Detroit: Become Human
Released: June 18, 2020
Game Length: 12 Hours
Grade: B+
Expectations: If you aren't familiar with the company Quantic Dream, all you need to know is that they were the ones that made Heavy Rain. Yes, the game where you yell Shaun and Jason a lot. In my eyes, that means heavy story-telling, multiple branch stories, and maybe some weird comedy bits. What you might have not known is that they also produced a weird psychological thriller Beyond: Two Souls with motion-captured Ellen Page playing as a growing girl with supernatural powers. Their latest game, Detroit: Become Human, really came out in May 2018 on the PS4, and then ported to Epic Games in December 2019. How they managed to skirt past the one-year exclusive contract is beyond me. Somehow they managed to release a physical copy too. Basing the idea of the game on their PS3 Tech Demo in 2012 and the book The Singularity Is Near, I'm kind of interested on how much David Cage poured into this game during its 5 years production period.
Setup: The first thing I wanted to do before anything else was make sure the game ran well on my rig. I didn't want to download a 55GB game and find out how incompatible it is with my computer. Fortunately the entire first chapter of the game can be downloaded for free at a mere 10GB size. Although those high-system players would cringe at setting the graphics on low, the game's initial tearing and stuttering forced me to turn down all the fancy footwork. Honestly, it didn't look half-bad even while running on an old standard hard drive. I only had one visible crash during an ending cutscene which, to my surprise, the game reloaded exactly to when I pressed the continue button. Otherwise I didn't have problems like a few people had while playing. As much as I approved of the game's technical stability, there is one thing that I must bring up: you must wait for the Shader Compilation Process to complete after the general installation of the game which can take up to 30 minutes depending on your settings and any time you change your drivers. There are a lot of reports of people's installation "freezing" during this process, but I have no idea how it fairs nowadays.
Story: There is a whopping 32 chapters revolving around three central characters you play as in this game. Although many of the chapters are told through the eyes of one individual, you will find many stories overlapping to the point where you play as all three at the same time within the final chapters. While some chapters are very linear with only a few alternative options to pick during the sequence, all leading to the same conclusion - like "Shades of Color," "Pirate's Cove," or "Jericho" - many of your actions will have huge rippling effects in the following chapters down the road. If you are a person who wants to see all the chapters, save everyone you can, and have a happy ending, I would highly suggest to play on Casual. But because of the nature of the game, playing on Experienced could liven up some interesting storylines whenever you fail a certain task. Besides, your introductory Chloe android will always happily suggest you replay some sequences if you mess up too badly. It is up to you whether you want to live with the consequences if you miss a few quick-time events, panic when choosing an option you didn't quite interpret correctly, took too long to make any appropriate actions, or chose to be aggressive over being calm. You can sacrifice Connor up to 8 times if you want for he keeps coming back. There are many options where the nation of Jericho will continue without your beloved Marcus to back them up. However, try to keep Kara alive as long as possible or her storylines shut down completely. In fact, there are about four ways you can die in the 7th chapter alone all dependent on what you do and your reaction time. The fun part is seeing the statistics of these decisions with the rest of the world when the flowcharts appear at the end of each chapter (as long as you are connected online).
Details: There is something awesome about this game when it comes to nailing down the details of your choices. I noticed a ton of details while "Waiting for Hank." Seeing the police react after you were shot in the head was one of the greatest "oh yeah" laughs I had for awhile. If you visit the evidence room after your interrogation, you can scan the room to find traces of blue blood leftover. If you manage to get in the police station quickly, you can find Todd filing a police report. Check out all the available cases on your computer and you'll spot various cases related to characters introduced in the previous chapters. This isn't the only case this happens. Whatever happens to an android in the previous chapters usually has a follow-up, whether it is leftover traces of their blood, their corpse, or their escape. This is abundantly clear whenever Connor is investigating various areas.
Alternative Branches: The really exciting part of this game is how it continues when you fail. It isn't as simple as a game over. In many of the detective sequences, it is entirely possible to abruptly end your investigation by such things like making your partner angry or missing an important clue in a given time. Although one specific case might be left unresolved, you are still able to continue your goal in finding other clues to your investigation. There are about 5 different ways you are able to locate Jericho just shifting through the evidence locker. In chapter 17 "Zlatko," there is an option to try and regain your memory if you somehow lose it. At the very end of the game, there is this whole sequence at the camps if you get captured. One major thing people might not like is how many of these conflicts are resolved through quick-time events. Not pressing the right button in time can have devastating results. Other times it merely extends the tension of the fight by giving you more chances to recover. I personally did not have any issues with the QTE sequences under the Casual Difficulty.
