From the moment the first reveal trailer came out I was absolutely grabbed by the concept of Detroit Become Human and yet I had never played a David Cage title before. I love all things Sci-Fi but the rise and evolution of Artificial Intelligence has always been an aspect of technology and sci-fi that draws me in so effortlessly. You combine that with true player choice and a story so rich and immersive and you have an experience that most TV and Film executives wish they had the rights too. What I discovered to my surprise was a game that takes a fairly simple concept and takes it to a whole new level that I had never expected it to go to.

Set in the near and very possible future where androids are everywhere in human society. They are our assistants and our baby sitters while some do the low end labour jobs and some are used in sports to make things more exciting for fans. Androids are a part of everyday life for humans but not everything is well in this future society and tensions are rising as some in humanity are starting to push back against this rise in Android use as humans who are put out of jobs after being replaced by the free labour that Androids provide start to complain. The story then puts the player right in the middle of this social commentary by putting them in the role of three very different Androids. Starting with Connor, an advanced prototype created to help the Police investigate a sudden increase in Android ‘Deviant’ behaviour that has put humans at risk to Kara, an assistant whose purpose is to serve the household and look after the needs of a little girl called Alice before meeting Markus, a carer for an old and sick man.

The opening prologue story missions for each character are a superb way in to the story and the game for players with each representing a very different look at this society of humans and Androids. Connor starts by being sent to a live situation where an Android has taken a little girl hostage after killing its owners and Connor is sent in to try and defuse the situation and save the girl whilst investigating what has caused this Android to malfunction. If you are familiar with point and click adventures as well as Telltale games you can get a good feel for the play style in Detroit Become Human as you guide Connor around the apartment searching for clues to discover what has happened in order to find a solution to ending the hostage situation. By finding clues and investigating new decision paths will become unlocked and some clues are not as obvious to find so exploring everything and everywhere is key but there is a time constraint as this is a live ongoing situation so there is some pressure to getting a move on. Connor is also faced with the dismissive and prejudice attitudes of the police on scene again showing just how the majority of humans see and view Androids as being beneath them.

The same gameplay style also plays out for Kara and Markus in that for them you must complete the menial tasks they must perform so for Kara it is cleaning the house and caring for Alice and we meet Markus as he is picking up an order of paints from the city for his owner. The magic of the story telling is in how the player is invited to not only take in what is happening to all three characters but also in observing the world around each of them by seeing how humans respond and interact with them as well as seeing what kind of world they are all in. These all form the experiences that will ultimately guide each of them on their journeys through the world and aid the player in making the choices they have to make throughout the story. There is just so much information to process in each mission that is so very easy to miss things just as it is to make the wrong decision perhaps in dialogue or event which is then highlighted at the end of each mission when you are shown the flowchart for the mission showing you all the decisions and clues you found and the pathway those decisions took you for that chapter. These start off fairly simply but they soon show just how complicated and intricate the story is with multiple routes either not taken or clues and actions not used which then lock off other paths. The flow of this game is always ongoing and you never get the chance to revisit those decisions or missions as you are constantly moving forward and though you can compare your decisions against those of the global community and friends similar to how Telltale games do, anything choice or path not taken remains locked and hidden so you wont know what the other options are just that there were different things you could have done.

The main reason why this review has taken so much time for me to write, the longest of this year in fact, is because my OCD compelled me to try and find what I felt was the right path and just knowing that I either made a mistake or missed out on clues or actions that could have provided a different outcome bugged me for the first half of the story. This made me restart several times until a conversation with good friend of mine forced me to realise how Detroit Become Human should be played. The gameplay and story want you as the player to make choices based on reaction to what you are and have experienced to that point and that the truest way to experience this game is to just play it through all the way at least once and accept the consequences for the decisions you make. Once I accepted that, I truly became immersed in this world and the gravity of my choices only reinforced that immersion throughout leading to one of the most satisfying game experiences in recent years.

Controversy has followed this game all the way to its release as much of the tone in storylines is rather dark especially when it comes to the character of Kara. We meet Kara as her owner is collecting her from the Android repair centre and the player does not learn how or what happened to Kara until further into her story. But is becomes apparent very quickly from helping Kara complete her tasks that something unpleasant is happening in that house with Todd, the human owner, treating Kara like a slave as he drinks and then smokes drugs whilst barking orders at Kara. The child Alice is quiet and nervous around him and as Kara tries to reintroduce herself to Alice after having her memory completely reset during her repair, you being to picture the dark truth in that house. Some argued that the inclusion of such themes such as domestic abuse is somehow glorifying such things in video games but that is so far from the truth. Many of the dark tones this game highlights are handled in a very real and thought provoking way that will resonate with players in different ways. If books, music, TV and film can use such imagery and issues in their stories so can video games and Detroit Become Human handles it with a delicate hammer I would say.

