Beyond: Two Souls, The Cinematic Game

Many people loved Heavy Rain, a great emotional tale that gave surprises at every turn. It was well acted and used the top of the line facial recording. Now, Quantic Dream’s latest title, Beyond: Two Souls, looks to be pushing that much further.

The Improvements

Finally showing off some gameplay at E3 this year, Qunatic Dream has shown that they are pushing the limits of story-driven, immersive gameplay and it shows in every scene you witness. With new ways of detecting player motion and emotion, every “cutscene” and movement has been recorded by the actors with sound being recorded at the same time. This is something brand new in video games and will have a great effect on the emotional backdrop the story takes place in. By seeing realistic facial expressions and the sounds of pain or the quivering when Jodie’s scared will add a level of attachment to her character that has never really been seen in video games.

They tore your heartstrings out with some of the decisions that had to be made in Heavy Rain and it looks like you’ll be even more torn with Jodi’s main character.

The Story

Taking place over the span of 15 years of Jodie’s life and her second soul of Aiden, Beyond’s story looks to be vast and interesting. In the gameplay demo shown, you are given a glimpse into the training Jodie went through to become a military weapon. Previously shown was when Jodie is down on her luck and hanging out with a bunch of ragtag homeless people.

The fifteen years are not in chronological order. In an interview with Gamespot, Guillaume de Fondaumiere, mentions that you won’t see the consequences of your actions immediately because in one scene you’ll be 22 and the next you’ll be eight. By giving the story a nice pacing it will further the emotional pull of the unique characters that we’ve seen will be in the game. By having two characters in one person adds an interesting complexity and the relationship with Aiden is a tale I can’t wait to dive in to. Also, death will play a factor, something they didn’t allow in Heavy Rain, not really.

The Gameplay

Finally revealing and talking about the gameplay got me very excited. I was interested in learning how it was going to be different from Heavy Rain’s QTE game mechanics.

You’re always in control of your characters. While you’re playing you are controlling both Jodie and Aiden, switching between the two with the press of the triangle button. As Aiden you have a multitude of abilities such as taking control of them or suffocating them. You can control cars, blow(throw/blast) things around you, and sneak around, among others that haven’t been mentioned. 

Watch Out

This game is looking more and more like a great movie that happens to be interactive. With the emotional struggle of Jodie just wanting to be “normal” and her wishing that she could just go home. The interesting gameplay that looks to have been really thought out promises an intense fighting system and a great way to stealth and leaves open many options to every scenario you’re thrown in to. October 8th, exclusively on PS3, and I can’t wait to choke some bad guys as an ethereal entity.