June/July Live Magazine 2018

Detroit is full of twists and turns and boasts
high replayability due to the game’s many, many
branching pathways. In fact, the branching story
pathways make it difficult to concisely review this
aspect of the game, yet I reacted positively to the
narrative direction of both my original playthrough
as well as the handful of chapters I replayed for
experimentation. The developers simplified the
process of replaying story segments, enabling
players to view their decisions and alternate paths
at the conclusion of each chapter, which was a
very welcome and logical addition for such a storydriven
game.
Thankfully, Detroit features improvements in
gameplay variety without the confusing narrative
choices or sacrificed pacing of Beyond: Two Souls.
Players can expect a lot of walking and interaction
with the game’s environment, but such scenes
are often followed by action or escape sequences
(typically overcome through quick time events),
and, in at least one instance, a stealth mission.
Cage’s narrative style is still present in full force,
although it is more refined than his previous works,
even if the writing occasionally veers toward the
implausible or melodramatic. In the end, such
criticisms only seem fair when comparing Detroit
to films or novels rather than video games. Cage’s
vision is virtually unparalleled among his peers in
the game industry.
His formula is straightforward but effective: build
tension through a combination of dialogue, stellar
sound design, and visual cues to a thrilling climax.
Even though it was usually obvious when scenes
were leading to a dark turn, the game’s direction
and narrative managed to genuinely surprise me.
There were several instances in which I made a
decision that led me down a path I couldn’t have
anticipated, whereas my choices seemed to lead
to more predictable outcomes in previous Quantic
Dream titles. The seemingly “safe” options may
not be as they seem. In Heavy Rain, for instance, I
was more likely to begin a new story path because
I failed a quick time event than because of
ambiguous dialogue choices.