It does not shy away from the very real situations that our main characters find themselves in and how they react or interact to what is happening which then forms their decisions and events throughout the story. In a way by showcasing some very real human faults and issues via Androids it highlights them even more whilst showing their capacity or their own humanity in a way. These are very real even very uncomfortable issues and to ignore them would lessen the overall story being told via each character. As much as the story has dark tones it also has some very light ones as well as relationships are forged and our main characters in Connor, Kara and Markus continue to grow as individuals and through player choices our decisions shape them even more as the story unfolds based on those decisions the player has made. It is powerful and emotive and it should be, and I hope this game serves as a beacon going forward that such real life issues, even our darkest ones, continue to be highlight but used confidently and as sensitively as they are here.

I really want to stay away from spoiling too much about the main story and of the journeys our three Android characters go on but it is safe to say that this is a story worth playing and experiencing more than once if just to see how different character choices could play out. It is very possible to lose one of our main characters in the later stages of the game as a result of making the wrong choice before reaching the end, which never happened to me but for my good friend it was a factor that made her ending very different to mine. This adds weight to every choice and the writing is so well thought out that it continues to flow effortlessly no matter what decisions you make but gives the player the confidence that their choices do matter unlike in recent Telltale games for example where the story narrative will often give the illusion of player choice only to just snap everything back in line with that narrative instead of the narrative shaping around the player’s choices. It really is astonishing considering how many possible outcomes there are simply by looking at the flowchart of decisions shown after each mission.

Detroit Become Human is the best looking console game right now; there really is no debating this for me. The player models and animation are simply sublime and really showcase how powerful this generation of consoles really are especially the PlayStation 4. The world and characters are so diverse and rich that the story is embolden as a result. This genuinely feels like both seasons of Westworld merged into a single video game except the story in Detroit Become Human actually felt more personal to me. It is almost baffling just how rich this game is that as the end credits rolled and I sat there considering and trying to imagine how the ending would have played out if I had made any one of the many different decisions available to me. Even if the story has just focused on one of the characters this game and story would have been amazing but having three different stories playing out with three characters with very different motives and goals made this something very unique indeed.

Detroit Become Human is something very special and demands a place in your PlayStation library. Even if you just dip in and out, the gameplay is always satisfying and features a voice cast of incredible performances that if this were a TV show, they would be up for awards galore. The writing and design of each story makes this perhaps the most cinematic game experience I have had in quite some time. It is powerful to help guide Kara, Connor and Markus on through the story and making decisions that would effect them and those around them became an experience that will stay with me going forward and that is what I want from video games right now, a fun experience but also through provoking on different levels. In a world that is quite literally in chaos right now with how certain countries are treating those different to them, this game highlights some very dangerous traits and threats that it mirrors real life scarily well but at the same time looks ahead to a future which is very possible.

This is a new bench mark for writing in gaming it really is that staggeringly good and though I have never played a game by David Cage before, this feels like the product of all his previous work. I have already began a second play through in order to see how different choices effect not only the world but the very characters I came to care about so much  and already in just the first couple of hours I have changed the personality of a couple simply by making different but important decisions.

That alone would be enough for me to heartily recommend this game but as a complete package; it is going to take one hell of a game to knock this off my Game of the Year top spot.

The first biggest surprise and part of the best section of the EA E3 2018 briefing was the sudden reveal of Unravel Two, a sequel to one of my favourite indie games of all times and one that kick started the whole EA Originals programme for EA. The real surprise was that the game was completed and released at the very moment it was revealed at the briefing making it the first “you can play it right now” moment of E3. The first game has a big place in my gamer’s heart and I hoped for a sequel so it was almost like Christmas Morning to find it on the store just under an hour after the reveal. The biggest change was that for the first time Yarney would not be alone as co-op was introduced to the game. To say I was excited to jump back into this world was an understatement but after playing it, sad to say it did not have the same impact as the original despite the evolution of the gameplay.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2TmLrTl6g

The game opens with a boat at sea in the middle of a tremendous storm with huge waves crashing against the boat causing our hero Yarney, though it is never explained exactly why he was on the boat to start with, to break his line fall into the sea to end up washed ashore. Waking up to find an old suitcase, it slowly opens to reveal another Yarney which is coloured blue climbs out of the case and after meeting the two connect their yarn lines forming a bond that sees them both heading off on their own journey together. That journey will have them following the ‘Spark of Adventure’, a glowing orb that guides them in the direction they need to go to in each of the seven chapters that make up the main campaign.

