Detroit: Become Human demo is slick, enticing
By pressing the button below, you are certifying that you are 18 years old or older and you are of age to view the content.
Quantic Dream released a demo for its new android adventure title Detroit: Become Human onto the PlayStation Store today, and it is a very cool little slice of the game.
Players take the role of Conner, a police android tasked with negotiating a delicate hostage situation. Arriving at the crime scene, you can wander around searching for clues and information, or you can just barrel ahead straight into the negotiation, trusting your wits to resolve things peacefully.
I played Heavy Rain, one of Quantic Dream’s previous titles, and it is clear that Detroit shares some DNA with that earlier title in the way that players interact with the environment and gather information. Detroit: Become Human, however, seems to be much slicker, with a fun and polished UI, and a lot of little clicks and beeps that contribute to the futuristic look and feel of the game.
Quantic Dream’s games are surprising effective, offering visceral (and often unexpected) sensations to the player. I played through the brief scenario in the demo three times. Each time I determined that I was going to let the hostage die. And each time, I acted at the last second to save the hostage. I just couldn’t stand idly by and let a child be killed, virtual or no.
If the goal of the demo is to show how many different ways the storyline can branch depending on player decisions, then that mission has been accomplished. After each run, the demo offers a flow chart to show the decisions you have made, and a button to press to compare your choices with those made by “the rest of the world”. Pretty neat gimmick, in that it shows how many endings are possible, and prompts you to take another run at things to see if you can get different endings.
While the demo offers just the smallest taste of the overall game, it did serve to peak my interest in Detroit, and remind me of how much I enjoyed Heavy Rain. I have been officially seduced by this short experience and am now deeply curious to experience the full game upon release.
Detroit: Become Human releases on May 25, 2018, exclusively on PlayStation 4.
