Quantic Dream’s latest game, Beyond: Two Souls, seemed to hold a lot of promise. Directed by David Cage, starring Ellen Page and Willem Defoe, and with a science-fiction-ish plot, there was so much potential, and so much to like. But, in the end, the messy plot, lack of challenge, and mediocrity of the characters created a tepid and disappointing experience.
Platforms: PS3
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer: Quantic Dream
Genre: Supernatural Action Starring a Tiny Canadian
Release Date: October 8, 2013
ESRB Rating:It’s worth noting right off the bat that both Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe – as well as many of the other actors in the game – delivered exquisite performances. Page, in particular, was convincing as the much-abused Jodie Holmes. Her peculiar circumstances – that she is connected to a ghostly entity named Aiden – drive away her family, prevent her from making many friends, and put her in a number of questionable situations. The actress does a convincing job as Holmes, showing her naivety, confusion, pain, and, at times, her desire to deliver some righteous justice.
Sadly, I’d go so far as to say Page’s performance was wasted in Beyond: Two Souls. While watching Holmes grow and mature before our eyes, the plot and the gameplay never grow in any meaningful way. At no point do you ever feel truly threatened – there are entire challenges in which you can put your controller down and suffer no real penalty in the end. While there are some tense moments, there’s almost nothing that Aiden can’t swiftly come in and fix… with extreme prejudice.
First of all, before I get into Aiden, let me just say that I hate the fact that every character in the game pronounces his name as “Eye-den.” It’s supposed to be “Ay-den,” not “Eye-den.” I couldn’t help but think that the reason he was so angry was because no one could say his name right!
Anyway, back to EYE-den. The player can switch between him and Jodie, going into a different mode in which Aiden can interact with objects as well as certain people. Interactable objects are indicated by a small dot, while people are indicated by a certain color glow around them. Some enemies you can just flat out kill, which feels a little evil. Others you can take over and force to do things, like kill everyone around them, which is even more evil. Of course, you could just play the game and not kill anyone, but there’s so little to do in the game that going into ghost-possession-Call-of-Duty mode is actually darkly fun.
We follow a nonlinear narrative along a timeline of Jodie’s life, which, at times, is downright nonsensical. Jodie spends her life either being studied in captivity, being used for her powers, or running from all of the above. While she is being studied by Dafoe’s character, Nathan Dawkins, she has no interaction with kids her own age. She is later invited to a teenager’s birthday party, where the mother – who works with Dawkins – leaves the teens alone. The partygoers, in typical Mean Girls fashion, gang up on Jodie and bully her – which she, of course, doesn’t understand at all. This is a situation in which you can (and I, of course, did) use Aiden to get your revenge. But, in the end, this just feels like another excuse to bully poor Jodie, who is constantly put up against the worst odds. Throughout her life, she faces all kinds of strange situations: spying for the government, fighting a Navajo spirit, and singing a Beck song for money while homeless – not to mention delivering a baby while under those same circumstances. These slices of Jodie’s life don’t make any sense together, and all the while, you grow ever more confused and bored at the inability of the plot to actually go anywhere.
To say I was disappointed by Beyond: Two Souls would be an understatement. I loved Heavy Rain, and played it multiple times, revisiting it when it was updated with Move compatibility. While Heavy Rain was not without its problems, either, it was at least a fun experience. I can’t say the same about Beyond, which didn’t go anywhere and didn’t bring any enjoyment – other than when I saw the credits roll. Quantic Dream definitely struck out on this one.
Review Disclosure: A retail copy of Beyond: Two Souls was purchased by Warp Zoned for the purposes of this review.
