Beyond: Two Souls is Quantic Dream’s latest offering from October 2013. It’s an odd mix of supernatural drama, espionage thriller, action film and horror movie; but would it be one we’d enjoy?
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Quantic Dream CEO David Cage first announced Beyond: Two Souls at Sony’s press conference during the E3 Expo in 2012. Like his earlier games which have been called ‘wrought psychological thrillers’, emotional narrative was an important point during the development of this latest title. In March 2013 it was announced that it had been made an ‘Official Selection’ for the Tribeca Film Festival, pipped to the first video game post only by Rockstar Games’ L.A. Noire which was chosen by the event back in 2011.
Our first experience of playing Beyond was at the Eurogamer Expo last year during which we had the opportunity to attend a developer session hosted by Cage. Phil actually chose the game as his best of the event after playing the demo, praising its quality and how realistic the main characters looked compared to the actors themselves; however, he did have some concerns that the action was mostly made up of quick-time events (QTEs) and the story felt linear despite being advertised as having branching paths.
We’ve gotten into the habit of picking a game and playing this through to completion in as few sittings as possible, whilst streaming the whole thing on Twitch (thank you to close who regularly join us!). Our most recent pick was Quantic Dream’s latest offering after learning that it had a co-op mode. With me taking the reigns as the main character, Phil backing me up as sidekick, and the support of Kevin and Tim online, we got so hooked that we ended up completing the title in only two sessions.
Beyond tells the story of Jodie Holmes who, since birth, has been linked to an unbreakable spectral presence named Aiden. She grows from nervous child to self-reliant young adult over a fifteen-year narrative arc and throughout this time, her spiritual guardian watches over her while veering between violent jealousy and fierce protectiveness. Those around the pair struggle to understand their relationship and seek to use their power to fulfil their own selfish needs with little regard for the consequences. To say anything more would be to spoil the amazing storyline plot so we’ll leave it here for now.
Jodie has been linked to entity Aiden since her birth.
What I will say though is that the way the relationship is portrayed is absolutely stunning and you can’t help but become immensely attached to these characters. Jodie clearly loves Aiden and relies on him for both safety and comfort; but she’s weary of their constant bond and wishes she was just a ‘normal girl’. The entity thinks of her as his charge and watches over her at all times; but he can become possessive and is prone to fits of jealousy, leaving others vulnerable to his violent outbursts. It’s the usual case of not being able to live together but being unable to live without one another. Ellen Page was perfectly cast in the role of Jodie and this has to be one of the best performances in a video game I’ve ever seen – more about this later.
In a structure that Cage referred to as ‘chronological disorder’, scenes are experienced out of sequence: for example, one minute players are controlling Jodie while she’s undergoing telepathy tests in a lab as a child while in the next she’s a teenager on the run from government forces. When Beyond was released I read a number of reviews from people criticising the developer’s approach, claiming that it gave the title a schizophrenic feeling and left them trying to catch up with the narrative.
Aiden’s temper can leave others vulnerable to his violent outbursts.
But this really wasn’t the case for us. The more we played, the more we discovered the truth behind Jodie and Aiden’s relationship and how they got into the situation witnessed in the opening sequence. It held our interest because we never knew what was coming next; and we didn’t find the chronological disorder to be disorientating because each scene is fairly self-contained. It gave us glimpses in to the character’s lives and we were kept delightfully intrigued trying to piece the central threads of the story together.
You may have noticed that so far I’ve concentrated only on plot and this is for good reason: unfortunately a lot of players will find Beyond’s gameplay lacking. Whilst playing as Jodie you move exactly as a human does, inspecting items, walking through rooms and talking to people and your movements can be a bit limited. During action scenes such as foot chases or hand-to-hand combat, time slows down and you must move the right-stick in the same direction as our heroine’s body in order to perform the required move.
Easy mode’s directional arrows can be useful, but they detract from the gameplay.
So yes, this is pretty much a new take on those good old QTEs. Jodie’s body isn’t always easy to read and you only have a couple of seconds in which to do so; I occasionally found myself ducking instead of kicking or moving backwards instead of forwards. I struggled with completing the assault course section in particular and it took me several attempts to get over a damn wall! However, put Beyond on easy mode and helpful directional arrows will be displayed on the screen, although this has the unfortunate consequence of highlighting the limited gameplay even further.
