We reviewed Detroit: Become Human

Driftwood
Thursday, May 24, 2018 | 2:00 PM
35 comments

GSY Review PS4

Eight years after my first coverage of a Quantic Dream game on Gamersyde, I can share with you our verdict on Detroit: Become Human, David Cage's new interactive story. Inside, you will also find a series of (4K) videos which contain no story related spoilers.
Gamersyde Live: Because it has become a tradition with every big release, we will be live this evening at 8:45 CEST for a one hour livestream in which we'll be happy to answer all your questions.

Verdict

As you may or may not know, the Gamersyde's team has always been quite fond of Quantic Dream's approach to games. Aside from the useless debate over the fact that their productions should be called video games or not (remember Space Ace, Dragon's Lair or interactive fictions back in the 80s?), we've always enjoyed their titles but we have also been very aware of their shortcomings. Detroit: Become Human has been built for fans from the ground up. It contains all the gameplay mechanics some people complain about, it does its best to convey emotion and it has a cinematic feel. From the first minute to the end, we were hooked, but if you've never liked David Cage's games because of how they play, this one isn't going to make a big difference. That being said, if you preferred Heavy Rain over Beyond: Two Souls, then there is a good chance Detroit will appeal to you more. The theme the game tackles may not be all new, but the way it's treated is very effective in that it makes the player connect to the characters and relate to them. The future presented is well-crafted, and in our case, the story that revolved around it was more humanist than alarmist. The game made us care about its characters, it made us empathize with them, which is why we will say that the guys at Quantic Dream achieved their purpose with Detroit: Become Human, which is quite clearly their best achievement so far.

On the plus side
A visual treat, both in terms of graphics and staging
Believable and human chracters
The emotional implication keeps rising
Multiple consequences to choices and good replayability
The player in charge of his own story
Perfect cast
Probably the best Quantic Dream game to date
The plot may be simple but it's efficient
The characters are at the core of the player's preoccupations

On the downside
The parallel with the US Civil Rights Movement is a bit too obvious
Depth of field and grain effects are too exaggerated
Some framerate issues in some of the most demanding scenes
There is nothing too original about the story
Minor navigation and camera problems

High quality stream and download

Commented on 2018-05-24 14:09:07

Really want this game! Loved the demo so will pick it up in the next week or so.

In reply to

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Driftwood

Commented on 2018-05-24 14:18:24

It's much closer to HR so you should enjoy it. I'll ask John "DF" about super-sampling and will let you know.

KORNdog

Commented on 2018-05-24 14:26:59

+ Probably the best Quantic Dream game to date

that's all i needed to know. already loved heavy rain and can't wait to play this.

AndreasZ94

Commented on 2018-05-24 14:55:37 In reply to Driftwood

The demo had supersampling so i would guess yes. Also isn't this issue fixed? There is a specific supersumpling option in the ps4 menus now.

Commented on 2018-05-24 14:57:01 In reply to AndreasZ94

I woulnd't know, I don't own a 1080p TV. As far as I know, it doesn't show in the menu when playing on a 4K set.

Edit: John tells me there is always super-sampling on Pro since you can now force it, so it doesn't matter whether or not it is supported natively.

Commented on 2018-05-24 15:01:36

I'm really excited for this. It's been a while since i played a narrative focused choice based game. Last one i played was until dawn, didn't play life is strange or any recent telltale game.

unknownuser0001

Commented on 2018-05-24 19:28:24

I may skip the stream, I expect spoilers there

Commented on 2018-05-24 19:30:59 In reply to unknownuser0001

Not more than in our videos here. I mean, I plan to focus on the very beginning of the game anyway and avoid the chapters in which important plot elements are revealed.

Commented on 2018-05-24 19:33:03 In reply to Driftwood

Dammit then I'll be there :D

Tinks

Commented on 2018-05-24 20:54:35

Looks like you guys forgot to translate one of the negatives? ;)

Also what's bad if it parallels the civil rights movement?

Commented on 2018-05-24 23:03:49 In reply to Tinks

It's not very subtle. I mean, that's a period I've always been interested in and I wish the game had not tried to mimic what happened so much at times. But maybe that's just me. :)

Commented on 2018-05-24 23:27:27

I can understand the complaint since there's so much room and so many good stories on AI right now (Westworld, Ex Machina, etc), but it's also an unfortunate part of our history that we sort of just repeat our mistakes. There's many prime examples right now

It's believable that AI could head in that direction too

Commented on 2018-05-24 23:31:16 In reply to Tinks

Absolutely, it's not the problem I have with the analogy, it actually makes sense. It's just that I think they didn't need to mimic the iconic figures of the time.

