A Look At "Detroit: Become Human"

'SUP, NERDS?!

Continuing off of my last entry, I must divulge my most inner and deepest thoughts about Detroit: Become Human. My friends and I avoided news to--firstly--remain calm and secondly go into the game knowing nothing. It has been a while since we've seen a new game from Quantic Dream. I've never been more ready for this experience.

(L to R) Connor, Markus, Alice & Kara

The Premise

The game is about androids in not-so-distant future gaining consciousness and wanting civil rights. An alarming number of androids are becoming "deviants" as they attain self-actualization, typically through intense and/or continual abuse by humans. Deviants react to their abuse by running away or defending themselves, sometimes murdering their human in the process.

Connor choosing to become deviant, a potential option
for the player.

First comes Connor, a new android prototype loaned to the Detroit PD, who given the task to investigate the crimes of deviants. Our other protagonists, Marcus and Kara, are androids that turn deviant quikcly and seek safety and independence. Kara assumes the role of mother to an abused child while Markus focuses creating a revolution to free all androids.

Warning. Some spoilers await you.

Heavy Rain X Fahrenheit Design

Detroit can be best described as a polished Fahrenheit and Heavy Rain crossover. It takes Fahrenheit's concept of playing characters who have conflicting goals: the investigator versus the investigated. The brutality, horrors and moral ambiguity of Heavy Rain are reflected as well. Do I choose the squeaky-clean way or take the reins and stir trouble along the way?

One of the scariest scenarios in Heavy
Rain is similar to the Zlatko level in
Detroit: Become Human.

On the downside, I feel as if there were a few too many scenarios that were copied from prior Quantic Dream games, but I think they were executed better and had many more choices and consequences. Take The Doc versus Zlatko. In each of these level you are restrained female escaping the home of a crazy killer/abuser. One of the coolest aspects of Detroit is that you can view the paths after finishing a chapter, which provides incentive to start a new game to see different outcomes or even just replay a certain section.

Illusion of Choice

A common complaint I hear about Quantic Dream games is that there is an "illusion of choice", that most of your decisions don't really affect the story. I honestly felt annoyed at the beginning of the game because there was not much choice that could be made. The characters couldn't stray from their objectives and I felt trapped in the endless hallway effect. Later I realized it was intentionally linear until the protagonists awaken as deviants.

To avoid huge spoilers, here is the first level flowchart.
Isn't it cool to see all that can happen??

Anyone who complains about the illusion of choice is not being realistic about how games are written and developed. They would become too complex and impossible to make. Detroit may be guilty of this practice, but your characters can experience alternative routes, some segments being drastically different than others. It's not until the final chapters that the routes really diverge and bear the fruit of your choices made throughout the game. One example being Connor's deviancy, or lack thereof.

Let's talk about Connor the Characters

I may totally biased, but Connoristhebestcharacterandthereisnochangingmymind. My penchant for detectives or special agents proves to be true again!

Jokes aside, the most rewarding aspect of choose your own adventure style games is seeing character development, whether it's the protagonist or supporting cast. Connor's story is interesting to see him develop a sense of humanity. You can often fail your mission by choosing to be compassionate, which affects his programming and unlocks the potential for him to become a deviant.

Yes, Connor's actor Bryan Dechart actually
cosplays his character!!!! 💖

Connor's personality is starkly different if you play him as a machine more than a human. His relationship with Hank only worsens and Connor doesn't gain much respect. You can play the game in a way that Hank becomes your friend and more than a forced partnership. During my first play through, Connor survived, but throughout his story he can die up to ten times to only be replaced a new model. However, on a subsequent play through I let him die every time... oh man, does it weird everyone out.

I think Kara has the next best story, but her character is kind of boring. Her goal is to protect herself from android persecution and to mother Alice. Luther joins later and acts as a father figure. These characters always run and get caught in the most intimate, horrifying situations.

My favorite path happens at the end of the game when the team tries to escape a recycling center, which is a culmination of all of your relationships. Depending on who you've helped, they are willing to go the extra mile for you to escape by creating distractions or even sacrificing themselves. It is also quite hilarious because there's a very specific scene that can be missed where Kara has a chance to easily escape, ditching Luther and Alice. Imagine playing the entire game with such passion to just say "fuck it" and leave your makeshift family to die.

I felt most detached from Markus's story, which is quite unfortunate because he can most easily be dubbed the hero of the game. Perhaps his heroism isn't relatable to me? He joins Jericho, a community of deviants, and inspires an android revolution. The group pulls a bunch of heists and eventually brings you to a point where you choose to peacefully rally or fight for your rights.

The complexities of Markus's story, especially by the time you reach the finale, are incredibly rewarding and radically different. I played through the finale multiple times to see Markus's possibilities. After a bit of research, I found out that I'm still missing out on dozens of character choices if you play the game where he fails more frequently. When it comes down to Markus, he does cool things, but I wish there was more narrative about his personal struggles because I didn't really care too much about his comrades in Jericho. They were all polarizing and it was more annoying than helpful throughout my decision process.

Jesse Williams puts on a good performance, even though I'm not
a great Markus fan.

Rent It If You Can't Buy

Definitely check out Detroit: Become Human. We don't get too many big studio choose-your-own-adventure style games and this is Quantic Dream's best game by far. I know these types of games interest a lot of casual gamers, where a couple day rental would be your best option... but support the studio and buy new otherwise!

I'm quite glad that the tech-demo Kara was so popular that Detroit wound up being made. Especially since Kara and Valerie Curry were brought back from the short that started it all.

Did you enjoy Detroit? Who was your favorite character and why? What sort of crazy endings did you get? Kara and Alice died in my blind run... although, I'm not too offended by that. haha

LATER, DWEEBS!

Loverly Liz