However, you have a little more freedom whilst playing as Aiden – seeing as he’s a spirit and isn’t bound by the same rules us as mere mortals. He can fly through the air and even through walls, fling objects when he’s feeling angry or violent, and can inhabit the bodies of the people around him to make them do his bidding (which is pretty toe-curling the first time you see him force someone to commit suicide). He is however tied to Jodie by a supernatural link and can only move so far ahead of her, although the distance isn’t always consistent; it seems to change depending on where Quantic Dream want you to and to not go.
The distance Aiden can travel seems to be different in each scene.
As mentioned above, Beyond includes a two-player mode and we really enjoyed this. It’s the same as playing the game in single player except one controls Jodie while the other takes on Aiden. While some reviewers have complained that this means one player is forced to wait until it’s their turn for some action, we found that it emphasised the title’s central theme: the conflict of two beings with an unbreakable link that are totally reliant on each other. And besides, we were so engrossed in the storyline that we hardly noticed these moments of downtime.
You’re able to switch between Jodie and Aiden at will – but only in those situations that the developer wants you to. For example, there were some situations where our heroine was clearly in danger but when we tried to call on her protector for help, he was nowhere to be found (maybe he’s just stubborn?). Aiden’s usefulness is determined on a contextual basis by Quantic Dream and this breaks your immersion in the storyline a little; although if you could constantly call on a violent spirit for assistance, the difficulty level would be non-existent.
At some points where it seems obvious to switch to Aiden, you won’t be able to.
Beyond can seem very linear, but in the developer session at last year’s Eurogamer Expo it was revealed that scenes have different outcomes depending on your actions. You can decide whether to let a slight go or act out your revenge; you can choose to be truthful or evasive, and whether or not to let people get close. Your choices will affect how sections play out and steer the game towards one of twenty-three endings so there’s definitely some replayability value here. But that’s providing you’re prepared to go through such a roller-coaster of a story more than once… or you can just watch them all on YouTube.
While I love games with multiple paths, the thing I didn’t like about Beyond’s choices was that they never really seemed critical. For example, in one scene Jodie is preparing for a date and you have to select her outfit, what she’ll cook for dinner, and whether she tidies her apartment; yet in another, she’s instructed to kill a man and you have no choice in the matter. It feels as if the story will storm onwards regardless of what you do and you’re never really shown what the consequences of your actions are. I would have loved to have seen some really tough decisions to add a little more drama to the gameplay.
Both Page and Willem Dafoe, who stars as government scientist Nathan Dawkins, spent weeks filming in Quantic Dream’s advanced motion capture studio. They had ninety reflective markers placed on their faces throughout the capture sessions in a room ringed by sixty-five cameras, all in the name of getting hyper-realistic expressions. Shooting took over a year with more than 23,000 unique animations created – and the hard work has definitely paid off, with one of the most convincing digital performances we’ve ever seen.
The characters, particularly Jodie, are absolutely stunning and so realistic: at times you feel almost as if Page is on the screen and you’re watching her in a movie. Details such as freckles, scars and hairs are all highlighted and the title is one of the best-looking we’ve ever played. One of our favourite thing about Beyond’s visuals were the walking animations; rather than a repeated set of animations, Jodie kicks at the floor, rubs her arms, and looks around while you’re moving her forward.
Beyond: Two Souls is absolutely stunning – everything looks so real.
As mentioned above, Page was perfectly cast in the role of Jodie and this has to be one of the best performances in a video game. She’s a capable actress who takes on Beyond’s crazy twists and delivers her lines with complete sincerity. The best scenes drama-wise are often those which are more quiet and show day-to-day human life; we particularly loved the section where our heroine falls in with a homeless group and helps them to survive. Page’s performance keeps you rooting for Jodie all the way and it’s principally thanks to her that you’ll feel a lump in your throat at the title’s climax.
Like Heavy Rain before it, Beyond: Two Souls pushes the boundaries of what a video game can be; some players will find that they consider it barely a game at all. It’s an unusual mix of interactive story, supernatural drama, espionage thriller, action film and horror movie – but it’s never less than compelling. If you want a ‘quieter’ experience in terms of gameplay and want to enjoy a title with a friend, this is definitely one you shouldn’t miss.
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