A short blurb before we get started. As the bit after the subtitle of this review implies, this is the 100th review I've written. It's been quite a ride for the 5 years I've been maintaining this blog, and I've written quite a bit. Articles, first impressions, E3 coverage, etc., have all been done and have brought the count of my total written work far above 100. However, in terms of vanilla game reviews, what you're about to read puts my number into the triple digits. I'd like to thank all the folks who've been Right Trigger readers since I actually had a console with right triggers on the controller, as well as those who started reading after the name became more or less obsolete given the platforms in my possession. I like to think that, even if only once, I've either helped you make an informed decision on how to spend your money or given you a good laugh. In any case, 100 isn't the end for me, and I'm looking forward to continuing to bring you reviews that are fair, biased, and truthful (whether you like it or not) for many years to come. Now, onto the review.
I remember it like it was yesterday. I was in High School, and my best friend at the time had been telling me about a game called Heavy Rain. She was so emphatic about it that she lent me her PS3 for a week so that I could share in the experience. Though it took me a while to get used to the playstation controller, and though the use of an AV cable instead of an HDMI rendered the graphics somewhat fuzzy, I remember being utterly captivated by it. Whether it was laughing at the goofiness of "Jaasooon," shielding my eyes and getting sick to my stomach during the bit where you have to make Ethan cut off his own finger, or being floored by the identity of the Origami Killer, I adored Heavy Rain in spite of some of the goofiness that comes with any Quantic Dream game. The years passed and in college I purchased a PS3 of my own for The Last of Us. It wasn't long afterwards that Quantic Dream released their new game, Beyond: Two Souls. It was awful, and it was the first time that I really understood the criticisms that people have concerning games by writer/director David Cage. Then, a few E3s ago, Quantic Dream announced their next big title: Detroit: Become Human. It was supposed to be a story about androids and what constitutes life, which is hardly an untapped story market, so I kept my expectations pretty slim. At time of writing, I've now finished Detroit: Become Human and find myself more or less understanding all the critical standpoints I've seen. I try to keep my reviews 100% spoiler-free, but alas, that isn't something I can do with this game without being vague to the point of ridiculousness. So, that's a fair SPOILER WARNING for Detroit: Become Human. If you want to avoid spoilers, you can feel free to scroll down to the final paragraph for the score. Anyway, it's possible that my thoughts are misguided and a little naive, but here's my take on David Cage's new story: Detroit: Become Human.
Detroit: Become Human takes place in the large metropolitan city of New York.........just kidding, it takes place in Detroit...which is also where
Deus Ex: Human Revolution takes place, and that makes me wonder why people think Detroit of all places will ever stand at the forefront of superior technological innovation...but I digress. In this future United States, androids are held as household servants. Most android masters treat their androids like literal slaves, and much of the common populace rails against them for stealing their jobs (which doesn't
quite work as the statement Cage seems to want it to be, given how an android workforce wouldn't be a cheaper alternative to paying actual workers what they already make, but a valiant effort nonetheless). There are those who view androids as a critical cornerstone of the modern economy, and there are those who view androids as a crutch for a species that has long since lost the ability to care for itself. In this futuristic United States, tensions have started to flare up over the entire concept of androids. The game follows three android protagonists that we alternate between as the plot progresses. First, there's Connor, the game's best character. An android detective tasked with hunting down "deviants" (androids who gain free will), Connor teams up with a washed up detective in Detroit's police department to, little by little (tooth by tooth, as they say), investigate the rise in deviancy among Detroit's android population. Secondly, there's Kara. She lives with a broken man and his daughter, Alice. We'll talk about the man, Todd, in a second, but Kara's arc mostly revolves around protecting Alice. Finally, we have Markus (whose name I've seen spelled with a c and a k, so I'm going with k). Markus works as Lance Henrickson's assistant, and after being framed for his death, Markus is thrown out. From there, he spearheads the beginnings of the android revolution.
David Cage games have something of a reputation for feeling...inhuman. As the reputation goes, characters react and behave unnaturally either as a result of a need to drive the story along or from poor writing. I've gotta say, while
Detroit is significantly better written than
Beyond: Two Souls, I definitely noticed the "inhuman" aspect more this time around. In case you skimmed through the introduction, this is where the spoilers start, and they're not going to stop until the conclusion paragraph, so put on your hard hats.
