detroit become human

Detroit: Become Human gameplay preview

Previous David Cage games have received plenty of criticism. Heavy Rain, although considered a great experience, is noted for its tonal inconsistencies, while Beyond: Two Souls is widely recognised as an incoherent mess. Now it appears that lack of narrative cohesion could also be an issue for Detroit: Become Human. After enjoying a great hands-on demo of one scene, I witnessed a second presentation that was horrifically engaging and frustratingly bizarre. But weirdly, I still can’t help but be excited to experience more of the game.

Detroit’s plot focuses on a series of androids that have become sentient. How you behave in the guise of the characters and how you act as a ‘Deviant’ is down to you.

And it truly is up to the player. Quantic displayed the myriad ways in which any one scene can end via a flow chart – something players will see this at the end of every scene – that outlined all the possible choices you could make. Note that this isn’t an illusion of choice; for the first time it appears as though players have a genuine choice. Every single character within your control can die throughout the campaign, or they can all survive – and that’s very exciting.

The Hostage situation is but one of these scenarios. A Deviant carer android has killed members of the house and kidnapped the daughter. With the android standing on the edge of a balcony, holding her at gunpoint, you play the negotiator android, Connor, charged with diffusing the situation and, hopefully, saving the girl.

The trailer does a great job showing the myriad ways the scene can play. You can save the girl, but this scenario could also end horribly. Of course, I was aiming for the best possible ending.

Detroit plays exactly like other Quantic Dream titles, using twists and turns of both analogue sticks to interact within the environment, coupled with the touchpad and motion controls. Quantic remains one of the few developers to take full advantage of the DualShock 4’s repertoire.

In order to help establish the context of the crime, Connor can analyse elements of the crime scene before walking onto the balcony and beginning the negotiation. These are much like the detective segments in Heavy Rain or Batman’s Arkham games, where you use a ‘detective’ mode to analyse the room and reconstruct a sequence of events before your arrival on the scene.

Detroit: Become Human Trailers

Take a look at the Paris Games Week trailer below, featuring scenes from the “Stormy Night” chapter. Be warned, it features very mature subject matter including child and domestic abuse.