Note: This is not complete. Still needs reviewing and rewriting. I’ll reupload it once I make the final neccesary edits
Gameplay: The game controls far better than previous Quantic Dream games, though that’s not exactly a high bar to pass. You move with the left stick, while the camera is adjusted with the right stick. The QTEs mainly take place on the right side of the controller, which means that transitions to QTEs are natural and comfortable (save for a few edge cases which could be argued as “purposely uncomfortable for story-gameplay integration purposes). The flowchart, which is your main way of viewing and replaying choices, is convenient and easy to navigate. It works very similarly to the one in the Zero Escape series, where you directly warp to key points so as to make a different decision. If you’re connected to the PlayStation Network, you can also see the amount of people who chose a certain choice after completing a level, which in my opinion is a great integration of online functions without detracting from the singleplayer experience.
That being said, not everything is a positive. The biggest setback by far is the inability to skip previously viewed cutscenes. It is disappointing that a high-budget narrative game as this does not have a vital feature like this. It makes repeat playthroughs far more of a slog than they have any right to be. Some of the gyro prompts are also very awkward and unresponsive, though this might be more of a fault of the PS4 controller rather than the game itself. Still, this game plays by far the best out of any Quantic Dream game so far.
Characters: The main story is told from three different perspectives. For the sake of this review, I will cover each character individually, since for the most part these characters are isolated from each other (save for a few chapters, mostly near the end).
Markus’s story starts off interesting, taking care of an old man whose perspectives differ radically from the rest of the public. The section where he revives himself, while fucking amazing, feels completely unneccesary in the grand scheme of the story. Seriously, you could cut out “Time to Decide”, “Spare Parts”, and most of “Jericho” and the story would be practically unchanged. Hell, “Freedom March”, “Capitol Park”, and “Stratford Tower” feel very similar to each other, and feel as if they could be moved around with little overall impact to the story. All of this leads to a narrative that feels rushed and incomplete, with only about a third of his chapters feeling like they have any care or attention put in to them. Not to mention, his path has by far the most plotholes and confusions. How does he become the leader of a underground group of androids that has lasted for years in the span of four hours?
Connor’s story is the only one out of the three that truly gripped me from start to finish. Out of the main three, he is the only one that actually feels like his deviancy happens naturally – by interacting with a foil who he is forced to adapt to, he picks up traits that make him question his own values as an android. I also found most of the nice “little character moments” in this section. For example, when he checks on Hank in “Russian Roulette” and rings the doorbell, he holds on it for a while. It’s these little details that add character and make the whole experience feel more alive. Easily the most engaging character, which is ironic considering that he has the least visible emotion of the main trio.
Story: This is where things start really going downhill. The premise of Detroit is interesting, at the very least – and if you take each scene at face value, you can go through the whole 9-10 hours of the story with little noticeable issues. The problem is that the narrative – an allegory for discrimination – is one that demands further critical examination from the player, and once you really think and analyze about the setting, you begin to realize how many plotholes and issues there are. A few that come to mind:
- 40% unemployment rate is absolutely ridiculous. There is no way that a society with that high of an unemployment rate can still function the way it is presented in this game.
- On the same subject, how are androids so cheap? $8000, even though it’s a sale, is still a ridiculously low price for how much androids can do. Like, they’re more flexible than cars in that regard. Even if you consider that we don’t know how cheap it is to produce.