At PAX Aus 2017 I was lucky enough to be able to get hand’s on with the upcoming PS4 exclusive, Detroit: Become Human at the PlayStation Booth.
After entering the play area, walking past the real life ‘Androids’ Sony had standing, interacting with the crowds as they walked by I was lead to a room with multiple screen/PS4 setups and after watching a brief video created by the developers at Quantic Dream I was handed the controller.
The demo was the same scene that had been featured in the original reveal of Detroit: Become Human back at E3 2016. I was playing as Connor, an android detective that has been called to the scene of a hostage situation.
Right off the bat it was hard not to notice how great the game looked. I understand this was just a small verticle slice of a much larger game but it looked incredibly polished considering the game won’t be coming out until some time next year.
As Connor I proceeded into the home, down a hallway and into the main area of the victim’s house. From here I was tasked with investigating and gathering evidence to find out more about the rogue android that was holding the hostage and to find out what had lead to this situation occurring.
I’m not going to spoil key story elements, or why the android did what he did in case you want to experience that for yourself when you play but if you do want to know more you can find a video of this demo on the Quantic Dream YouTube channel.
Conor has the ability to analyse the environment and piece together what has occurred by looking closer at pieces of evidence you find scattered around the room. After proceeding through the bedrooms of the occupants and their young daughter I was able to piece together why the android had gone rogue.
As I found more evidence throughout the property my success meter for the hostage situation rose. As this game has many different branching story path’s it is possible to miss pieces of evidence and not have ability to refer to them down the line to help your chances of success during a future confrontation.
Such as the gun I found under the kitchen table. I was given the option of whether or not I wanted to pick it up. This would have drastically changed my outcome in the end of the demo if I had chosen not to pick up the weapon.
After gathering the evidence I thought would be sufficient, I headed out onto the balcony to speak with the android. I was able to use the knowledge gained about him found in the house to lure him into a calmer state, answering a number of dialogue options during our confrontation, some of which were only available because I had searched the house and found a certain item.
My demo ended with me convincing the android all would be ok, and to let the hostage go before a nearby sniper took the android out. I had lied to him. And yes his final words did make me feel a little bit guilty, but ultimately my hostage survived.
Choices Lead To Drastically Varied Stories
Based on the flowchart that appears at the end of the demo and the debut trailer it’s obvious that there are a large number of outcomes for just this scene alone. And with what happens in each chapter bleeding on to influence the events throughout the game, it’s clear that Detroit: Become Human is going to have numerous branching paths in it’s story and will likely require multiple playthroughs.
Detroit: Become Human is set to launch exclusively on the PS4 sometime early 2018.
If you want to see more content like this and never miss one of our frequent gaming and anime giveaways come and Follow Ani-Game on Twitter.
