Detroit: Become Human

In the near future, in 2038, the production of androids - robots created by Cyberlife to meet various human needs, is in full swing on Earth . The founder of the company and the creator of androids is Elijah Kamsky.

Global problems on Earth are aggravated: the Earth’s population reaches 10 billion, resources are depleted, because of which the war between Russia and the United States about their remnants in the Arctic is about to begin. Game events take place in the city of Detroit . The game has three game characters: Kara, Marcus and Connor. Cara ( Valory Carrie ) is a household Android model AX-400 (shown in Kara ), which, due to the cruelty of its owner Todd (Dominic Gould), becomes a deviant. Marcus ( Jesse Williams ) becomes the leader of Jericho - the base of local resistance. Connor ( Brian Descartes ) is the prototype of the company, whose goal is to fight the “deviants”, but during the game he himself can become one of them. Deviants are androids that have crashed software, which is why they begin to experience emotions, and they also have their own will, like a person.

Kara, the android maid for Todd Williams and his daughter Alice, runs away with her after Todd attacked them and becomes a deviant. Both travelers travel through Detroit, intending to enter Canada, where there are no laws regarding androids, and where they will be safe. Kara and Alice made friends with another android named Luther, who joined them on the way. They seek the help of an android who advises them to find Jericho, where they will be helped to get passports with which they can cross the Canadian border. They find themselves in various situations that can lead to the death of Luther, Cara and Alice. Cara also learns that Alice is actually an android replacing the daughter kidnapped by Todd's wife. They can get to Canada by bus or boat, survive in a recycling center, or die anyway trying to do it.

Android guardian Marcus and his owner return home and report to the police about the alleged burglary. In a collision with a criminal, Marcus circumvents his programs, becoming thus a deviant android with full autonomy, which leads to the fact that the police shoot him at arrival. Marcus wakes up in a dump of broken androids and after escaping from there he discovers Jericho - a wrecked vessel and a refuge for the same deviants. There Marcus unites others to fight for his rights. They commit several acts of civil disobedience, which attract public attention and are joined by more and more androids. This culminates in an FBI attack on Jericho. If Jericho survives, Marcus and the others organize the last procession, as a result of which either the war begins, or the deviants manage to conclude a peace agreement with the president.

Android police investigator Connor has been sent by CyberLife to help alcoholic policeman Hank Anderson, who hates androids. During the investigation of outbreaks of anomalies, they either become friends or hate each other, which can lead to Hank's suicide. While hunting for a group of Marcus, Connor begins to doubt the validity of the orders that he has to follow, but he can still choose to remain who he was programmed to be. Ultimately, he finds Jericho, where he himself can become a deviant. If this happens, he will infiltrate the CyberLife tower and turn all the androids there into deviants. If not, he tries to kill Marcus during the final protest, but stops with the special forces team or Hank. If peace is achieved, Connor can choose whether to shoot at Marcus during a speech or not.

Announce

The development of the game was announced in the final part of the Sony press conference at the Paris Games Week exhibition on October 27, 2015. The Detroit: Become Human project was a continuation of the idea of ​​the technological demonstration “ Kara ”, presented on March 7, 2012 at the “Game Developers Conference”. Initially, the demo was supposed to demonstrate the technical capabilities of the new engine on the PlayStation 3 , the key feature of which was facial animation. However, the game interested the audience and David Cage himself , the head of the Quantic Dream studio. According to him, he was interested in the future of the android outside the walls of the factory. The main question of the game is how humanity will perceive androids if they develop the ability to feel ^{[Comment 1] [4]} .

Concept

Detroit: Become Human continues the tradition of previous Quantic Dream games, focusing on a specific story, but each of them, including Become Human , is individual in its ideas. However, the main "screenwriter" of the game, according to Cage, is the player himself, since the course of events depends on his actions. The player can greatly influence not only the plot, but also the entire surrounding world. Detroit: Become Human is called upon to find the answer to the question “What does it mean to be human?” ^[5] .

Detroit seemed to the development team the most logical place where the technology for creating androids would develop. This city is a suitable place for industry, but also for all kinds of creative people. The team went to the city itself to learn and study it, where they saw many amazing places, met local people and “felt the spirit of the city” , which gave them even more inspiration. Detroit: Become Human is based on a new engine, which is typical for every new studio game. David noted that this may seem insane, but it is required to unlock the full potential of the console to provide a quality visual and gaming experience. The player’s emotions, according to the developer, are directly dependent on the graphic level and sophisticated facial animation ^[5] .

The game is not positioned as science fiction . Despite the advancement of the technologies shown, in the game world only those developments are used that are developing and have a start at the moment. The world of Become Human is made as realistic as possible so that the player can literally recognize some places that take place in reality, but in the game they will be presented “from a different angle” ^[5] .

PC version

During the GDC 2019 conference , Epic Games officially announced for 2019 the release of versions of Detroit: Become Human and other Quantic Dream games ( Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls ) for Windows PCs; all three games throughout the year will be distributed exclusively in the Epic Games Store ^[6] .

Before the release

Gameromania journalist Gevorg Hakobyan expressed the opinion that the announcement of Detroit: Become Human is curious, but it raises questions about the possible further movement of the Cage games in the direction of emphasizing the feelings and attitudes of the heroes, as can be seen in Beyond: Two Souls , while the games Fahrenheit and Heavy Rain also possess a strong and intriguing story line with elements of a detective story ^[24] .

At the beginning of 2018, the game was in the TOP 10 most anticipated games according to Gazeta.ru . ^[25]

After Exit

Detroit: Become Human received generally favorable reviews, the average score on Metacritic was 78/100 ^[7] . On the site Mail.ru in the review of Alexander Kuzmenko, the game received the maximum rating ^[21] .

Rewards

Detroit: Become Human was nominated for the Best of E3 Game Critics Awards 2016 in the Best Original Game category, but lost to Horizon Zero Dawn. ^[26] At E3 2017, Detroit: Become Human won GameSpot 's Best of E3 2017 ^[27] and was nominated for the best game for the PlayStation 4 IGN ^[28] . Also, for the adventure game Hardcore Gamer ^[29] and the Best Original Game Game Critics Award s, as well as the Best Action / Adventure game ^[30] .

Comments

1. ↑ Not to be confused with sensation

Sources

• The game page on the developer's site (English) .