The rain in games falls mainly on…

Game developers have used rain to great effect over the years. From the days of 16-bit consoles, to today’s multi-million pound budget-blockbusters, it’s been an easy and effective way of making a game atmospheric. And with our Heavy Rain review due to hit next week, we ask: which games have done it best?

It may look like snow in this still image, but the rain in Super Metroid is ace.

The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past
SNES
A Link To The Past’s opening sees a young Link (when is he not young?) sneak out of bed to follow his dad on a quest to save the Princess Zelda. And, as you can guess from its inclusion in this feature, it’s raining outside. Hard. The section asks not much more of the player other than to walk up to the (conveniently close) castle and find the secret entrance but it drips with atmosphere. Literally.

Modern Warfare 2
Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Here’s an example of how a great rain effect can also be used to great affect to score an emotional moment in a game. The level is Whiskey Hotel and in particular the moment after the nuke goes off over the Atlantic, sending an EMP pulse out over Washington D.C. All the lights go out, helicopters start dropping from the sky and the clouds break, pouring big fat rain over you and your platoon. It’s almost as if the sky is crying over the scene around you… Okay, it’s cheesy but hugely effective.

Grand Theft Auto III
PlayStation 2, PC, Xbox
For all the ground breaking things that GTA III brought to console gaming, dynamic weather is one of the things that is least talked about today. At the time though, it was a revelation. Lightning, thunder, torrential rain… with Non piu andrai farfallone amoroso blaring out as you mowed down pedestrians… genius. There was something quite, quite poetic about it all.

GTA III gave console gamers dynamic weather. And, boy, was it dynamic.

Super Metroid
SNES
So, then, this was a golden age for rain effects on the SNES. Our second SNES game rain featured in sublime Super Metroid and, once again, is used to great effect in creating a foreboding atmosphere right at the start of the game proper. After the prologue battle with Ridley, Samus is pursues him down to the nearby planet, Crateria. She lands and all is quiet – too quiet – save for the sound of rain, lending the level a real sense that something bad is going to happen. It’s one of the most atmospheric beginnings to a game ever.

Gears Of War
Xbox 360, PC
In terms of just purely amazing rain effects, the level called Downpour in Epic’s brill shooter, has got to win hands down. Never before, or since, has a game level made you feel so wet. Soaked, even. Not only is there a torrent of water coming from the sky but it drips and pours off every surface in the level, inclding Fenix and his squad. You just know that something bad is about to happen and, when you face your first Lambent Wretch, that’s exactly what happens…

… continued