We all have those go-to videos that provide a much-needed laugh during tough times. You know the ones – they’re our trusty source of joy no matter what mood we’re in. My personal favorite is a gem called “Heavy Rain – Covered Market [Super Klutz Edition].” It’s a classic from the channel NahmanJayden where the player deliberately flubs every button prompt during a chase scene in Heavy Rain.

Even if you’re not familiar with Heavy Rain, this video is hysterical on its own. However, if you do know a thing or two about the game, it ramps up the comedy even more. Let me explain why – or you could just dive into the video straight away. Either works!

Released in 2010 by Quantic Dream and spearheaded by David Cage alongside Steve Kniebihly, Heavy Rain was groundbreaking for its intense focus on narrative. Back then, games with such a cinematic flair, outside of visual novels, were quite the rarity. In Heavy Rain, you’re thrown into a gripping, dark mystery, unraveling the fear gripping four protagonists who dread crossing paths with the Origami Killer – a serial murderer who traps victims in rainstorms, hence the title. Although its appearance might lead you to expect third-person combat akin to the Uncharted series, Heavy Rain veers in a different direction. There’s no traditional combat. Instead, your involvement is mostly minimal, comparable to a TV show you happen to guide via button inputs to progress the storyline smoothly.

Remarkably, missing button presses doesn’t end your game; it keeps going, allowing more players, even those not typically into gaming, to engage with the narrative without getting thrown off by a lack of lightning-fast reflexes. The game’s creators probably didn’t anticipate frequent failures at these prompts since they’re quite manageable. You’d really have to make an effort to miss them. Yet, should you fail, the game presents amusing alternative animations indicating things didn’t pan out as planned.

Without pulling off this feat of intentional failure during a tense chase scene, as the video creator does, you might not realize how downright funny Heavy Rain can be. The outcome is delightfully absurd and sticks with you long after you’ve watched it, making one wish Heavy Rain had been crafted as a comedy instead of a serious thriller. In the years since, we’ve seen games like Untitled Goose Game and Thank Goodness You’re Here embrace physical comedy, but Heavy Rain wasn’t really aiming for that. Perhaps it served as inspiration, though, because scenes like this one are comedic brilliance at its finest.