Never the characters of a computer game have acted as real as in “Beyond: Two Souls”. The exciting story but suffers under clichés and too little space for players.
class=”articlemeta-date”> 9 October 2013
Screenshot from “Beyond: Two Souls” | © Quantic Dream
Jodie Holmes does not just lead an average life. The young woman, the main character of the game Beyond: Two Souls , has a special property: Since her birth, she is connected with a spirit named Aiden that has tremendous powers. The CIA gets wind of the early spiritual gift, even as a little girl Jodie is plugged into a research laboratory. There she spent her childhood and youth – ridiculed by peers as a freak, chosen by the military as a secret weapon. What becomes of a man who has to live under such intense pressure? To this question is in Beyond – and of course about what is going on with Aiden’s existence to be
. Beyond is the latest work of game designer David Cage, the game is only available for the PlayStation third The Frenchman and his studio Quantic Dream have made a name with Heavy Rain : The interactive film noir from 2010 depicts the hunt for a serial killer from varying perspectives. Was criticized Heavy Rain successfully for the control of immature and cheesy plot, and yet it was Cage, the majority of the players emotionally to pack. He was thus taken its own targets closer to build a world of feeling, as in Hollywood movies.
Beyond Cage has since also involved two Hollywood stars Ellen Page (Juno , Inception ) represents Jodie, Willem Dafoe ( Wild at Heart , Spider-Man ) the scientists and surrogate father Nathan Dawkins. In a complex process all the scenes were captured by motion capture, facial expressions and gestures of the actors were digitized. The result is impressive: never has a computer game the feelings of his main characters so subtly conveyed as it now Beyond creates. A twitch in the corner of the mouth, a slight lift of the eyebrow, such nuances convey messages, even if the characters do not say anything now.
The gameJodie accompanied over a period of 15 years, from eighth to 23 Of age. But the story is not told chronologically, but each chapter with numerous advantages and flashbacks. In the first chapter of the adult Jodie met a spy for the CIA job, only a little later it goes back to her childhood and to a snowball fight. This time jumps are in any event more exciting than a linear story told, Jodie’s life has to be put together like a puzzle.
26 chapters of the game are very different not only in their lives. Some are short cut scenes , others sophisticated missions of half-hour length. Well to the players not to overwhelm, assigns Beyond the already completed chapters on a timeline along – a design decision, the need for which one can argue
.Prior
the makers had promised much playful freedom. A promise, but that they do not redeem now. The basic framework is quite exciting: You control Jodie and Aiden separately, the change takes place on the triangle button on the controller. As spiritual beings Aiden can fly through walls and ceilings, but is connected by a luminous “umbilical cord” with Jodie. If the distance is too great, you will hear a whistling sound very unpleasant, and the field of vision becomes blurred. Since Aiden can not speak, he has to rely on nonverbal communication. Which can be very uncomfortable if Aiden times irascible or just cocky, he then pushes tables around or throwing chairs around the room.
claim arms routine
If Jodie
but attacked by enemies, they almost always calls zuhilfe Aiden: He can drive away or kill not only opponents but also heal wounds Jodie, projectiles away by a protective screen and cushion falls from heights gently. Proves to be particularly useful Aiden’s ability to temporarily take possession of the opponents. Then open involuntarily locks, alarm systems turn off or turn against their own comrades. In some places, traces of past events are stored: Aiden can activate the memories and make Jodie available
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What sounds like a mighty action repertoire, soon reveals itself as a sophisticated poor routine. Namely Aiden can only interact with objects and enemies that are marked with a luminous point. Thus, it often enough already, flying to rattle these points, which are also usually placed very visible. Negative noticed that Aiden may not make the best possible decision in every situation: he could stun a guard yet, the next maybe immune to its influence. What the mind can and can not is too often dependent on the dramaturgy of the action – here you can feel the regulatory hand of David Cage too much
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