David Cage talks Heavy Rain's setting, why France didn't make the cut

David Cage has said in an interview that his reason for choosing the US instead of his native France as a backdrop for Quantic Dream's Heavy Rain, was the sense of "danger and disparity" in one of the larger cities gave him the perfect background for writing a thriller.

"We spent time in an east coast city for three weeks with cameras, and it was a real shock to see the poverty, the ghettos, the abandoned factories, and the sense of danger that the social disparity creates," Cage told 1UP. "When you live in Europe, the US is most of the time depicted as the country of success, power, money, heroes saving the world, and sexy girls. Discovering the social side of America that you rarely see in movies was something absolutely scary.

"I came [across a particular city coincidentally], not really knowing what I was looking for, but I found the exact background I needed to tell my story, and I must say it really fed the writing of Heavy Rain."

When asked why he didn't set the game in France, Cage gave a number of reasons for the choice.

"France is a fantastic country for food, history, nature, culture and art, but I guess it is easier to write about another culture you feel familiar with but that is not yours," he said. "I don't have any specific desire to write a game set in France.

"I don't have enough distance with my country to be able to tell something interesting about it...for the moment."

You can read the rest of the interview through the link.