Detroit: Become Human (Computer)
Official GBAtemp Review
Product Information:
- Release Date (NA): December 12, 2019
- Release Date (EU): December 12, 2019
- Publisher: Quantic Dream
- Developer: Quantic Dream
- Genres: Action, Adventure, Narration
- Also For: PlayStation 4
Game Features:
When I first launched Detroit: Become Human, I was welcomed to the “Detroit experience” by a humanoid Android named Chole who then told me that "This is not just a story. This is our future.'' With such a bold claim, I dismissed it as fantasy talk that aims to better "immerse" the player in the game's universe. However, as I progressed through the game, I came to realize that there might be more truth to that message than I initially thought…
Detroit: Become Human is set in the titular city of Detroit in the year 2038 where humanoid Androids are commonplace, facilitating human tasks… often to the latter's discontent. Indeed, with literal machines acting and looking like humans but with the added perk of never getting old, tired or hurt, those Androids created by CyberLife are increasingly replacing humans in the workplace. This constant fear of being replaced by computers in a plastic shell led to a widespread hatred towards Androids by humans. Throughout the game you’ll hear or read tales about how Androids are improving, sometimes surpassing their human creators. Fiddling around I saw news about the first book written by an A.I. and how an all-Android band was set to win some music competition. Listening to by-passers I could hear them rambling about their woes and how it’s all Androids’ fault. The despise of Androids by humans is palpable. So much so that they're being treated like tools and segregated from humans.
While you might empathize with the humans in this not-so-distant future, the game wants you to see that same future from another perspective, that of Androids. As such, you’ll get to control three Androids programmed for different purposes but whose paths ultimately converge. First you’re given control over Conor, CyberLife’s top of the line Android model sent out to assist the Detroit police in the increasing cases of deviant Androids. Next up you’ll meet Kara, a maid of sorts, who develops a strong motherly bond with a child named Alice who she looks after. Lastly, we have Markus programmed to care for an aging artist, Carl Manfred, who becomes closer to Markus than his estranged son.
However, the cases of Androids gone rogue and attacking their human masters is spreading like wildfire. What was thought to be malfunctioning programs is being rumored to be something akin… consciousness. A robot maid defending a child from an abusive father. Self-defense of an Android servant who was subject to repeated physical abuse. Refusal of being shut down by another for fear of being replaced by another model. What do you make of these instances? Robots gone haywire or indeed some inkling of life and genuine emotion?
Just like Quantic Dream’s previous titles, this one is rich in scenes worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster from climbing a freaking skyscraper to explosions to parkours to more explosions, and yes, to the good ol’ good cop-bad cop duo. There are even common tropes like the latter littered here and there but the acting is professionally executed and I could easily overlook them. Moreover, the beautifully rendered environments and stunning graphics wowed me throughout the game enough to dismiss tropes and being nitpicky.
When it comes to the gameplay, Detroit: Become Human bears the distinct David Cage-y flair to it. When you’re not moving your character or looking around for clues, you’ll probably be rotating the joystick or mash some button combination to try to emulate real life motion, just as in Heavy Rain. When these work, they make for "wow" moments but when they don’t, it feels like the game is trying too hard to offer a different gameplay. However, what really makes this game stand out as a Quantic Dream classic is its interactive dialogues and choices, which often include tough moral ones or seemingly innocuous ones which add up to shape the direction that the plot follows. Witnessing how the world around you evolves based on your own choices and making for a playthrough that is unique to most players is an aspect of Detroit: Become Human that I applaud.
There are some estimates that put the number of possible endings to around 40 or more and the number of ways to reach each ending is subject to even more possible paths based on the observations and choices you make. The developers included a handy flowchart at the end of every chapter showing which route you took and the other possible routes. You can come back to these charts to make a different decision or keep your eyes peeled for a specific clue which can help you unlock a different narrative branch. When viewing the flowchart, you can toggle the World’s Stats and see how other players approached the same chapter. I checked those stats after every chapter to compare my path and found it to be a fun add-on.
Your observations and subsequent decisions pertaining to the moral and ethical questions the game forces you to face might reveal a lot about yourself, how you view others and what you consider as being sentient. If Hideo Kojima says that Death Stranding is a reaction to Trump and Brexit and I viewed Life Is Strange 2 as the daily struggles of thousands, Detroit: Become Human might be a glimpse of the future that awaits us and how we might react in such a future. Humanoid “intelligent” robots are already a thing, albeit not commercially available, and the threat that A.I. poses is a concern of many. Coupling those two into a commercially viable and “safe” product isn’t a far-fetched idea either. Even if our future robot helpers don’t end up killing us in our sleep, the premise of Detroit: Become Human when it comes to people’s attitudes towards “others” isn’t one we’re foreign to. But again the in-game decisions taken after experiencing the prejudices that those “others” might be revealing of the player’s own attitude towards their woes, even if it’s “just a game”.
Towards the end of the game, Chole, the fourth wall-breaking Android at the startup screen, asked me, to my surprise, if I made the right decisions. Further confounding to me was when she subsequently halted me from resuming my playthrough, asking if I’m sure that I should continue and that maybe we should leave things as they are. If that wasn’t enough to get me second guessing, she prompted a pop-up asking if I’m sure that I should continue. Maybe if I stopped there, I would have been freed from deciding the fate of the game’s Androids, left the Pandora’s Box closed and have their fate remain in a state similar to Schrödinger's cat...
Detroit: Become Human - PC Trailer
Verdict
- Stunning graphics and environment design
- Professional character acting
- Captivating plot with branching narrative
- Controls can be divisive
- Lack of challenge
