Choice is a word familiar to anybody that has played a Quantic Dream Production. Choices slither into every narrative thread, poking and jabbing at your conscience, leaving lasting impacts on the people around you in both the short and long term, and they ultimately shape and manoeuvre your experience, providing incentives to keep playing beyond completion. Fahrenheit originated and Heavy Rain popularised and refined the branching narrative in videogames....oh and there was Beyond Two Souls too......but blimey does playing Detroit:Become Human (literally) make a huge diagram out of it all. The last part is scattershot for a reason-because Detroit treats its characters and settings with a one-dimensional tone, trying to illicit emotions without much in the way of personality or depth, but can Detroit still salvage a decent time despite its woes?
The title of QD's latest opus is a quasi-misnomer. While it is indeed apt that androids want to live free and unrestricted lives like humans do (apparently), they would be gleefully willing to destroy their fleshy oppressors if they are not treated with the same level of dignity- so Detroit: Destroy Humans could very well be a fitting title if you make the requisite choices. It's up to you whether you decide to work with your human counterparts or to trigger a revolt in an effort to cause their demise-but whatever you go for, the machines are still reacting to the actions and reactions of man-proving there is no significant power play for the android, just a desire to either peacefully advocate for their own justice or to get even with humans.
Embroiled in this conflict of man verses machine are a group of androids with their own paths that fleetingly intertwine towards the game's conclusion. Kara is a female android who is collected by Todd at a local Cyberlife outlet, and taken in to be a subservient housemaid at Todd's family home. Here she meets Todd's daughter Alice, who is quiet and reserved, but eventually opens up to Kara when the drama picks up. Markus is a service android turned freedom fighter, who eventually leads the crusade for android freedom and acceptance (or rejection) from the public by engaging in healthy (or destructive) PR stunts. Finally, Connor is an android sworn in to investigate deviant-related crimes, tags along with a downbeat hobo-human hybrid named Hank, who work together to crack important cases, aiming to roll back the alarming rise of deviant androids while trying to co-exist as partners.
The title of QD's latest opus is a quasi-misnomer. While it is indeed apt that androids want to live free and unrestricted lives like humans do (apparently), they would be gleefully willing to destroy their fleshy oppressors if they are not treated with the same level of dignity- so Detroit: Destroy Humans could very well be a fitting title if you make the requisite choices. It's up to you whether you decide to work with your human counterparts or to trigger a revolt in an effort to cause their demise-but whatever you go for, the machines are still reacting to the actions and reactions of man-proving there is no significant power play for the android, just a desire to either peacefully advocate for their own justice or to get even with humans.
Embroiled in this conflict of man verses machine are a group of androids with their own paths that fleetingly intertwine towards the game's conclusion. Kara is a female android who is collected by Todd at a local Cyberlife outlet, and taken in to be a subservient housemaid at Todd's family home. Here she meets Todd's daughter Alice, who is quiet and reserved, but eventually opens up to Kara when the drama picks up. Markus is a service android turned freedom fighter, who eventually leads the crusade for android freedom and acceptance (or rejection) from the public by engaging in healthy (or destructive) PR stunts. Finally, Connor is an android sworn in to investigate deviant-related crimes, tags along with a downbeat hobo-human hybrid named Hank, who work together to crack important cases, aiming to roll back the alarming rise of deviant androids while trying to co-exist as partners.
The story unfolds in 32 chapters with the three main characters taking turns to divulge their stories, helping to nourish Detroit's pacing by making segments short but sharp and continually intriguing, without bloating and fattening one character's story arc over the others. So you could be starting out as Connor investigating a murder and verbally tussling with Hank in one chapter, and the next you could be playing as Marcus as he tracks down an android haven dubbed 'Jericho', then you jump into playing as Kara as she finds shelter and refuge for herself and Alice. This style of story progression does have its drawbacks when the setups aren't explained properly, like when Marcus discovers Jericho, then in the next chapter he's banding together with his robotic brethren to perform some high-stakes espionage. Telling the androids stories in this alternating way is organic and structurally proficient at keeping the pacing at bay, though a dab of polish is required.