The gameplay is very much in line what the original game so those who have played the first Unravel will instantly pick this up and feel at home but the evolution into having two Yarney characters adds a refreshing new dynamic especially in how you approach the puzzles. Now it must be said if it is not obvious but this is designed to be played in co-op with two players controlling both Yarney characters. The first disappointment with this is that it is limited to local co-op only which is something that in the last couple of years has really annoyed me quite frankly when games do this with the main complaint being with LEGO games. I get that the real joy to sharing a game via co-op is having that person right there next to you as you enjoy the game and solve puzzles but for those who have their main gaming friends not available geographically local enough to pop over to pick up my spare controller, it is a wasted opportunity to share this game with friends far away when they is no real need to remove online co-op at all.

That said, this is a game that despite being designed to be played by two people, it can still completely be played enjoyed as a single player. Both Yarneys can be controlled by a single player by switching the focus to either of them at any time whilst the other remains in the position you left them. When needed to just move through the level, the two will combine together to form a single Yarney making everything so natural and fluid which comes in very handy when dealing with the new designed puzzles that require the two characters to work together. Some puzzles will need one to hold an object to allow the other to reach a higher platform or to help the other navigate to an area to then hold on the line to allow the other to pull them to rejoin it. The puzzles are so cleverly designed for this new mechanic that it made it both familiar yet different enough to the first game that I actually enjoyed the puzzles and level designs in the sequel to the original. Some really take some real thought into finding the solutions with some being obvious and some deviously clever in the solution.

The visuals, animation and musical score once again just blend together and compliment each other so well that as with the first game, just take this to an entirely new level of game experience that for an indie game is just crazy to see compared to other AAA titles that fail in getting that very same balance. It brings a level of emotion and emersion to the game that makes it a joy to be in as a player.

But then there is the sad point at which they just get the strongest element that made the first Unravel so amazing wrong, the story. The first game was all about life and the highs and lows a journey through life can have. It was poignant and emotional as you collected the memories for a scrap book and reliving some powerful events in a long lifetime that made Yarney’s journey so very special and brought the player along that ride so you each moment connected with you and the ending made it a complete journey for the player. That is where Unravel two….unravels. There is a story being told throughout each chapter with the shadow images of two children trying to escape sinister adult figures and we see them running away, exploring, playing and then trying to escape throughout the story. There are even moments where the solution of the puzzle will cause the spark you are following to interact with their world to help create a distraction or means of escape for the kids giving me hope that it was all connected.

Where it falls down is that it is never explained fully who the kids or the adults are and why they are running away. Throughout the seven story chapters I and especially during the final three chapters, I was concerned that what I was seeing being played out in the background to the gameplay was leading no where and sadly, the ending it so confusing and devoid of any explanation it almost feels that the game is actually incomplete unlike the first game which had a beginning, a middle and an end that was satisfying to play and understand. It quite frankly spoiled the entire experience to this sequel because the story for me was as important as the gameplay in the first game and this simply fails in telling that story but even worse in just deciding not to bother giving an explanation to events being played out. As the credits rolled and the personal thank you message from the developers rolls down the screen to explain that love is a bond that brings people together I was just reading there with a “is that it?” look on my face as I tried to process what the closing cut scenes were meant to show me. It was frustrating and disappointing.

I had high hopes for this sequel and ultimately was let down by the hype I had built up for it. The gameplay is strong though and there is some replay value in the speed running objectives that each chapter has after the prologue to complete it in the fastest time and by not dying along the way that some may be happy to go after. I did feel that some of the final chapters suffered from the puzzle designs feeling as though they wanted players to fail and learn so that they would go back and replay the chapter again which for me took me out of the chapter too much especially when the music and imagery in the background implied that this was an important chapter to play without the forced pausing.  A set of challenges have also been added which give players the chance to rescue other Yarneys who are captured by utilising the puzzle solving mechanics seen in the main campaign. These are both challenging and fun and after rescuing them, they become options in the appearance editor that allows players to modify the main Yarney characters how they want should they choose to.

However the story for me is key to why Unravel worked so beautifully as a game and sadly here it feels as though some attempt to recreate that in the sequel was made but somewhere down the line or perhaps a victim of the E3 sudden reveal and release, was thrown out leaving it incomplete and confusing. Though the gameplay, level designs, visuals and musical score are something to be applauded, it fails to recapture or even use the same storytelling and writing elements that made the first so magical and in such a way that it undoes  so much of what it had accomplished originally and tried to follow up with.

Sadly Unravel Two focused far too much on delivering clever gameplay at the cost of telling a fulfilling story and so almost becomes forgettable which is a real shame. Still worth playing if you enjoyed the first however it would be better to enjoy the gameplay with a friend or solo than to expect more of the same emotional story telling that won me over personally with the first game.