The next scene took place in a forest, which was far more expansive than any environment I’ve ever seen in Heavy Rain. Jodie is completely bruised up and has cuts all over her face. Jodie looks like she’s been through hell. As she makes a run for it through the woodlands, we get to see just how realistic the movements are – in Heavy Rain, the animations during gameplay were comically stiff.
That’s not the case in Beyond, nearly every step that Jodie took appeared to be unique. Each time she turned around it looked like she was doing that animation for the first time: she would trip over environments, stumble around a bit, or sometimes just frantically move around just like a real person would. This would normally lead you to believe that this was a scripted cutscene, but again, it was all playable.
Eventually, Jodie is spotted by a helicopter and dogs begin to chase her. The sequence is even more intense than the last since you really have no idea what to expect. It looks like the environment has no end and there doesn’t appear to be any set path to run. Even as a viewer it was engaging and heart pumping to watch. The fact that the player is in control makes this even more worthwhile. There is always that possibility of something going wrong.
During this entire sequence there was very little breathing room for the player. As Jodie makes her way through the forest she finds herself submerged in a river. Cops begin to shoot her, though each bullet misses. She must have really done something bad if they cops want her dead that badly. It probably has something to do with her paranormal powers but we can only assume. Soon after we cross the river, a pack of German Shepherds begin to attack quite aggressively, knocking her to the ground. Another QTE sequence appears as Jodie tries to defend herself by grabbing whatever she can find. In this case it looked like she grabbed a tree branch from the surroundings.
Quantic Dream pulled no punches and let Jodie unleash her wrath on the dogs whenever she had the chance. There were times where Jodie’s only chance of survival was to kick a dog in the face. It never felt excessively violent, though, which is good. The only thing that’s unclear is whether or not the player has full control during this fight outside of the QTEs.
After climbing her way up some rocks in typical Heavy Rain fashion, Jodie cautiously wades through the area only to find a police barricade. It’s here that she notices a police motorcycle that is bound to help her escape. She first needs to find a way to distract the guard though, and this is where another gameplay mechanic kicks in: if the enemy has an orange aura around them, Aiden is able to possess the character.
Aiden takes control of one of the officers and gets into a vehicle; the possessed cop then begins to drive frantically all over the place as the other cops react appropriately confused. This allows Jodie to steal the bike, which then leads us to yet another exciting chase scene.
During this section of the game, the player actually has full control over the bike by using the SIXAXIS motion controls. Despite this, the scene itself is still incredbily cinematic – the camera shifts around dynamically and looks just like something you’d see in a movie. It’s not clear how this affects the controls, but it definitely looked amazing. Hopefully it plays just as well. Eventually, Jodie finds herself blocked off by the police. This doesn’t stop her though and she decides to rush through the barricade as Aiden acts as a shield.
At this point I’m wondering what limitations these two characters actually have. They seem almost too powerful.
Just when it looks like Jodie made her escape, a SWAT team member shoots the bike down and she takes a rather nasty fall. Visibly injured, Jodie tries to limp her way to safety but now she’s completely surrounded. It’s Aiden’s turn to shine again, and this is really where the gameplay takes an interesting twist. The player is given the freedom to deal with the situation as they see fit. You can take control of the different SWAT team members, distract them by exploding cars, or you can even opt to do nothing.
Continued…
Alex
Can’t wait. Was a bit disappointed in Heavy Rain, but this looks amazing.
cc_star
Me too, on both points… Felt HR was part cool, part smoke & mirrors, but alao can’t wait for this!
wonkey-willy
blaspheme!
teflon
My information blackout for this game has already begun. I liked Heavy Rain, I liked that Kara teaser, I like Ellen Page, and so on and so on.
Needless to say, this will be a pre-order of the most limited edition of this game. Just don’t want to read anything about it up until then!
greatstrife
Totally agree there, after that amazing trailer at e3 this article peaked my interest but as soon as i read the first paragraph my internal monologue just said “ahhhhh! scroll down!” i already feel i read too much.
aerobes
That was a brilliant article. Above and beyond from you, Delriach as usual.
The game was a complete surprise to me when it was shown as I made a conscious effort to avoid pre-E3 spoilers and I was truly amazed with what I saw and heard when it was shown. Easily the most lasting display I saw from the Sony side of things at E3.
Having hugely enjoyed the previous generations Fahrenheit, I was awaiting Heavy Rain with baited breath and when it arrived to much fan-fare, I really enjoyed it, the story was magnificent I thought while I felt the controls left a little to be desired to me personally. An experience like no other but definitely room for large improvement.
The Kara technical demonstration was interesting as a glimpse of Quantic Dreams future but Beyond looks … well, beyond what I anticipated or even hoped for. And the collaboration with a great actress in Ellen Page just pushes things that extra notch upwards.
I can’t let myself get too excited but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have huge hopes for this one. As a result, I’ll be limiting my intake of Beyond related information so I don’t hear, read or see too much before we’re able to have our own hands on.
Top work, Del. Appreciated.
skibadee
just put this on preorder great read.
TSBonyman
Nice job Delriach, i’ve only seen the fuzzy online footage but it still looked amazing. Can’t wait.
Nate
Personally Heavy Rain was one of my favourite games of this gen, despite its technical hiccups. I’m both hoping for and expecting great things from Beyond, it is looking to be another stunning game.
Jakster123x
Yeah, i was really impressed by the demo when i saw it a couple of days ago
Taylor Made
I don’t see the hype over Ellen Paige I mean for real though what is it?
bunimomike
She’s a very competent, young actress who has decent breadth and depth to her abilities and can do real-world emotions with seamless transitions – unlike many of her peers. Is she the best there is? Nope. Still, she’s a fine actress.
fs
I loved Heavy Rain, it was right up my street. The graphics will be better in this game, so if they can produce something half as engaging as HR they will be on to success. I felt the use of Sixasis was a good element in Heavy Rain, but somewhat overused. It sounds as if they will do the same again for this game. Overall i’d say im looking forward to it. Should be good.
Shadow_lawless
I refuse to read it 1 page was too much, preorder check
Delriach
lol yeah. This was pretty much all spoilers ;P