Detroit has a knack for struggling to convey its themes in meaningful and sincere ways at times. Maybe it's the bad acting or cringe-inducing dialogue, but several supporting characters and lines dislocate the sentimental horsepower they're meant to convey. When Todd yells at Alice in an alcoholic stupor, instead of feeling the visceral nastiness of Todd's delivery, you feel he's being a big dumb buffoon, which consequently demeans the context of the entire scene-and thus breaks the emotional connection you're supposed to feel here. Another instance concerns the animosity between Marcus and the son of an old-timer he's serving called Leo. The delivery of Leo's dialogue and the teenager-like angst he portrays isn't believable in the slightest, and is basically hilarious because he's a grown man asking for money and deluding himself whilst acting like a spoilt baby.
Compounding Detroit's problems further into the mush is the poor execution of scenes and how they are set up and carried out. Certain instances will show a character saying or doing something, but the reasons don't add up or are non-existent, leaving you feeling baffled in the process. These instances aren't rare but they are forgiveable due to the complexity inherent in all the numerous outcomes, as well as the tireless efforts of QD in pulling off such an ambitious task of making multiple playthroughs worthwhile, though further tidiness would've gone a long way to accentuate Detroit's competencies.
And this is where the flowchart diagrams come in. In Detroit, every choice you make matters because they can drastically alter the events of the story in damaging and irreparable ways or in fitting and pleasant ways depending on your selections. Decisions you make are astronomical at every turn, and at the very least Detroit makes the ramifications of your decisions worth seeing to the end. However, the horizontal flowchart used to keep track of all the outcomes is untidy and sprawling in their complexity. Staring at a web of progression paths isn't player friendly because you aren't playing an experience crafted to cater to mathematicians or survey designers.
Detroit has a knack for struggling to convey its themes in meaningful and sincere ways at times. Maybe it's the bad acting or cringe-inducing dialogue, but several supporting characters and lines dislocate the sentimental horsepower they're meant to convey. When Todd yells at Alice in an alcoholic stupor, instead of feeling the visceral nastiness of Todd's delivery, you feel he's being a big dumb buffoon, which consequently demeans the context of the entire scene-and thus breaks the emotional connection you're supposed to feel here. Another instance concerns the animosity between Marcus and the son of an old-timer he's serving called Leo. The delivery of Leo's dialogue and the teenager-like angst he portrays isn't believable in the slightest, and is basically hilarious because he's a grown man asking for money and deluding himself whilst acting like a spoilt baby.
Compounding Detroit's problems further into the mush is the poor execution of scenes and how they are set up and carried out. Certain instances will show a character saying or doing something, but the reasons don't add up or are non-existent, leaving you feeling baffled in the process. These instances aren't rare but they are forgiveable due to the complexity inherent in all the numerous outcomes, as well as the tireless efforts of QD in pulling off such an ambitious task of making multiple playthroughs worthwhile, though further tidiness would've gone a long way to accentuate Detroit's competencies.
And this is where the flowchart diagrams come in. In Detroit, every choice you make matters because they can drastically alter the events of the story in damaging and irreparable ways or in fitting and pleasant ways depending on your selections. Decisions you make are astronomical at every turn, and at the very least Detroit makes the ramifications of your decisions worth seeing to the end. However, the horizontal flowchart used to keep track of all the outcomes is untidy and sprawling in their complexity. Staring at a web of progression paths isn't player friendly because you aren't playing an experience crafted to cater to mathematicians or survey designers.
What QD does nail though is the feeling that what you do in the game matters albeit without charisma. Public opinion is a huge factor, especially when playing as Marcus, because human reaction can shift the tide and shape the foundations for android behaviour in the direction of veneration or villainy. This dichotomy is played out too as Marcus can order androids to wreak havoc or engage in pacifist protests, with your rep levels indicated through your choices, so one character could prefer a peaceful action and the other will prefer a chaotic approach-and what you choose will affect one of them positively and the other negatively. This does work fine as it ensures you can keep track of how characters feel about you, but the contrasting reactions of two close allies intervenes with nary a substantial pay off beyond acknowledged disagreement.
Detroit, like its predecessors, is a passive experience that doesn't demand a whole lot of mental stimulation from the player despite the persistent use of motion controls throughout. The QTE-driven action sequences are the most exciting part of Detroit, because they demand the most compulsive input from the player and these sequences infuse a desperate need of adrenaline sorely lacking elsewhere. The interspersion of fast-pace dramatic scenes is complementary, although their execution is largely inconsequential in QD's patented fashion.