Melodrama: The one thing that can be blatantly obvious if you are paying close attention to is the fact that the game has a lot of over-the-top dramatic scenes that feel a bit out-of-place to be considered as "real" in my book. I understand the dilemma of androids "taking over jobs" and the possibility that some could become sentient. I don't understand how civilization could ultimately treat these androids like "mere garbage" when these things can cost upwards to $8000, about $2000 used. The nations are literally fighting over the material that run through the androids in the Arctic North and yet you venture through giant junk piles of androids still functioning with parts in them. I can "believe" people taking out their rage on the androids, but I don't quite understand when some cases lead to these androids being shot at or destroyed when clearly there is no provocation.
I must also insist on addressing the black sheep in the game as well. It is abundantly clear the game copies the idea of a Civil Rights Movement when trying to define androids as human the same way certain events unfolded in the past. There are so many times I just wanted to point at the screen whenever they did something reminiscent to Martin Luther Jr. Did they really have to have a sequence where androids are loaded into a giant machine one-by-one to be destroyed. Can't they flip a switch to turn them off first or reboot them at the merchandise store? Why not take them to the factory if they are all loaded up into a truck anyways? Oh wait, that's right - CyberLife has this whole menacing evil plan to take over the world or something.
Extra Content: As if the game didn't already have enough content, there is this whole sub-section of extra things to unlock and browse through with the points you gain after each chapter. Although they do their best keeping material locked until you reach that certain point in the game, there are still some mild spoilers in each category. You can unlock development videos, 46 magazines, beautiful concept art, certain soundtracks, and profiles of all the characters in the game. I actually learned quite a bit. From reading Rose Chapman profile, I learned she weighs a total of 220lbs. A scene from Ortiz's Home originally had "I Think Therefore I Am" written on the wall instead of "I Am Alive." I also learned of how drastically different their models in the game changed from their original concept art. You might have noticed the original concept art of the androids in the "Chapters" menu as you played through the game. Some of the characters who were originally conceptualized as white turned out black, or visa versa. Although some of the reasons for these overall changes to the game are still unclear, a lot of it had to do with matching up the motion-capture of the actor's face with the one in the game.
Miscellaneous Notes: I would be remiss if I didn't at least mention how terrible - to what I'm calling as - the cinematic camera angles is. Instead of allowing you to rotate your camera around your character, the game decides that the camera should stay stationary and "pan" across. I hated this so much. The only way to "unlock" the camera was to scan the room using your "Mind Palace" every time your character walks to a new area. Of course this Sherlock Holmes maneuver is quite brilliant in itself when trying to find any objectives around you since it gives you plenty of breathing room to refocus yourself when it freezes time. Although at times they do encourage you to make fast decisions, it was never as bad as Deux Ex: Human Revolution. You won't be constantly yelled at for taking your time to interact with objects in the area or feel pressured to rush ahead because of a limited time table. Reading the magazines will also pause any countdown timers, dialogue, or interactions in general. The game does constantly have conditions for simply standing around, but they are appropriately placed in the action and well-balanced.
It is kind of funny that the game made me think of the television show Almost Human. I tried my best to stay away from any content of the game from the Internet, but there was one major plot twist I accidentally knew beforehand regarding Alice in Zero Punctuation's review. There are a few spots I was saddened to learn I had no choice in the matter. I realize now that these were to push a certain narrative for the game, but I would have liked to have the option to let every deviant go once captured or leave certain sticky situations that I knew was going to end badly for me. There was this one time where the linear gameplay was so bad that I didn't have the option to connect with the janitor android at the end of the hallway until I cleared all the other rooms. I figured it would have made the most sense to rule out the only exit out of the place first before searching every corridor and closet.
Speaking about decisions, I found replaying the game chapter-by-chapter to be messy work. There is something wrong with the program as later checkpoints don't take into consideration of your altered storyline. I could have just started a new story, but there were several segments with very little alterations. One major change the developers decided to add to the game was the option to hire a new Chloe for the main menu. I'd be happy if they added a lot of other things to the game. Why can't I just hold down the 'A' button while playing the piano instead of mashing it down like some crazed fool? A part of me is happy that they only resorted to showing naked androids without their skin, but I would have liked an option to tune down all the foul language. There is no option to turn off the shaky camera. Why do they even have that if you are in control of androids of all things. I had no quarrel with some of their taste in music, but at least give me the option to turn off that horrendous repeating song playing in the background when talking with Hank in front of the food cart.
Opinion: I thoroughly enjoyed the game and applaud the developers for adding so much into it that could easily be missed by your casual player. It is clear they put their heart and soul into the game when double-checking what choices people would make in any given moment. I only wished they weren't so keen on making it play exactly like a movie with so many non-realistic scenarios and Hollywood-type decisions that it sacrificed enjoyment with a wonky camera and weird narrative choices. Still, I do recommend this game for its interwoven story-telling and interesting concepts. If you are curious upon what my decisions were in the game, you are welcome to read them down below.