Kara's story is by far the most noticeable in unnatural department, mostly thanks to Todd, the aforementioned broken man who Kara serves. He's an absolute cartoon stereotype of an abusive, drug using, alcoholic father. You know the type. "Why are you looking at me like that, huh, kid? What? You think I'm a failure? I know you think I'm a failure! How dare you judge me! How DARE *hits* oh-oh...oh my God, what am I doing *blubbering crying* b-baby you know I love you, right?" While "they think I'm a failure" and instant regret after abusive actions are, in fact, staples of actual abuse, the way they're portrayed here is just cartoonish. I mean, really, when your character finishes a verbally abusive rant by screaming something along the lines of "and then your mother lefT ME FOR A F***ING ACCOUNTAAAAAANT!!!" and my first reaction is laughing myself to tears, you know there's a
serious disconnect in your writing and character development. But perhaps even more unnatural is Alice (Todd's daughter, in case you forgot)'s reaction to Kara literally murdering her father in order to save her from his drunken wrath. She has no reaction at all. Like, I get that a child actress probably wouldn't be able to portray that kind of terror and confusion believably, but Cage doesn't even give her the chance to try! Not only does Alice not react to her father's death, she's completely fine about it for the rest of the game. Venturing into the personal realm for a second here, I used to work at a shelter for children being removed from abusive households, and let me tell you, there's never resignation when it comes to the parents. Whether it was consoling an obviously sleep-deprived little boy (freshly brought in by the police in the dead of night) because he missed his father in spite of whatever horrors he experienced or reassuring an anxiety-riddled little girl that there was no way her father could find her anymore, there was never any "well, I'm 100% good to go and ready to get on with my life!" And even if it meant an end to the torment, I can't imagine a kid alive who could witness their father being murdered in front of their eyes and be ok! Even if it was done for their benefit, that's still a child witnessing the life of a human that they have at least some connection with (regardless of how negative) being taken. Most
adults don't recover from that kind of thing, much less humans whose entire view of the world is still being molded with everything they experience. All of this is to say that this is perhaps David Cage's most glaring mistake when it comes to his characters.
That being said, at the end of the game it's revealed that Alice was an android all along...so maybe it makes sense that she doesn't have any emotions...but then, why the hell did we spend so much time in this game trying to keep her from freezing to death? It just cheapens the whole experience if all the stakes turn out to be false flags.
Markus' plot is a little stronger. It starts off pretty great, actually. Markus serves his master, and his master tries to broaden Markus' horizons by teaching him to paint, and this exercise in imagining the impossible and expressing emotions leads to Markus having the ability to spearhead the android resistance and help other androids gain their independence. As far as bases for stories in such a crowded genre go, it's quite good. It's an android with no free will being introduced to free will by a human who cares about him, being shown the beauty of the world by experiencing brief moments of thought away from the programming. It's a firm foundation that is unfortunately shaken by the introduction of the master's son. This guy, shaking in actor/writer shorthand for "hey! I use drugs!" comes in, asks his dad for money, then says something to the effect of "well you never loved me enough." Move over,
The Breakfast Club, this is how you introduce these kinds of characters! Anywho, next time we check up on Markus and the Master, the son has evidently broken into the house, a scuffle ensues, and the master ends up dead. The cops then burst through the door (because Markus had called them, introducing himself as the home's android to report a possible break-in). Then, in the same tone of voice that a comic relief character would use to say the line, the son points to Markus and, without so much as the slightest sadness or alarm in his voice, says: "It was him." The cops shoot Markus, and we cut to black. No sane person would believe the testimony of someone who says that line like a Chris Pratt character. Thankfully, Markus' next section is actually pretty darn cool. Having been disposed of in a junkyard, after awaking he notices that some of his parts are malfunctioning, and he traverses the scene in search of spares. What ensues is a legitimately haunting sequence in which Markus sees half-destroyed androids crawling and desperately trying to climb up the walls of the junkyard. In his search for spare parts with which to heal himself, he has to make some decisions that, once again, serve as an excellent method of transition from slave to free being. In one moment, he finds a critical part he needs on a still-functioning android who begs him not to kill her. Before this moment, the critical character-building moment for Markus was embracing the topics of beauty, hope, idealism, the positive experiences of a mind unchained from programming. In
this moment, however, Markus is forced to confront the uglier side of free thought and (what essentially amounts to) humanity: self-preservation, by any means necessary. Regardless of the decision you have him make, Markus has now experienced a choice concerning these topics, and is thus aware of them in a way that indicates that his mind has been freed. After fully healing himself, one near-dead android tells Markus of an android safe haven called "Jericho." Markus exits the junkyard, leaving us with a sense of investment in his story and rooting for him in his mission to...well...actually...just before the camera fades to black, we view a shot of a cool-looking coat just sitting on a spike, and Markus grabs it furiously and puts it on...
....so that great section ends with a shot that was essentially just in there to make Markus look cool, and the result is the opposite given how staged it was...ah well.