Y'see the major gameplay flaw with Detroit is it gives you every tool you need to progress without offering challenge or any reason to meaningfully engage in Detroit's often cumbersome activities. You can quite easily play Detroit without paying attention to anything so long as you know what is required of you when there is no other option to press forward. Players are essentially back-seat passengers to the cinematic drama unfolding as is the case with Cage's previous games, and it's only getting more banal at this stage.
An area where Detroit is decidedly passive is found in the investigation sections as Connor. After being let loose to examine crime scenes, Connor can walk up to an exhibit and start analysing its contents. If investigating a body, Connor kneels down and you're transported to his cybernetic analysis viewpoint, wherein you'll be tasked to find several clues that are lit up with a yellow marker. Once you find a clue you hold down a button and just like that it has been synchronised to Connor's memory, find them all and you'll have all the evidence you need. Occasionally you will be required to deconstruct events as well, which has you fiddling with a display bar to fast forward and rewind an unfolding event as it happens, you'll then need to locate a yellow zone whereby a button prompt will be present, and yes you simply hold it to gather evidence.
Part of the thrill of investigations in videogames is figuring out whodunit and piecing together clues to figure out solutions. Unfortunately Detroit's uncomplicated style of gameplay saps away tension and intrigue to the extent that what remains is a thinly veiled husk of what could have been. Too worried about cinematics, too endowed with button holds and taps, and invested too heavily on anachronistic motion control gimmickry-these sections are ultimately bereft of depth or meaningful gameplay interactions to partake in.
Speaking of meaninglessness, the motion control archaisms do their best to serve as reminders of the unnecessary superfluity QD sprinkles generously into their experiences, scrambling their carbonara in the process. An early chapter has you cleaning dishes and taking out the trash using awkward stick flicks and jiving your controller in a specified direction to perform delightfully mundane chores that add up to boring time-wasters, undoing any anticipation or potential excitement gathered by the game's promising intro. Detroit feels like it's shouting out “Look at me! Doesn't it feel great to know you feel realistically synchronised to my actions through your controller!?” But like with Heavy Rain and Beyond Two Souls before it, there's very little novelty or pleasure to be had using the PS4 controller like a peripheral-unless you're a fanciful maid in training these ubiquitous controller waves only serve to add immersion to tedium. You maybe assuming the role of automatons in Detroit, but too often the game makes a drone out of the player instead of an active participant and suffers for it.
At least Detroit looks and sounds brilliant in its realism-aping presentation. The facial detail is staggering and excellent work has been done making the details stand apart, especially the rain as it bloshes on android skin, creating a glowing sheen that looks fantastic. Detroit looks vibrant too and everything you see in Detroit is exquisitely rendered, if only this amount of effort went into the characterisation , then we'd have a true winner.
If this review has been largely negative, it's because there's huge potential here for greatness if Detroit's tidiness was up to par- and if it didn't come across as laughably counter-intuitive. Detroit is a good ride through a man verses machine narrative, one that has definitely got a handful of deep moments, but is hamstrung by its dearth of personality, shoddy gameplay quirks and hamfisted exposition. The androids you play as do stand apart in their own ways, with their moral sense of duties and their deviant behaviour unifying them to a harmonious level, yet never once do they or any of the supporting cast show a lick of enthusiasm (though Hank is quite interesting if cliched), making the characters come across just as robotic as their forms convey. Gameplay in Detroit is likewise tame and unassertive, refusing to budge up from its mindless easiness to give demanding players a challenge. And while there is a lot to keep you coming back for more in terms of playing with the numerous optional pathways available, this is bombarded by gameplay fundamentals that are sorely lacking in thrills, and the pretentious controller malarkey serves as an unneeded and outmoded pile of rancid detritus that ought to be disposed of in future QD games. So yes Detroit is slick, it looks good, it's an adventure you'll savour and want to replay several times over to see a lot of what it has to offer, but on the raw videogame-playing front it deserves greater participatory activities for the player and far more deeply entrenched substance.
Detroit, like its predecessors, is a passive experience that doesn't demand a whole lot of mental stimulation from the player despite the persistent use of motion controls throughout. The QTE-driven action sequences are the most exciting part of Detroit, because they demand the most compulsive input from the player and these sequences infuse a desperate need of adrenaline sorely lacking elsewhere. The interspersion of fast-pace dramatic scenes is complementary, although their execution is largely inconsequential in QD's patented fashion.
