Beyond: Two Souls Review
Platform: PS3, PS4
Developer: Quantic Dream
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Author: K.D.
Looking to find a game that’s less about button-mashing, and more about story-driven action? Well, you’ve come to the right place because that’s what David Cage delivers. Beyond: Two Souls’ star-studded cast lends well to the idea that this game is to be experienced in an entirely different way than typical games are consumed. Story-driven, and fragmented, the player goes through a young woman’s, Jodie (modeled after actress Ellen Page), life from a child when she begins having episodes, and inexplicable things happen around her. Apparently, there is a life-force named Aiden that is attached to her, ensuring no harm comes to her and yet leaving havoc in his wake. Under the supervision of doctors Nathan Dawkings (Willem Dafoe) and Cole Freeman (Kadeem Harrison), she learns to cope with Aiden’s powers.
Look, they could be twins!
I’m not going to delve deeper into the storyline because as it turns out, depending on your actions, dialogues change and some events unfold quite differently than foretold. Regardless of the path, however, they all boil down to the game’s ultimate “aha!” moment(depending on your choice). Throughout the chronologically-disassociated story, we meet people from all walks of life, and Jodie is a motivating factor in each of their lives. Personally, I didn’t play the game in one sitting (though it’s entirely possible to do that), and the breadth of the game is so immense that I ended up forgetting people existed as I shifted from resolving one issue after another (Thanks, Aiden).
Vader would be proud…
Honestly, the depth of the story was more than I would’ve imagined coming from a game that had limited mechanics that mostly required the left analog stick to move and any button to interact. So let’s talk mechanics. This game features a swapping mechanism between Jodie and Aiden, or two players controlling a character each. I find the two-player version a little unnecessary due to the other player’s inability to continue as their own character; only one person gets the screen at a time. Worse still, if you’re Aiden, you often take a long back seat and are only called upon when your help is needed. Aiden’s world is grey and monochromatic, though interactions become immediately recognizable as people glow orange (possession), red (incapacitation), blue (environmental effect), or green (healing), and objects glow blue for interaction. He also flies around with no clipping, which is a fancy tech term for “LOOK AT ME FLY THROUGH WALLS AND FLOORS!!” The hand-to-hand combat sequences are amazing, but they happen so infrequently they either catch you off-guard, or you simply haven’t figured out how to do it properly yet. I’m still finding the latter is true for me.
Is that Jodie or Ellen? I still can’t tell which is which.
The visuals are magnificent and definitely worthy of movie-like quality, which the game is more suited towards. This is not an aggressive game by all means, and its appeal reaches those who typically don’t play games because of this movie-like feeling. To really underscore the stunning cinematics, the music environment is well crafted and emotionally charged throughout particularly dramatic scenes. Beyond comes as a change of pace for gamers and isn’t suited for hardcore gamers who like comparing their k-d-r (if you don’t know what this is, there’s hope for you yet!) or how advanced their civilizations are.
Personally, I think it’s about time for a new genre of gaming. Hack ‘n slash can be great, but a game with story and substance? There’s something we can get behind. Games have begun to incorporate cinematic twists to greater effect and often leaves me flabbergasted, but happy, at the result. Now if only we could bottle that essence and create more games that deliver an immersive story coupled with great game play, it could be the start of something new.
Beyond: Two Souls rating.
Story: 3.5/5—Captivating storyline, though I didn’t like the distinct separation of the groups.
Gameplay: 3/5—The limited movements and interactions helped focus attention to story, but there was excessive focus on quick-time events that I usually wasn’t ready for!
Graphics: 5/5—Great mo-cap, great visuals, and a distinct view of each character’s world.
Audio: 5/5—Great use of environmental and emotional music to spur along story
Replayability: 4/5—Considering you can redo chapters at will, and multiple branching points, replayability for this game is high.
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