Now let's talk about this game's best character, the character that the game honestly should've revolved around: Connor. Is the "why are you hunting your own kind" type of story new in the "what is life" genre? Not by a long shot. Does his story follow some detective story cliches (i.e. investigating the strip club and the partner character having a sketchy under-the-table business relationship with a burger salesman)? You bet. But in spite of these facts, I found myself looking forward to the Connor sections way more than the others. It's really the only substory in this overarching plot that allows for some true growth by way of choices. Let me take a step back to explain that a little further. No matter what choices Kara makes, her goal and arc will always remain what they are. She never once strays from the path of protecting Alice. Likewise, Markus leads the android rebellion no matter what. Your choices determine whether it's a violent rebellion or one centered around diplomacy and respect, but that's Markus' role either way. For Connor, however, his role isn't set in stone. Throughout the game, we watch as Connor's decisions gradually cause his programming to destabilize, but unlike either of the other characters, there's never an event that triggers immediate deviancy. Rather, it's small decisions that pile up, while never truly granting him what we would refer to as free will until a particular choice. The decision to save his partner, Hank, instead of catching a criminal, the decision to spare the life of an android in a situation purposefully designed to see if he would follow a kill order in exchange for information about deviancy, all of these small things make Connor's character arc (wherever you take it) feel more believable and organic. Unfortunately, the payoff isn't great. The defining moment for Connor, the moment that determines where his allegiances truly lie, essentially boils down to a "would you like to be a deviant now" choice. Rather than have this moment fit in with the rest of the decisions: a life in exchange for progress towards a goal, that kind of thing, he comes face to face with Markus, intending to arrest him/squash his head/put him in the pot/etc. Then Markus simply says, "why don't you join us, brother?" and you're presented with two choices: "Become a deviant" and "Remain a machine." Suddenly removing choice doesn't usually go over well in these types of games, but this is a moment that
definitely shouldn't have been a choice. Rather, the path should've been chosen for you based on the little decisions you'd made throughout the game so that it falls in line with the Connor you created. Given how many branching paths this game has, it's possible that something like this happens if you never made a free-will decision or exclusively made them, but I somehow doubt it. I should also mention that Connor's plot isn't without dumb story moments either. For instance, there's an exchange where Connor and Hank go to interrogate the guy who designed most of the android models. The guy is a direct ripoff of Jared Leto's character in
Blade Runner 2049 (though without quoting scripture and without looking completely stoned), right down to the hair style and speech pattern. The guy straight up pulls a gun out of nowhere, hands it to Connor, and tells him to kill one of the androids in the room. And Hank just tells Connor to ignore him. This guy just up and pulls a gun out and tries to convince Connor, both an employee of the Detroit PD and a Detroit PD resource, to fire it, and he goes about doing so by blatantly admitting that he knows something but won't tell them. And the response from Hank is
not to put the guy in handcuffs for withholding information during a police investigation, suddenly pulling out a firearm while being interrogated, and possibly something about conspiracy to corrupt police resources? You mean to tell me that the same police department that later in the game starts gunning down children and innocent civilians in the streets while saying "boy do I love oppressing the innocent because I couldn't make it in professional sports after my life as a high school bully and because I start to feel insecure when I see myself naked" are just going to let this guy, who admits to knowing a crucial fact that could solve a case so important that the FBI has gotten involved, off the hook? That's bonkers! As bonkers as that is, it's not as bonkers as the plot twist about Connor that comes at the end if you make the same choices I did. That's one plot twist I'm not going to spoil, because I'd feel dirty even writing down something so convoluted.
I've now talked at length about the three subplots on an individual basis, but another aspect of the game's story that warrants discussion is the way in which the three subplots work together. One might think that a game where you play as both the cop and the criminal he's trying to catch (oh...and Kara is also there) would be a disaster. After all, how can you get invested in a crime drama when you can easily have either party fail whenever you wish? I thought that was going to take me out of the experience (kind of like how playing as Aidan in
Beyond: Two Souls did), but in the end, I figured it gave me ultimate control over what the story actually
is. Is Markus a terrorist or the Snowden/Assange of his time? Is Connor truly focused on his mission, or does he let certain clues slip him by so as to keep the police off of Markus' tail without revealing his curiosity about the cause? It was like a detective story that I had full control over, and I can't really explain why, but I actually didn't hate that.