Spoiler Warning: The following section goes into detail of what actions I took in the game.
1. The Hostage
- Many of my decisions were positive from saving the fish to saving the
cop. Grabbing the gun was probably the hardest choice I had to make
while lying about it coming in second place. To my surprise, the
helicopter did leave after dismissing it. Eventually he let go of the
girl peacefully before being shot down by the snipers. Though I think
the option to shoot him in the head or die leaping into the deviant were
both awesome choices I wish I made.
3. Shades of Color - I
might have missed it, but glancing at the hot dog vendor and the
preacher never prompted a confrontation. On the other hand, I totally
walked into that mob of people.
4. A New Home / 7. Stormy Night
- I totally missed out on visiting the backyard for laundry duty when
the game pushed the story along after reporting my "urgent" cleaning
duties completed. So I had no idea he was dealing with red ice until I
read his profile page. I saw the gun and the ledge outside the window,
but I refused to move from my position until it was clear of Todd's
intentions when he went upstairs with his belt. Only then did I feel
obligated to "follow" and see what was going on. Succeeding on all the
Quick-Time Events had me charging out the door.
5. Painter / 8. Broken - I had no idea that you could turn the birds on or play the piano.
Here I was playing a silly game of Chess. And when Leo pushed me, I
pushed him back. That's sort of what I learned as a kid growing up. What
I did not expect was him to go unconscious from a bump to the head or
the police to "throw me away" especially when Carl is right there to
explain how it was an accident. Is this like putting a dog down when it
bites someone?
6. Partners - Not much happened from this
chapter. I deduced the crime scene correctly. I somehow found the bat
before the murder weapon and totally thought I was going to be given the
option to let the deviant go after I found him.
9. Interrogation - There is something about this chapter that I found hilarious. Perhaps it is how you can play both
good cop and bad cop. Maybe its how the three cops react when you make
certain statements about the deviant. I liked the subtle touch of how
you could inspect the cigarette marks on his left arm or the insides
where the bat tore open his right arm. The one problem I had was whether
it was a good idea or a bad idea to increase his stress level. I
thought that making him more irritable would make him talk. So I went
all-out with my interrogation. When that surprisingly failed, I
suggested to probe his memory which instantly made him start
talking. But I guess it is really hard to keep the guy alive after all
that. He grabbed the cops gun and shot me and himself. Oops.
10. Fugitives - I really
like this chapter for how open-ended it is. Truth be told, I did go
into the Super Market to ask for help, but I refused to steal anything.
Not like I had the gun from the previous chapter to threaten him with
either. I found the pliers, cut the fence, and started to freak out when
Ralph showed up. I'm happy he was more welcoming after a quick chat and
warmed a little fire for the young one. I did replay it once to see the
alternate ending of stealing money, stealing clothes, and getting into
the Motel. At least then I could have seen Todd on T.V.
13. On The Run - The one thing I did not like about this chapter is the fact that you have
to cut your hair. I didn't mind changing my hair color to black, but
did I have to lose the bun too? I liked the fact that you personally had
a choice to let Connor "find" Kara and Alice. And boy was the chase sequence amazing. I realize they disabled the chances to be hit by the car on the Casual setting, but I had no idea of that at the time.
17. Zlatko
- The thing I dislike about this chapter is there isn't a way to "just
leave" whenever you know things are going to go south. That said, the
villain's speech about how naive I was made even less sense. Of course
there isn't a reason to remove a tracker because the police would have
been using the things all along! What I didn't see coming was the timed
sequence trying to get out of there. I think the timer hit 96% just as I
pulled the cord. Though, it would have been kind of cool trying to
regain my memory as I wandered around the house. Hiding from
point-to-point was easy enough and I already knew the front door was
locked when I tried leaving the place at the very beginning. What I
didn't see coming was the mob of "monsters" taking down their master.
19. Spare Parts - Oh boy. I don't know why I was on the edge of my seat during this mission, but choosing to "release" the android was a really hard
decision for me. That's why I was both surprised and relieved when the
android didn't rat me out. The rest of the mission actually went way
smoother than I anticipated. John gave up the truck. I took out the
power. We escaped while the guards were preoccupied.
23. Stratford Tower
- Most of this mission was straight-forward. I even made sure to lock
the door while in the server room. The one thing I was confused about
was choosing the "Ruse" option in front of the security guards. I
thought maybe I would slowly walk up to them and then perform some sort
of stunt move. Instead, all I got was to "draw my gun." As I moved
around waiting for another prompt, the guards "thought I was bugged" and
then some sort of crazy fight ensued with Simon being shot. Oh and I
totally spared that operator because... I was going to broadcast a
message over a television network anyways. Why shoot the man? Then
again, that was the only reason a SWAT team comes up. Therefore, Simon was shot again and had to be left behind on the roof with a gun in his hand.
