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Posted October 15, 2017 by Zeth in EGX
 
 

Detroit: Become Human – Hands on Preview

Detroit-Cover-1024x576
Detroit-Cover-1024x576

I’m a total sucker for David Cage games… I mean pretty much anything Quantic Dream have put out over the last few years I’ve loved from a personal point of view – don’t get me wrong from a critic’s point of view there is usually more than a few things wrong with them.

So Detroit: Become Human has been hugely anticipated, not just by me, but by many a fan. Grabbing 20 minutes with the game at this year’s EGX was something I could not pass up.

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So the game looks like a Quantic Dream title. Realistic world, superb facial animation and a rich deep environment. Movie like presentation with lots of well dialogue heavy scenes. Moving around each scene you have a small number of items that will become highlighted, requiring a specific gesture to interact with them – of instance a down and rotate 90 degrees left to open a door or pick up a picture frame.

In the small section that I played you take control of a negotiator, sent in to try and resolve a tense hostage situation. A rogue android has take a human child hostage, has killed several at the scene and is now cornered on a rooftop. As the countless trailers have shown the game is showing the interactions between the humans and the androids… a very Them/Us dynamic where most seem to not appreciate or accept the androids and none view them as equals.

As an android yourself you are subject to varying degrees of negativity and xenophobia as you make your way through the apartment. As you do look through the apartment gathering clues and evidence will help increase a “chance of success” percentage. The more you know, the more you have a chance to get the desired outcomes.

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Investigating feels mostly perfunctory, much like it did in Heavy Rain and really all you’re doing is taking the time to appreciate the surroundings. Small things can help influence how your character is perceived by others in the world (for instance taking time to save a floundering fish).

The final showdown and negotiation with the perp is a tense affair with options aplenty. It’s this diversity that helps make the, likely fairly linear, outcome feel a lot more personal. Picking your way through the conversation, throwing in facts and evidence gathered from the crime scene, all help make the process feel organic and tense.

As a self confessed fan of Quantic’s other titles like Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls and Fahrenheit I’m already predisposed to want this title. My own preferences aside though I can see some good potential for storytelling, some fantastic looking graphics, incredible sound design and engaging mechanics all wrapped around a story that will have to be compelling. Previous incarnations of Quantic Dream’s’ games have suffered from good to mediocre scripting, and often heavy handed implementations of plot. At this point it’s almost impossible to tell if Detroit will fall foul of similar issues. This section was fairly well honed and had some interesting writing at least.

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Detroit: Become Human will be available exclusively on the PS4 in


Zeth

 
Zeth is our EU ninja and Editor in Chief. He's been writing about video games since 2008 when he started on BrutalGamer. He's pretty old and has been a gamer since he played Space Invaders as a young boy in the 80's. His genre tastes lean towards platformers, point-and-click adventure, action-adventure and shooters but he'll turn his hand to anything.