A brand new IP this late into a consoles cycle is a bold move. Remember Me hopes to slot into a nice little niche slot with it’s unique combat style, acrobatic clambering and quintessentially Japanese style bosses!
Total Recall
With Neo-Paris thrown into complete disarray due to Memorize Corporation’s monopoly of memories, 2084 is looking to be a bit of a bleak year. With the vast majority of the population having installed their Sensen implants, memory sharing, deletion and recovery is all possible. Too much of a good thing resonates strong, with some folk getting a little bit too addicted; the result of which degrades the implant, rendering once happy go lucky humans into something a little darker..
Not to fear however, a rouge group of renegades have stepped forward and vowed to destroy the oppressive machine that is Memorize once and for all. Named Errorists, these radicalised freedom fighters assist you on your way to eradicating the powers that be, sovereignty for all being the ultimate goal.
Interestingly, not altogether too far beyond the realms of disbelief given todays social networking’s increased impact on our lives. Definitely a wild evolution from our situation now, but the concept’s rather plausible.
Punch, Kick, Evolve
With varying degrees of complexity, fighting game combat systems have always been excessive, difficult and full of odd little nuances. Bayonetta and Batman stand out a little for example. Unfortunately, Remember Me leaves no lasting impression regarding any of these. Combat, save for the boss battles, become tedious and ho hum around the halfway mark. Not to say that Dontnod Entertainment became lackadaisical, far from it. Introducing new enemies, upping the difficulty at the appropriate times, and the creation of the Combo Lab are all winning factors here.
Letting you create your own combos can get fairly deep, each string (of which there are four) can be made up of different elements. Brute power, health regeneration, ability cooldown and an amplification of the previous move can all be mixed and matched, to a point. In each combo line there are predetermined slots consisting of either triangle or square, these cannot be changed, limiting your choices to what you can put where. Along with these are special moves that use up a refillable bar, not much use in everyday fights, yet they are often essential during a boss encounter. The only other button used in general combat is the dodge; it’s not necessarily instant and relied if upon too much you’ll be in bother.
For a combat system reliant purely on timing, it can be frustrating to start your attacks only for two or more enemies to strike at the same time, almost guaranteeing you to get smacked upside the head. Needless to say, I was pining for some Batman-esque parrying and fluidity before long.
Innovation
Without doubt, the most enjoyable sections of this game are the remixing ones. Set out like a puzzle, players watch a scene unfold, then rewind back to the start to change things for the worse. In tone with something David Cage might have dreamt up, players can alter minor details to drastically affect the outcome. Moving a cabinet slightly whilst making a bottle roll a little further can cause somebody to trip and fall. More major adjustments including removing the safety of a gun or a restraining strap will make a dramatic impact.
Whilst there are only perhaps between five and ten things to alter in each memory, the outcomes are incredibly addictive and thought-provoking; players will want to see every outcome. The only downside being there are probably only about half a dozen on the game.
Not So Uncharted Territory
The other half of the game involves a lot of platforming, not particularly challenging platforming either. Without ever really posing a threat; combined with the all too liberal checkpoints, you’re never really going to have an issue here. Except for those of us who like to explore for collectibles or hidden secrets of sorts. Those of us will be frustrated.
Not a particularly open game by any stretch, yet the player is often presented with two paths whilst clambering up something or other. One is inevitably the collectible and one is the way to progress. Nothing too unusual here of course, that’s just convention. What does grate is the incomprehensible lack of backtracking allowed. I like to be thorough with my searching and that involves trial and error, not on Remember Me it doesn’t! After progressing only so far, a scripted event will pretty much always occur preventing you to return and take the other path.
Oh The Camera…
Not too much to whinge about here, except for my expression of exhaustion at how poor some of the camera angles are. Fighting some minions in a tightly enclosed corridor is maddening enough without having the mother of all brawls with a camera that’s seemingly got it’s own AI on a looping script set purely to stress you out!
Deep breath. Other times, it’s great however! Lending you a cracking view of the battlefield, or maybe setting up that directorial shot of a stunning landscape, making you sigh ‘fair enough’ to yourself. Speaking of which…
Artsy Fartsy
Probably the most engaging part of the game, other than the story I suppose, is the overall impression the game world bestows upon you. From the gritty sewers with scuttling ne’er-do-wells to the upper cities of which a beautifully imagined Neo-Paris is realised. The direction is clearly apparent and ‘stark contrast’ just doesn’t cut it. From generic Leapers to anthropomorphic automatons who scream with a projected grainy overlay of a humans mouth is simply brilliant and unsettling.
Not only the styling is above par here either. The fidelity on some of the characters faces can be astounding; the general facial expressions wow to an equal degree.
Olivier Deriviere’s fantastic soundtrack kicks in at all the right moments too. Get a combo going high enough and a surprisingly apt and satisfying number also joins the fray. Voice acting and scriptwork is mostly great, the main characters sound authentic to their roles and Nilin, the wonderfully progressive main character is reminiscent of a recent Lara Croft outing. Unfortunately, the less said about the generic foot soldiers, the better. Prepare to wince!
Top And Bottom Then
Some weak combat mechanics screaming for a Batman overhaul and more jumping than Mr. Drake aside, I genuinely enjoyed my time with Remember Me. The memory remixing was a real highlight; I’m already looking forward to seeing it implemented in the future as a more integral role. Boss fights can be challenging in both mental and physical departments, even if they did feel a little clichéd. Load times are quick and the menus are responsive and clear, a 10 hour campaign can be replayed for collectibles and more of a challenge, but a linear structure might not trawl many in for another run.
Stylistically brilliant with a great soundtrack, an engaging storyline and a character that you actually care about. Not many games have that. Conversely, a lot of games nail the meat of the gameplay, so swings and roundabouts!
Style over substance perhaps, but I’m already in hope of a sequel.
Reviewed on PS3, also available on Xbox 360 and PC.
