Beyond Two Souls Review

I have to admit, the release of Beyond Two Souls, the most recent release from Quantic Dream, kind of snuck up on me. That’s surprising considering that not only was there a huge amount of hype for this game but also that I’m a huge fan of their previous releases such as Heavy Rain and the Indigo Prophecy.

Heavy Rain, which was in my opinion poorly marketed at the time of it’s release, has since gained a lot of popularity amongst gamers. Despite it’s incredibly linear gameplay and slow beginning, it keeps you at the edge of your seat with a compelling storyline and quicktime events that had you shouting at your screen in panic. It wasn’t perfect of course (don’t get me started on the accents), but I loved it like a cat loves a plastic bag.

So when I heard that there was a new game from Quantic Dream AND that it was to feature a story with supernatural elements, I understandably began to salivate at the very thought of being able to play it.

Also known as “That Ellen Page Game”, Beyond Two Souls is the story of Jodie, a girl who is linked from birth to a strange entity/poltergeist named Aiden. What or who it is part of the mystery of the game, and you jump back and forth between different points in Jodie’s life to learn her and Aiden’s story. Also, Willem Dafoe is in it.

Aiden is, to say the least, a hinderence to Jodie leading a normal life. Essentially raised in a military lab, Jodie’s main driving force is to just try to be like any other girl. That’s a bit difficult when you have your own personal somewhat possessive poltergeist attached to you at all times.

Now, before I go much further I should say I did really enjoy this game. I loved the supernatural premise and being able to play AS Aiden and scaring the normies with my poltergeist activity. You can do something as benign as turning on a lamp or just flip out and start throwing knives across the room. Aiden has a personality all his own and once Jodie lets him off his leash, so to speak, there is no stopping him from going just a bit too far. In the end, it’s up to you.

Actually, my enjoyment of this game was vastly improved by the fact that there’s a co-op mode (which was barely advertised) using either the PS3 controller or your Ipad. I ended up playing as Jodie and my friend played as Aiden. If you get a chance, I would highly recommend you try the co-op mode out, especially if you and your friend differ in personality because once you let Aiden take control, you can’t get it back until your friend decides they are done and there is a LOT of damage that can be done in the process. There was a lot of argument between us as he proceeded to do such things like sabatoge a date in the game I wanted to go well.

It helps that Ellen Page turns in some pretty fantastic acting work, not just in providing some very convincing emotional scenes, but also conveying the various ages of Jodie throughout the game. Willem Dafoe also does a fantastic job as Jodie’s caretaker/doctor. Even though he is the main reason Jodie cannot have a normal life, his concern for her well being is genuine and sincere. Maybe it’s just because I’m used to seeing him be cartoonishly evil as the  Green Goblin, but it’s probably some of the best work I’ve seen from Dafoe.

It’s also an extremely pretty game. Seriously, graphics cannot get much better than this. Beyond Two Souls tests the limits of the PS3’s capabilities, and mine was coughing and chugging to keep up. This is motion capture at its very best and the uncanny valley is shrinking even further as time passes and technology improves.

Like Heavy Rain, Beyond Two Souls relies heavily on quick time events to move the action forward. I have no problem with that. Done right, quicktime events can help you feel the panic and tense emotions the character on screen is feeling. Unlike Heavy Rain, which used a rapid fire series of button commands, this game actually doesn’t dictate which button you should push, instead slowing down the action at the right moment to make a decision. While I found that sometimes the slow down moments removed me from the game a bit, there were still plenty of tense moments to enjoy.

But despite all of that…despite the gorgeous graphics and the great performances and the fun of setting off a poltergeist on evil teenagers…I just couldn’t love this game on the level that I loved Heavy Rain. Let the nitpicking commence!

