David Cage is a polarizing figure. Depending on who'd you ask, he's either a hack who couldn't make into the movie industry or a pioneer of the storytelling medium. Personally, I'm ambivalent towards Mr. Cage. I find his ideas to be sound in theory but their execution almost always falls flat.
Take, for example, Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy. The opening sequence is quite possibly the greatest story-hook in the videogaming medium. You have just regained conciousness after brutally killing someone. Do you make a run for it? Do you calmly sit down and then leave? Do you meticilosuly clean after yourself before paying heed to tip the waitress? What. Do. you. Do?
Then, of course, The Orange Clan and The Purple Clan happened and proverbial excrement hit the actual rotary.
Cage is a good source of ideas. He probably goes around all day and blurts out random things like "A game where you play as a serial killer!" or "A game where you play a dad trying to save his son." They're all sound ideas in the conception stage, but let David actually hammer out the details and it all falls apart in the third act. There lies an interesting parallel to George Lucas. Both are dreamers capable of blurting out enticing ideas in one sentence but are in need of realists to work out the chinks in the plot, otherwise we end up bending backwards to fill in the plot-holes.
Anyway, Beyond: Two Souls, is the latest Cinematic Experience from David Cage. I say 'Cinematic Experience' because, truly, that is the only way to describe. They are not games, there is no particular 'Goal' for you to accomplish. Can a book be described as a game? No, your job is to merely flip the pages till you reach the conclusion, your skill being entirely superflous to the whole experience. This is why Cage's games are not 'Games', your skill and abilities are not needed. The story goes on regardless of your actions. Just sit back and shut up, you're in it for the ride.
Beyond: Two Souls stars Ellen Paige as Jodie Holmes, a girl mysteriously linked to an entity named 'Aiden'. Jodie begins the game being hunted by the government and the narrative takes you through various stages of her life to uncover her mysterious past and discover Aiden's nature.
Here is my problem with the narrative. The story itself is servicble but the narrative is disjointed. Rather than going to the beginning of Jodie's life and watch her grow up, you are instead sent to various points of her life without a logical segway. For example, one stage has you taking Jodie to a birthday party and the one after that sends you to Somalia for a secret mission. There is no 'Oh, this cake reminds me of that one birthday party I went to so I'd better flashback' hook, the story just jumps to a random part of her life in no particular order. (Note: There is a reason for the time jumps but I found it weak.)
The back cover claims that we're going to journey with Jodie through her life and I thought that meant watching her grow up and become attached to her. In that regard, the game failed. This is a stranger whom I've already seen the end of her story and I already know my actions do not matter from the get-go. I didn't bother making Jodie kiss a boy because I know she'll never see him again. I've known people who couldn't let go of Shepard having known him/her for three games and yet, with Jodie, I was never able to emotionally connect.
In conclusion, this is the shallowest of David Cage's projects. The story has zero tension, preditcable plot-twists and laughable stakes compared to his previous iterations yet, in an odd twist of fate, is the tightest experience yet.
Should you buy this game? It's not exactly a $60 worthy experience. Should you rent it? Definitely.
BY GRANT TAYLOR: If there’s one thing I appreciate in gaming, it’s a strong female character. In recent years, we’ve seen countless women in games, ranging from fierce warriors to masters of the supernatural. These days, if a game doesn’t have a female lead, you at least have the choice to select one.
I’ve played so many games with brilliant female protagonists in the last decade. It was honestly difficult getting this list down to just five!
So, which of these characters rank the highest?
BY THE GROWNGAMING TEAM: Soundtracks are as important as graphics and gameplay for video games. A good soundtrack can set the tone for a game. It helps with immersion, it can build (and relieve) tension, and can get the adrenaline pumping whether the player is down to a slither of health against the final boss or neck-and-neck with their rival rounding the last corner of the final lap.
Whether exploring the long-abandoned burial ruins of a long-forgotten civilization or emptying the magazine of a machine gun the size of an average adult human, the right music and the right time can have a profound effect on a player’s experience.
I think the soundtrack to The last of us was awesome. Still listen to it on Spotify. Failing the wipeout on PS1 is still tops
Phil Campbell discusses his work on numerous projects, from Tomb Raider to Beyond: Two Souls, and working with Brando and Bowie on The Godfather and Omikron: The Nomad Soul respectively.
Here's a bit more on Brando from Campbell that was left out due to lack of time:
"I had been sitting just letting him get on with performing," Campbell said, "and maybe I should have stepped in sooner. It wasn't until he actually encouraged me to step in, with something like, 'If it's s*!t, say "Marlon, that was s*!t - do it again!",' that I did. I never told him his reading was s*!t, though!
"By the end of the session we we getting on famously!" he added. "He told me what a 'nice fella' I was and we talked casually about a few things, including playing the Bongo drums!
"Early on, I had asked him about the legend of pushing Kleenex into his cheeks to get the voice and he told me to not believe everything I read. Later on, of course, he actually did that during our recording - he pushed Kleenex into his cheeks to try to once again achieve 'the voice'! Unfortunately, it tended to actually make the sound of the lines more muddy and incomprehensible.
"Based on what he said on the tapes, Marlon Brando really enjoyed the process, and performed the script without any disputes or opinion!!!
"Ultimately, I feel proud and humbled to have written Marlon Brando's final script - and to have been sole witness to his final performance."
He told me what a 'nice fella' I was and we talked casually about a few things https://www.yourtexasbenefi...
Now that is writing. And just as my hope that there ever could be any real journalism in games media was dwindling away. Recommended read to everyone. The piece itself is interesting and entertaining. But at the very least this should be reference for People as to how good a gaming related article can be.
good read (Y)
With all due respect, this review is as lacking as you imply the game in question to be and if I may be so bold to say, judging on your comments, you haven't played the game yourself.
Your introductory paragraphs serve no indication as to what your point is; you vaguely reference previous QD games, but in no context or reflection to the standpoint you're making. In short, the opening paragraphs were rather pointless. The remaining three paragraphs of your review vaguely described Beyond.
Your only point in this review was criticising the narrative without a rhyme or reason. "It's broken." It's not broken. It's just not chronological. That doesn't make it broken - it makes it different.
"For example, one stage has you taking Jodie to a birthday party and the one after that sends you to Somalia for a secret mission."
WRONG.
The chapter that takes place in Somalia is not until much later in the game. There's a rhyme and rhythm to the non-chronological progression, and your incorrect information is going to mislead the readers of this review.
There IS tension and there are only a small handful of predictable plot-twists because we're so desensitised to suspenseful situations that we can pretty much figure out what will happen next.
Your review was nothing more than "I don't like the narrative and here is ONE, solitary, irrelevant reason why," filled with grammar and spelling errors and lacking tremendously in quality, and quite frankly, I have no idea how it was approved.
No offence to you, whatsoever. I respect your opinion completely, but this review is simply poorly constructed and written and I sincerely hope no one bases their decision on experiencing the game because of this review.
I'm sorry, but it doesn't do yourself nor the game any justice at all. For Christ's sake, look at GoldenRimz review of the game ( http://n4g.com/channel/beyo... ) which had a LOWER score than what you've given, yet still provided MUCH more information and detail about the experience.
Umm...hey Reviewer...
You do know that if you are PLAYING something, it's called a game. The GOAL of which, is different in each game, and in this one, would be to complete it.
Check the dictionary...I promise. :-)
I finished it.. I liked it.. But will I give it a second run through??? Meh.. Probably not...