Detroit: Become Human demo

Quantic Dream’s next game, Detroit: Become Human is set to launch on May 25, 2018 and Sony has released a short demo to give players a taste of the full game.

If you’re not familiar with their portfolio, Quantic Dream develops adventure games that utilise unique analog movements and more elaborate versions of QTEs as a way to interact with the game world. Character interactions and dialogue choices form the other pillar of their titles. In Detroit, you can experience life through the viewpoints of three androids. The demo lets you play one mission as Connor, a detective that is sent to rescue a child from another android, who is threatening to jump off the roof along with her.

Connor has little time to investigate and you must gather enough clues before finally confronting the culprit. In the demo, I was able to find out that the android named Daniel, was a servant. He was loved by the girl Emma, but had figured out that he was soon going to be replaced. Unable to cope up with this truth, he shot the father and was now close to killing the daughter.

As you find more clues or waste time, your probability of success keeps increasing or decreasing. Connor can reconstruct key events during his investigation, which allows him to find case breaking revelations. As an example, I got the information about Daniel was getting replaced from a tablet, which I had traced after recreating the moment of the father’s death. Similarly, I was able to track a gun, which would come handy later.

The next part of the game revolves around confronting Daniel and building trust. You can agree with his demands, such as putting away your gun or sending back the helicopter, or you can completely mess it up. Unlocking clues in the previous sequence allowed me to choose special dialogue options that also helped in calming him down. In the first play-through, I ended up gaining his trust, and successfully rescued Emma. Immediately afterwards, snipers shot Daniel. In my second play-through, I had to sacrifice myself to save her, confirming that characters can indeed die in this game. After each play-through, you are shown a flowchart that displays what you can do in order to get the other endings.

While it remains to be seen whether choices actually affect the main story, the demo left a positive impression. Not only is the gameplay more engaging than their previous title Beyond: Two Souls, it looks stunning and its use of music heightens the tension throughout the various phases of the mission. Big budget adventure games are a rarity and Detroit: Become Human has the ability to showcase the potential of this genre, without being limited by technical issues.