Review – Detroit: Become Human
- Platforms: Playstation 4
- Developer: Quantic Dream
- Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Release Date: May 25th, 2018
As technology advances and each year passes, the idea that androids will someday walk among humans and co-exist becomes more of a reality. David Cage and Quantic Dream explore that premise in Detroit: Become Human, the latest narrative driven adventure title from the French development studio. Detroit weaves a gripping and addicting story that explores what life may be like in not-so-distant future of 2038, in what is easily Quantic Dream’s best work to date.
In the year 2038 androids are used for a variety of purposes. Simple models of androids can be purchased by the average consumer for everyday chores, babysit children, or provide care to the elderly. While these androids can provide a great service, they aren’t as well received as you’d think, which is a huge focus of Detroit‘s story. Because of androids the unemployment rate for humans has skyrocketed, and androids are victim to prejudice due to this. Throughout the game you’ll notice subtle acts like a human walk by an android sweeping the sidewalk and drop trash at its feet, and even some more obvious things like androids having their own segregated section at the back of the bus.
Detroit: Become Human is told from the perspective of three androids: Markus, Kara, and Connor. Markus, played by Grey’s Anatomy‘s Jesse Williams, is a caretaker android for an elderly artist. Kara, played by The Following‘s Valorie Curry, is a housekeeping android that cleans up after a young girl and her abusive alcoholic father. Last but not least is Connor, a police investigator android that is partnered with an android-hating Lieutenant to investigate a string of cases involving rogue androids, also referred to as Deviants.
Throughout Detroit: Become Human the story cycles between the three characters, and as the story progresses their paths cross and intertwine quite heavily. Possibly the most impressive thing about Detroit is how many different outcomes are possible in each chapter of the game. The flowchart of outcomes for each chapter, which can be viewed at any time in the pause screen, branches out drastically depending on the decisions you make, and choices from previous chapters can also add more branches in the following sections of the game. It’s a really rewarding feeling to see a small act of kindness you chose near the beginning of the game show the fruits of its labors hours later. Some of the choices carry significantly more weight than others, and it is even possible to make a mistake and have one or more of the playable characters be killed off, leaving their story unfinished.
As the title suggests, the game takes place in the city of Detroit. The core setting is very much the Detroit we know of today, a once manufacturing juggernaut in the automotive industry that has come across an economic decline. In the future that Quantic Dream has created Detroit has seen a resurgence with the manufacturing of artificial life, and the leap in technology has spread through the city like vines on a wall. The modern day architecture is blanketed with autonomous vehicles and subway systems, providing a really neat contrast to explore. The setting fits Detroit: Become Human perfectly, and Quantic Dreams has not only created a believable future for the city of Detroit, but a visually striking one as well.
While the setting is visually impressive, it simply doesn’t hold a candle to how incredible the character models for the main cast are in Detroit. The models for Connor, Kara, and Markus are photorealistic and simply uncanny to the actors themselves. The facial animation was also captured incredibly well, as you can really see the emotions in their faces, which pairs really well with the excellent voice acting. Some character models for the supporting characters are not as stellar as the main cast, like Hank for example, but he’s still just as impressive as any character in most AAA titles on the market.
If you’ve played any previous Quantic Dream game, or any other “choose your own adventure” style game before, you’ll expect Detroit to have plenty of QTE’s and button prompts, and at times there are plenty. These prompts and QTE’s are more engaging than other games of the genre at least, as Detroit: Become Human utilizes every button, trigger, motion sensor, and touch pad command the DualShock 4 controller has to offer. The prompts often mimic the tasks taking place in the game. For example, when Markus plays the piano the player will tap the touchpad of the controller and control the tempo of the music, or when a character has to lunge out of the way of gunfire or a punch the player will have to flick the controller in the direction of the character’s dive.
There can be some issues with the more menial tasks in the game, such as picking up items to examine them or opening a door. These tasks usually require a quarter circle or half circle movement of the right analog stick, which just so happens to be the stick used to control the camera. It will likely cause some confusion the first few times you try to inspect some evidence or pick up a magazine, but you’ll get used to it relatively quickly.
The minute the credits finished rolling on Detroit: Become Human I wanted to begin my next playthrough and see the different outcomes and replay some decisions I regretted making. The massive branching plotlines and gripping storytelling of Detroit: Become Human will suck you in and keep you entertained for multiple playthroughs.
A Playstation 4 review code for Detroit: Become Human was provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment
