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He’s hell-bent on nailing a whole new genre of console titles that mix gaming with a movie-like experience.
And while he’s consistently had decent titles, we’d argue he’s never quite delivered a great must-buy game.
That sadly remains the case with Detroit: Become Human.
This is in many ways a vast improvement on what has come before. The graphics are nextlevel realistic with some of the best visuals ever seen on a games console.
And the storyline has mostly upped the ante, with a more mature style of writing.
But when push comes to shove what we are left with is simply more of the same.
A solid “playable movie” with ultimately very little gameplay to enjoy and a lengthy sitthrough of a film.
It all starts so well – the opening level is gripping as you play an android in the future tackling a murder/hostage situation.
You’re tasked with using Batman-style detective skills to build up a picture of what happened before approaching the “deviant” robot captor.
And as with all Cage games, there are multiple ways the level plays out. It’s gripping.
But what happens after that excitement is that we settle quickly into a relatively routine existence through the next levels, flicking between three very different android servants as they go about menial roles to satisfy their human masters.
So that means literally rubbing the PS4 joypad touch interface to “wash dishes”, rolling around the D-pad to empty the bins and taking part in a lengthy walking exercise to push your wheelchairbound owner to his breakfast table. It’s as dull as it sounds.
We won’t delve any further into what the story is but we will say it is generally well done.
But Cage does have some rather awful scenes that simply don’t work well. The most infamous one was reported on months ago, a dad beating his kid up only for your android to save her.
On paper, a sound premise, but the dialogue is poor, unnatural and fails badly to evoke the right empathetic response from the player, partly due to the onedimensional feel of the cliched druggie dad.
We’d say there are more hits than misses in Detroit.
But the distinct lack of gameplay, except in those crime investigation levels that are far too sparse, grates on the nerves.
We fear this review will come across as all negative.
It shouldn’t. Detroit: Become Human is a stunning example of how the ageing PS4 is still being pushed by developers into ever greater, more lifelike visuals.
And the story is, overall, entertaining and enjoyable. The rise of the machines is good but it falls a little short.