Heavy Rain: The Origami Killer

Once again, we watch the man leave his car and enter the house. But this time, instead of heading for the kitchen, he starts walking up the stairs to the bathroom. "He's managed by AI, so I can't predict what he's going to do," says Cage.

Madison starts searching for somewhere to hide, and once again the options are context-sensitive - except now more than one button icon appears. This demonstrates something called the "impress system", according to Cage. You may have to hold down several buttons at once to maintain a position, and you may find that as a result your fingers are uncomfortable just like your character. In this instance, the man controlling Madison must hold down triangle, circle, R2 and L1 to keep her hidden in a wardrobe.

The taxidermist, having heard Madison moving around, enters the room. He looks under the bed. "It's a good job we didn't hide under there," says Cage. But now he's approaching the wardrobe. "Sh**." He pulls open the doors, Madison screams and the split-screen disappears as a fully fledged fight gets underway.

It's just like in the trailer; the two characters face off across the bed, and after an X icon appears on-screen Madison picks up a lamp and smashes her enemy over the head. He chases her into the toilet, she kicks him out of the way and races down the stairs. She stumbles and a triangle icon pops up; when the demo man fails to press it in time, she falls and stands up with a bruise on her cheek. Eventually, she makes it to the garage, rolls under the door and runs out to the motorbike. This time it won't start, and another series of button presses is required before Madison is able to drive away. The taxidermist watches her go, then turns and heads slowly back into the house. The screen fades to black and a single shot is heard. It's over. Again.

"That was another way of playing the same scene. We could play it five, ten or 20 times and show you different versions," says Cage. "We could have stayed hidden in the house, found a phone and called the police, who would have turned up and arrested the man. We could have killed him, perhaps using the screwdriver or the chainsaw. Or we could have been killed by him, which would be taken onboard by the script, and the story would continue with this information... There are many different options."

Cage reiterates that what we've just seen won't be in the finished main game, but adds, "There will be around 60 scenes like this, each one unique and contextual. Each fight is unique. Each situation is unique. You will never see the same animation twice. Each scene has its own story arc, its own interactivity.

"And all this in a very dark and mature thriller full of twists and turns," says Cage. "If you can imagine that, you will start to see what this project is about."

True, we know more about Heavy Rain now than when there was nothing but a tech demo and a conference trailer to go on. But this more extensive demo asks more questions than it answers. How will it feel to move characters around by controlling where they look? Just how interactive will the environments be? How can game storylines progress once the main character has been killed?

More broadly, what is Heavy Rain? Is it an interactive movie? Is it an action game? Is it next-gen point-and-click? Is it Choose Your Own Adventure for the 21st century?

The answers, as David Reeves might say, are blowing in the wind.