Detroit Become Human is a survival game developed by Quantic Dreams and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4 which also launched God of War a few weeks back. The same studio has released adventure games like Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls. The game, released on 25th May 2018, had the whole world engaged through its excellent graphics and absolute realism.
Detroit: Become Human Review
Detroit Become Human has been by far the best cinematic game we have seen which explore the duo of artificial intelligence and emotions. Focused on three androids, the game presents multiple decisions to players leading to different gameplay and multiple endings.
Detroit: Become Human Review
Pros
- Outstanding Graphics
- Interesting story
- Multiple storylines lead to different outcomes
Cons
- Not deemed as interactive
- No open world and not much to do
- Gameplay is mostly button presses
A Glimpse of the Future
The world of artificial intelligence is here. With the advancing trends in robotics and machine learning, we are closer to the future where androids are equipped for assistance and health care. The thing still lacking in the realm of artificial intelligence is the mainstream emotions. How do we incorporate emotions in an android? Simple. We bring in humans.
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Detroit Become Human merges just that blend of machines and humans. The game is all about making the right decision. The plot is determined, so it isn’t fair to call this game non-deterministic, but the spanning branches for every decision are numerous. The path isn’t linear, it’s highly dependable on the choice the players make. The human part involves making a choice and later regretting it.
The Flow
Detroit Become Human presents a future that is possible. Set in 2038, the game developers have made the graphics as realistic as possible, incorporating already invented and near-to-be inventions like autonomous vehicles, drones, and androids equipped with voice assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant. Then there are the androids, the main component of the game which is not a new notion to the world with bots like Sophia and Han already in place. What Detroit Become Human explore is the intelligence element of androids. How much more intelligence we need to incorporate before we start fearing the machines around us?
Plot
Set in 2038, Cyberlife corporation has invented perfect androids with human-like behaviors to appear more capable. They, however, lack emotions and in turn free will, or that is what has been told to the customers. The question is, if something acts and talks like a human, chances are it wants to be treated as one too. Exploring the concept, David Cage in his game features three Cyberlife androids that have attained self-consciousness and awareness.
The game keeps switching between the three main characters; Connor, Kara, and Marcus. It starts with Connor, an android with authoritative power designed to co-operate with police to eliminate the androids who deviate from their intended behavior. It then switches to Kara, a housekeeper who gains artificial consciousness in the face of events and Markus who like Kara develops artificial consciousness and decides to start a revolution.
Connor has the ability to analyze his surroundings by reconstructing past events in augmented reality while Markus can induce free will in other androids. Kara’s story is somewhat quieter and has lesser action than the other two.
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Some might say that the game lacks creativity, the big corporations are evil while the robots only want to live in a free world. Some actions have obvious consequences, eliminating the teeth clenching experience. Our take, however, is narrative based games have low expectations, and Detroit Become Humans break them quite satisfyingly.
Gameplay
You can decide to kill the characters early in the game leading to shorter branches and lesser stories to explore. There is no “Game Over” alert, the story keeps continuing without the particular character.
After each chapter, the game presents the players with a flowchart of their decisions and actions, with untaken decisions staying locked. In case of regretting a choice, the player can trace back and follow some other branch. The game also introduces the time element, to make the androids (in reality, the players) feel pressured into making a choice quickly. As time passes, the probability to succeed drops.
Read our review of 2013’s masterpiece The Last of Us
The game is developed in the third person. The music fits the situation very well, giving the impression of watching a movie, instead of playing a game. Developing games like playable movies was a famous idea in the 80s and 90s, forgotten over the last decade. French designer David Cage has, however, brought it back.
Our gameplay lasted about 8 hours, but the time depends on how the players control the characters and the story. A single different choice and the game can differ by 50-60%. It’s impossible to see all the content (all the choices that you can take) in one gameplay.
Final Verdict
Detroit Become Human is for you
The game is a must for sci-fi fans. The graphics are developed in a way that takes the absolute sci-fi element out of the picture. The future presented seems realistic. It’s an excellent game for players looking for an engaging story. If you want a single-player, narrative-based and cinematic game, then Detroit Become Human is a good choice.
Detroit Become Human is not for you
The game isn’t worth the money if the players are looking for an interactive gameplay. It’s mostly button presses to decide the next step. If you’d rather not your game look like a movie, we would recommend not spending your money on it. Action focused players might want to pass this.