Y'see the major gameplay flaw with Detroit is it gives you every tool you need to progress without offering challenge or any reason to meaningfully engage in Detroit's often cumbersome activities. You can quite easily play Detroit without paying attention to anything so long as you know what is required of you when there is no other option to press forward. Players are essentially back-seat passengers to the cinematic drama unfolding as is the case with Cage's previous games, and it's only getting more banal at this stage.
An area where Detroit is decidedly passive is found in the investigation sections as Connor. After being let loose to examine crime scenes, Connor can walk up to an exhibit and start analysing its contents. If investigating a body, Connor kneels down and you're transported to his cybernetic analysis viewpoint, wherein you'll be tasked to find several clues that are lit up with a yellow marker. Once you find a clue you hold down a button and just like that it has been synchronised to Connor's memory, find them all and you'll have all the evidence you need. Occasionally you will be required to deconstruct events as well, which has you fiddling with a display bar to fast forward and rewind an unfolding event as it happens, you'll then need to locate a yellow zone whereby a button prompt will be present, and yes you simply hold it to gather evidence.
Part of the thrill of investigations in videogames is figuring out whodunit and piecing together clues to figure out solutions. Unfortunately Detroit's uncomplicated style of gameplay saps away tension and intrigue to the extent that what remains is a thinly veiled husk of what could have been. Too worried about cinematics, too endowed with button holds and taps, and invested too heavily on anachronistic motion control gimmickry-these sections are ultimately bereft of depth or meaningful gameplay interactions to partake in.
Speaking of meaninglessness, the motion control archaisms do their best to serve as reminders of the unnecessary superfluity QD sprinkles generously into their experiences, scrambling their carbonara in the process. An early chapter has you cleaning dishes and taking out the trash using awkward stick flicks and jiving your controller in a specified direction to perform delightfully mundane chores that add up to boring time-wasters, undoing any anticipation or potential excitement gathered by the game's promising intro. Detroit feels like it's shouting out “Look at me! Doesn't it feel great to know you feel realistically synchronised to my actions through your controller!?” But like with Heavy Rain and Beyond Two Souls before it, there's very little novelty or pleasure to be had using the PS4 controller like a peripheral-unless you're a fanciful maid in training these ubiquitous controller waves only serve to add immersion to tedium. You maybe assuming the role of automatons in Detroit, but too often the game makes a drone out of the player instead of an active participant and suffers for it.
At least Detroit looks and sounds brilliant in its realism-aping presentation. The facial detail is staggering and excellent work has been done making the details stand apart, especially the rain as it bloshes on android skin, creating a glowing sheen that looks fantastic. Detroit looks vibrant too and everything you see in Detroit is exquisitely rendered, if only this amount of effort went into the characterisation , then we'd have a true winner.
If this review has been largely negative, it's because there's huge potential here for greatness if Detroit's tidiness was up to par- and if it didn't come across as laughably counter-intuitive. Detroit is a good ride through a man verses machine narrative, one that has definitely got a handful of deep moments, but is hamstrung by its dearth of personality, shoddy gameplay quirks and hamfisted exposition. The androids you play as do stand apart in their own ways, with their moral sense of duties and their deviant behaviour unifying them to a harmonious level, yet never once do they or any of the supporting cast show a lick of enthusiasm (though Hank is quite interesting if cliched), making the characters come across just as robotic as their forms convey. Gameplay in Detroit is likewise tame and unassertive, refusing to budge up from its mindless easiness to give demanding players a challenge. And while there is a lot to keep you coming back for more in terms of playing with the numerous optional pathways available, this is bombarded by gameplay fundamentals that are sorely lacking in thrills, and the pretentious controller malarkey serves as an unneeded and outmoded pile of rancid detritus that ought to be disposed of in future QD games. So yes Detroit is slick, it looks good, it's an adventure you'll savour and want to replay several times over to see a lot of what it has to offer, but on the raw videogame-playing front it deserves greater participatory activities for the player and far more deeply entrenched substance.
STORY: 4/10
GAMEPLAY: 5/10
PRESENTATION: 8/10
LIFESPAN: 7/10
SCORE: 6/10
As cinematically enriched as Detroit is there is no escaping its mainly boring cast of characters and its passive gameplay mechanics. Detroit: Become Bored.