24. Public Enemy - So it has come to this.
For starters, I loved the fact that the cop from the first mission pops
in for a visit. I was also quite surprised to see the option to
interrogate the androids at the broadcast stations. In among the chaos, I
didn't even realize someone let the team into the room. Finding
the deviant between the three was difficult at first. I became
suspicious with shoulder shrugs and eyebrow slanting the wrong way. Then
one of them was totally not subtle with their head turning in my
direction. Of course the threat of probing his mind made him lunge at
me. I thought Hank was going to come help me, but it seemed that pulling
myself together was the only option. Grabbing the gun and shooting him
was my instinct kicking in and the best option to make. Of course this
series of events prevented me from finding Simon all alone on the roof.
Oh well. He got back safe and sound.
25. Midnight Train -
There was some massive tension happening here when the police officer
knocked on the door. I hid a lot of stuff, but it took me perhaps a good
10 seconds to figure out that the magazine still had my face plastered
on the cover. There had to be 4 seconds left on that clock when I got
around to opening the door. I regretted sending my friends into the
laundry room when the police officer was wandering around, but I figured
it would have been better to have all the androids in the same place
than in two different rooms. I just had to make sure to give that ol'
noisy washing machine a talking to once the police officer left.
26. Capital Hill - Passive Mode all the way... except smashing those windows to free the androids. I guess that was considered a violent move.
27. Meet Kamski
- If you read this far, then you want to know if I made a deal with my
maker. I didn't. Not only could I not shoot Chloe for what I thought to
be the pivotal explanation of the whole game, but I knew I couldn't break Hank's heart.
28. Freedom March
- See, this is when playing the piano earlier in the game would have
made playing it now much more meaningful. This march had to be one of
the more silly ideas Markus came up with in his little Jericho hole. I
mean, there were no real good answers
in the end. I panicked with no idea what he thought was going to happen
and made everyone disperse when the dumb police ended up shooting
everyone anyways. But I will admit, that little scene where everyone raises their hands gave me chills.
29. Last Chance, Connor
- As I mentioned several times before, going into the evidence locker
and seeing your status in the investigation on the walls wowed me. Now
in my hastiness, I was not there to see Perkins get punched in the face by Hank. That would have been interesting to watch. My encounter with Gavin was a little tense when answering his question ironically made him pull his gun for a brief moment.
So because I let Rupert escape while saving Hank and the two girls
escape from the night club, I only had three shot-up androids to choose
from with Simon still in the clear. The first android was useless as he
repeated "you lied" over and over and the second android was way too
damaged to reboot. My only option was to trick the broadcast android
with Markus voice from the tablet. Then Gavin suddenly pops in and I
have to fight my way out. Maybe I should have been more calm or maybe it
is because I chose the wrong password on my first attempt?
30. Crossroads - Oh boy. So I have to come out and say that I initially failed in saving the dynamic duo. Why? I guess not playing dead was the wrong answer. I got shot over-and-over as I crawled
away. I don't know what came over me at the time. Maybe I thought
someone would rescue me in those last moments? It was the first time
I've ever seen the game go into slow-mo while making a decision.
Or I was so bewildered on why the game would give me the option to
attack them with my bare fists? Surrendering definitely wasn't on the
table for me. Of course Chloe berated me in the main menu for losing
them. I just had to restart the chapter and choose a better option.
Otherwise, Connor became a deviant and Markus blew up the ship while
saving everyone he could.
31. Night of the Soul / 32. Battle for Detroit
There are many, many outcomes to your choices from the immediate
previous chapters that essentially boils down to the final moments.
Because in my playthrough Markus is still alive and Connor became a
deviant, I went through this whole peaceful route of ignoring the FBI's
deal, kissing my lovely North, and somehow ending whatever war they
thought was going on. This made me miss out on the actual battle sequence and prison camps. If the public still doesn't like you even if you decide to sing, then the police anti-climatically just shoot you all down. Connor had his whole let's wake up the androids in the warehouse
thing going on that was pretty cool. The biggest thing that a lot of
people hated was what happens with our awesome trio if they manage to
get to the bus checkpoints. First off, stay cool Luther! That guard isn't going to kill you. Second, I'm confused on this whole bus sequence.
For one, I only see one ticket there so why would I bother keeping it
when I want everyone to escape together? Second, the man says he put them
"in a blue envelope" which confused me even more. Would they even
charge "a baby" as a third ticket? What if I had to leave Luther behind?
I realized now choosing "return tickets" sealed Luther's death during the boat sequence,
but I was still pretty upset restarting this whole sequence after
watching Alice die on the Canadian border. At least letting Marcus
protest peacefully allowed them to cross over the border without any
problem.
12-17-2020