Commented on 2018-05-25 15:09:27

You have played it and I haven't tbh though :)

It might be more egregious than I'm even aware of

LEBATO

Commented on 2018-05-26 07:23:56

Hey guys, your keyboard broke, posted some gibberish :)

"Fondamentalement l’histoire n’a rien de très original"

Commented on 2018-05-27 19:12:24

What do you mean they should give this type of game to a fresh team? Who? Sony? The only other aaa studio that has made a game like this was Supermassive with until dawn and the only thing new they brought was the relationship stats but mechanically it was way worse than QD's games. The action sequences in until dawn were just press one button here and there a few times with a lot less choices compared to Detroit. I agree mechanically detroit doesn't bring a lot of new stuff to the genre but they have expanded choices a lot though. One mechanic that i noticed Detroit doesn't have but heavy rain did is the move slow type qte. There were a few scenes i wish they had that

Commented on 2018-05-27 19:21:27

It would be great if in the next game they mix in some traditional mechanics with the qtes. Like some actual 3rd person shooting or driving sections. I definitely want some more involved detective stuff

Commented on 2018-05-27 21:23:38

Posted by droezelke

I'm a couple of hours in now. Positives: graphics, facial animation, well defined characters, great acting, flow chart.
Negatives; Not an original story, not subtle enough, limited freedom (you notice being pushed), still no good controls (why don't they make it like a real third person game?).
In general: it's a way better game than Beyond. I'm enjoying it and I'm looking forward to the consequences of my choices. The most interesting character to me is Marcus. I do think they should give this type of game to a fresh team. David Cage is not evolving enough and it could use some fresh air and a willingness to make changes. A diffrent writer could lift it up to something great; different approach to the control scheme could make it feel less 'directed'.
If you liked Heavy Rain, this game shouldn't be missed though.

Detroit had something along the lines of 6 writers and from what I understand David Cage wasn't as involved as you may think. He stuck predominantly to driecting instead.

[quote=droezelke]I'm a couple of hours in now. Positives: graphics, facial animation, well defined characters, great acting, flow chart.
Negatives; Not an original story, not subtle enough, limited freedom (you notice being pushed), still no good controls (why don't they make it like a real third person game?).
In general: it's a way better game than Beyond. I'm enjoying it and I'm looking forward to the consequences of my choices. The most interesting character to me is Marcus. I do think they should give this type of game to a fresh team. David Cage is not evolving enough and it could use some fresh air and a willingness to make changes. A diffrent writer could lift it up to something great; different approach to the control scheme could make it feel less 'directed'. 
If you liked Heavy Rain, this game shouldn't be missed though.[/quote]

Commented on 2018-05-27 23:28:16 In reply to KORNdog

The opening credits still say "written by David Cage" only.

Commented on 2018-05-27 23:47:05 In reply to Driftwood

Yeah i don't recall Cage saying that he wasn't as involved as before but yet i ve seen a lot of people think that. I think the only difference is that he's not the only writer on Detroit

Commented on 2018-05-27 23:55:25

Still haven't finished the game and yes the story is not something original but why is that such a problem? Between books, tv shows, movies etc very very few subjects haven't been covered. The story in Detroit is basically about AI and what makes a human. This subject has been done before and better too but the game/choice aspect is what still makes it interesting. Also the characters are done well which is what i care most

Commented on 2018-05-28 00:18:53

I ve seen some yt playthroughs where they made different choices than me and it confirmed my suspicion. Even if it's done a lot better than previous games there are still choice combinations that just don't work as well as others. I had scenes that were amazing for me but not so good for others and vice versa. Still impressed with how its done though. Thinking about how this game works sounds like a nightmare to make, no wonder it took them almost 5 years to make

We reviewed Detroit: Become Human

Verdict

Meeting Kara (PS4 Pro/4K)

Meeting Markus (PS4 Pro/4K)

Connor meets Hank (PS4 Pro/4K)

Investigation Part 1 (PS4 Pro/4K)

Investigation Part 2 (PS4 Pro/4K)

Investigation Part 3 (PS4 Pro/4K)

Chase (PS4 Pro/4K)

Detroit (PS4 Pro/4K)

All comments (35)

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