In spite of how well the plots weave together in the end, there was one major problem I had with
Detroit: Become Human as a direct result of the fact that there were three plots to follow. While each plot has its high points, and while I enjoyed the story and characters overall, the presence of 3 protagonists, each with distinct, personal stories to follow, meant that none of the stories really got the fleshing out they deserved. You may recall that in an earlier paragraph I stated that Connor should have been the game's only protagonist. That's just my personal preference, but the same would be true of the other two characters. If this were just a cop drama with hints of "am I alive" philosophy, it would've been truly great. If this were just an android revolution game, it wouldn't exactly be a new idea, but it would at least have a strong foundation. Hell, if Kara (whose subplot I thought was the weakest) were the only protagonist and the story was less about android rights and revolution and more about an android's quest to protect a human child amidst rising tensions between the two factions, that would've been great (even with ACCOUNTAAAAAANT). Any of those three plots with the 7-8 hour runtime you'll get out of
Detroit: Become Human could have been deep. However, that runtime is split among these three stories, and each story asks you to care about it as much as the others. The unfortunate result is that relationships and friendships, while decent, tend to feel a little rushed (or perhaps sudden is the better word), and it wears me out...it wears me out. Take Markus and his love interest, North. They go on approximately one mission together, then in the next Markus section, they have the potential to spark a romantic relationship (if you so choose). Then, in Kara's story, you end up having to make a choice to take along a certain character (who you have no real reason to trust) or leave him behind. If you choose to take him along, then in the next Kara sequence (which takes place approximately an hour or so after the previous one), Alice straight-up asks the guy for a goodnight kiss like he's suddenly filling the father role. If we'd had a large sequence of time to watch the dynamic grow, maybe it would be believable, but as it stands, everything happens a little too fast. This is a game that needed to have one protagonist and one overarching story or to be significantly longer (I'm talking Rockstar Games title length). Ultimately, everything is tied up with a nice little bow in this game's final act that makes the three plots feel more justified, but those are my two cents.
This being a David Cage game, you probably know the drill by now when it comes to gameplay: All QTEs all the time. You press buttons when they appear so that the character doesn't die, and you do little motions with both the controller and the left and right sticks to simulate the actions the characters take during cutscenes. The Connor sections have a bit of investigation and mind-work, but it basically just amounts to QTEs again, nothing too challenging. Love it or hate it, you know what to expect. As for me, I found it pretty engaging this time around. There's still the usual bit of the classic waiting gameplay that draws a lot of hate to these games. These are sections where you do trivial, meaningless things like getting yourself together, letting the light pour in, pouring yourself a hot bath, pouring yourself a drink, situations where nothing interesting is gonna happen without warning. However, when things start to go down, it's pretty exciting. This is likely due to the two levels of difficulty, from which I chose the "not easy" mode. In this mode, there are far more button presses involved, and in some of the final battles, it became quite fast-paced, and I found myself on the edge of my seat because I was that engaged in the gameplay. QTEs can be thrilling. Who would'a thunk it?
One area where gameplay absolutely
hasn't improved over past titles is in the way that characters control outside of QTE mode. If you've ever played a Quantic Dream title, again, you probably know what to expect: characters move stiffly and tend to overshoot when you try to turn them. It's a small complaint, but it does stand out when you go from a fluid, well-directed bit of action to rubbing yourself all over the furniture because you can't make the character turn enough to walk through an opening.
Once again, this being a David Cage game, you probably know what to expect from a technical standpoint as well. The environments are absolutely
gorgeous to look at and the character models are realistic to the point of being a little freaky. Textures are solid, I found that the framerate was stable save for some slight cutscene-to-gameplay skips, I never came across any audio/visual bugs, and I never experienced a crash. As always, Quantic Dream has put out an incredibly strong technical package. The soundtrack, while not good enough that I was listening to it while writing, is quite good in the game's context, which is more than most games can accomplish.
I've said something to this effect a number of times throughout this review, but I mean really, it's a David Cage/Quantic Dream title. You know what to expect. The story isn't as hard-hitting as
Heavy Rain, and the writing, direction, and character development are all better than
Beyond: Two Souls. Some critics have called
Detroit: Become Human "more of the same," while others call it "The Quantic Dream game with the least wrong with it." If you want my opinion (and if you don't think you're going to get it, you must be new here), both of these critical standpoints are true. On one hand, Cage offers us pretty much the same experience he usually does without changing up the formula much. On the other hand, a lot of what gives Quantic Dream titles a bad rap takes a backseat in this title, and aside from a few goofs in the believability of the story (ACCOUNTAAAAAANT), a lot of what these games tend to emphasize is done quite well here. If I had to sum it up, I'd say that
Detroit: Become Human is a first step. It feels like Quantic Dream had the right idea in terms of its storytelling and pacing with this project, but they just didn't push the envelope enough. It's a solid product that I enjoyed my time with, a good game, but not quite a masterpiece. Furthermore, I believe that this game is a sign that the next title we see from Quantic Dream could be exceptional. Folks, there are two kinds of people when it comes to Quantic Dream games: those who love them, and those who hate them (not unlike how there are two kinds of people reading this: those who thought that certain sentences in the preceding paragraphs were weirdly written, and those who saw the subtitle of the review and figured out what kind of quirk I wanted to give this review), so chances are you already know if you want to play
Detroit: Become Human. So my score aside, just follow your heart and you'll probably get what you expect. As for me...
Let us review:
Storytelling and character problems - 1
Unimproved controls - 0.3
Rushed character relationships - 0.5
The final score for
Detroit: Become Human is...
8.2/10 - Good
Decent work, Quantic Dream, decent work.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thoughts? Questions? Think I'm full of it?