The definitive work by David Cage and Quantic Dream: Detroit: Become Human
It seems little but the adventure games have taken a giant leap since its arrival almost at the beginning of the video game market, that feeling of walking the corridors in Maniac Mansion or laugh with the dialogues in Monkey Island is what wanted to define the genre back in the 90s, but after a short period of reinvention came one of the titles that have most influenced this type of games, The Walking Dead together with Telltale found a new way to tell stories that would not only help to give a breath of fresh air to all this type of games but would put them in the sights of the entire world market, and in that of some great developers like David Cage, who for some time now has been finding a way to redefine what a playable experience means with titles like Heavy Rain or Beyond: Two Souls, in which he gives some sketches of what video games can be if given a good story to tell, gameplay accessible to everyone and characters that are increasingly complex and human, that and a little more is what the new installment of his creative team aspires to, Detroit: Become Human seems to me one of the most complete works of the developer, pointing to current issues in its story and giving a little more importance to the playable part without neglecting the directive style of Cage.
Detroit, apart from being the title of this game, is a city located in the United States that has experienced many decisive events throughout its history, such as the multiple persecutions and discrimination against members of the African-American community, which in many cases also resulted in police abuses against these people. Something similar tries to raise this video game, a world in which androids are part of our daily lives helping us in the tasks and even having professions can also see that racist tinge similar to the one that existed against African Americans and that the game although it strives to make it its central theme does not end up feeling the hook in the story, because Detroit: Become Human is primarily the story of three characters and their experiences in this city full of nuances. The first is Connor who is a police android and who also occasionally acts as a detective and is the one with whom we will spend a decent amount of the story learning the day to day life of the androids along with their growing personality and awakening in society, the other two characters are Kara and Marcus who serve as domestic employees in two different social classes and in this we will be able to see how the behaviors contrast between the androids of the middle class and those who have the privilege of being in a higher class, always the game is aware of the issues it deals with and is on the right track with each dialogue that puts us, nuancing a little more with the situations that the androids live in the adventure.
Let's talk a little about the gameplay of this title, because if you know David Cage's games you will know that it tends to have a reduced gameplay in exploring and solving some Quick Time Events along the way, something that made over the years his fans and detractors polarized too much in defining Cage as a revolutionary or as an overrated videogame, I think that with this installment has improved a little more the playable facet, we have many more areas of exploration as well as some interesting sections in which, despite also being Quick Time Events changes the formula and makes it neither as simple nor as generic as in previous installments.
Another factor that has implemented the gameplay is the possibility of making decisions in the game and that these affect the gameplay, similar to how they do Telltale titles only that in Detroit redouble efforts with each of the characters and offer much more variety in situations if we take a decision or another, Detroit does a great job giving weight to our actions and every so often in the game we have the opportunity to radically change our situation, although we will also have to be careful not to die along the way as many of the deaths in the game are usually definitive even for the protagonists.
There are some winks and situations in which the game changes more to an action adventure or exploration but always remains in the standard controls or put us a Quick Time Event or give us a choice to choose, in both cases it seems that the game is limiting itself and does not want to take a step beyond its mechanics, perhaps for lack of time, budget or perhaps with some other reason, improve everything else.
The graphics in this game are at another level even with years of release, the faces of this game set the standards, and it is logical that it is so because if David Cage wants to impose a style out of the movies is crucial that there are faces and expressions recognized, something that the title and its graphics engine highlight surprisingly well, even when we are in a scene with several androids we can begin to notice those little ticks that are learning from humans, feelings like happiness, sadness or anger are on point when we approach critical scenes in the story.
A work like Detroit: Become Human only shows the maturity of David Cage's team and all the way he has come to offer an experience with the production values of a movie and the experience of a video game, and I think his new game is very close to that definition that Cage wants with a story that is worthy of Hollywood productions as well as a gameplay that although it is not new, it fulfills to give us an entertaining game. Recommended