Beyond Two Souls is an extremely linear game. Again, I have no problem with that. I am of the firm belief that a linear gameplay and storyline can be equally compelling as any sandbox game or FPS out there. Think of the Walking Dead. No abundance of action, story and dialogue driven, and while your choices do affect your storyline they are only slight variations. But it was one of the best games of 2012 (although I’m sure if someone had used the terrifying “adventure game” label earlier gamers would have avoided it like the plague) and I know of few people who were not tearing up by the end of it.

But if you’re going to do that, if you’re going to tell a linear story with linear gameplay, then you better make sure that your characters and storytelling are top notch. And well…Beyond Two Souls missed the mark a bit on that one. I simply didn’t find myself getting as invested.

There’s the somewhat awkward non-linear storytelling. I get the feeling the writers wrote out a three act story and simply chopped it up and mixed up the chapters. There wasn’t much in terms of transition and the episodic feel kind of dragged me out of the story a bit.

Then there’s the broadly painted characters.  Jodie and the doctor and MAYBE a couple of other characters are pretty complex, but everyone else Jodie encounters are painted in broad strokes. In this world, teenagers are jerks (okay…kind of true), the homeless are all helpful and friendly, Native Americans all commune with spirits, the American military is always the enemy, and every man you encounter at a party or bar wants to rape you. It’s supposed to get you to care for Jodie’s plight more and sympathize with her, but instead it just strikes as lazy writing.

And then there’s the element that Beyond Two Souls is missing that Heavy Rain had in spades: stakes.

What do I mean by that? Well, for one, Jodie can’t die. You know this right from the start. You see her at the end of the game, reminiscing about past events. You know that nothing terrible can happen to her because she is alive in the end. Fair enough, there are movies and games that do that all the time. But in this case, it affects the gameplay as well. Part of what was compelling with Heavy Rain was that at any point, one of the four main characters could die and the plot would simply go on without them.

Here though, you can easily just put down the controller during a quicktime sequence and let Jodie fail. It might affect the outcome, it will affect how certain characters treat you for failing a mission or refusing to speak, but ultimately Jodie herself will be fine. You’ll simply be pushed to the next part of the plot.

Normally I wouldn’t be bothered by this. After all, there are many games where death is impossible. But again, you need to make it up with excellent writing. Beyond Two Souls unfortunately kind of veers towards cliched and unbelievable at points. I found there were two outcomes for every chapter in this game: either Jodie would be accused of being a witch (yes, someone in the 21st century accused someone else of witchcraft) and shun her or the characters and the plot would treat her like Jesus.

In fact, here’s an example. Late in the game a character is trying to torture you for information. They pull the “Well, if you won’t talk now, maybe you will if we hurt your friend” shenanigans and proceed to torture your friend. I knew I was supposed to feel a moral dilemma. I knew I was supposed to feel torn between speaking or watching my partner get the crap kicked out of him and possibly killed. But I simply didn’t care enough about the other character.

That sounds awful of me, I know, but it’s true. I felt as though I was simply watching a movie at that point even though I had full control of what was happening. Compare that with Heavy Rain, when you are given a choice to kill a drug dealer who you have just met, but then see that he has children. You don’t even SEE the children, just their bedroom, and yet the decision was still an incredibly difficult one to make.

I admit, I am being a little bit harsh. Like I said, I enjoyed the game. Heck, if you want proof I even did a Let’s Play series with my friend.  And there were a few moments when I was very gripped by what was happening, including a sequence which seems lifted right out of Silent Hill.

But I needed more of those moments. The game is at its best when it focuses on the relationship between Jodie and Aiden rather than military conspiracies and uninteresting love subplots (I’m sorry David Cage, but you really can’t write romance well. Three games now, and I have yet to be convinced). In the end thankfully I was moved but it would have been nice to see that more consistently.

Having said all that, I would say that if you’re curious by all means play this game.  But if you do I would probably wait until it was a bit cheaper. Like I said, it’s fun, it’s interesting, Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe are awesome, you get a poltergeist. But at the same time it lacks that certain something that would mark it as a great game. Hopefully Quantic’s next venture will be there magnum opus. But until then, I can settle for this.