At E3 2012, Quantic Dream announced their latest game, Beyond: Two Souls. It had been an anticipated announcement since Quantic Dream’s last game was Heavy Rain, a critically and commercially successful game. So, when Quantic Dream showed off Beyond: Two Souls everybody in the PlayStation community couldn’t help but be excited. It was a beautiful looking game, with an interesting premise and Beyond: Two Souls was starring a Hollywood star in Ellen Page.
A year has gone by now and we’ve seen more of Beyond: Two Souls and we know more about it. But, the more we learn and the more we see the less excited I, personally, become of Beyond: Two Souls. I think it’s great that Beyond: Two Souls will be featuring two Hollywood stars in Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe. I like the premise of what David Cage is writing, the graphics are amazing, all that is great, but the overall execution is what troubles me.
What made Heavy Rain a great game, to me anyway, was that it was an interesting take of having four characters and at different points of the story they could be killed off. Depending on who lives, who dies, finding the Origami Killer, not finding the Origami Killer, etc. All this affected your story and how the ending would be. Throughout the game it was an intense experience that made for a highly enjoyable game. Sure, there were flaws with the game that held the game back from being a truly great, masterpiece of a game, ala: The Last of Us, but even with the flaws it was great because of the uniqueness of the game.
Beyond: Two Souls seems to lack this ingredient that made Heavy Rain a great, enjoyable game. From what we know, players will control Jodie Holmes and her companion Aiden throughout the game. From what we’ve seen from trailers that includes, running through a forest, a desert, talking with a government scientist, Nathan Dawkins (Willem Dafoe), etc. etc. All that is fine, but I look at it and go ‘meh’. I have concerns that the game just isn’t going to be all that good. If it’s just one big Quick-Time-Event, with no drama and no repercussions, where’s the fun?
Going back to Heavy Rain, I liked the QTE’s because they worked for what Heavy Rain was all about. If you mess up at certain times, your character could die. That’s fun, and adds to the drama. Depending on what happens, your story could turn out to be totally different from someone else’s. That’s what made Heavy Rain great. If Beyond: Two Souls doesn’t feature that, I just don’t see how this will turn out to be a great game, or even a good game. If, for example, Beyond: Two Souls features a scene where Jodie Holmes is in a bit of danger and if you mess up nothing really becomes of it. If there isn’t much of a difference between getting a QTE sequence right or wrong, well, that doesn’t make for a good game.
I’m worried about Beyond: Two Souls, I have questions, and I have concerns, but Quantic Dream does have a very good track record and may’be the concern isn’t needed. Perhaps, how the story and gameplay tie into one another will be top notch and may even surpass Heavy Rain’s execution. We will see how it all shakes out on October 8th when Quantic Dream’s Beyond: Two Souls launches.
