Beyond: Two Souls came out on top of this week’s WeView poll, and it is sure to bring a divide in opinion amongst readers.
Beyond, as most of you know, isn’t a traditional game, much like Heavy Rain, Quantic Dreams’ previous title. The input is minimal, with the main focus being the narrative, which leads to different pathways depending on your decisions. What’s more Beyond boasts a cast including Ellen Page and Willem Defoe.
Personally I loved Beyond, even after its shaky start. The first couple of hours left a lot to be desired, and I found it difficult to make out what was really going on. The timeline was essentially a fragmented mess at some parts. However, with the help of Defoe and Page, who put in some great performances, by the end everything seemed to come together for a satisfying finish.
Blair reviewed the game for TSA, and I think it’s fair to say he didn’t enjoy the game quite as much as me. He said Beyond had an “incredibly jumbled story, almost amateur writing and some cumbersome controls”. Not to mention the “lengthy sequences which drag on for far too long”.
It wasn’t all negative though as Beyond showcased some wonderful acting performances as well as being a “stunning spectacle in terms of visuals”.
He concluded:
Beyond is a tale of squandered potential. With acting talent such as Page and Dafoe on board, music from legendary composer Hans Zimmer and visuals that give the PS4 launch line-up a run for their money, it’s such a shame that when it comes down to it, the incompetent story and poor gameplay mechanics leave a lot to be desired.
Now it’s over to you. Did you enjoy Beyond, and manage to make sense of the story and eventual meaning? Or did you feel that it resembled a bit of a jumbled mess? Let us know in the comments below. Be sure to give the game either a Buy It, Bargain Bin It, Rent It or Avoid It rating. We’ll collate your thoughts in next Monday’s verdict article.
3shirts
I agree with Blair. The story feels like it’s trying too hard to be deep and the non-chronological structure is very forced (like Kill Bill) rather than a useful pacing mechanic (like Reservoir Dogs).
After about half way through I was just playing to find out the ending, more out of a feeling of sunk cost than anything else. It’s not terrible and I do still think the format has a place in the market but this is just a ‘Rent It’ if you are interested in the idea.
OcelHrobka1991
Played it through once and realized that the maker of this game just wanted to make a movie. This game is all about choice but if you don’t pick one the game just picks for you. THAT’S NOT A GAME!!!!. Even if you do pick a choice it doesn’t change the game massively. It was the same problem with heavy rain, you go through the game and then the game picks an ending. Nothing to do with choices. He may as well done a Peter Jackson and made a 3 hour film out of it. AVOID!!
baggyg
Playing through at the moment. I agree with most people. Its technically brilliant but not a lot of game there. The “aidan” parts could have potentially been good but there is far too little choice on what he can do and hard to work out what effect it will have.
However considering its length and girlfriend-friendly appeal. Rent It (or playstation now it)
Taylor Made
The controls sucked ass, similar to heavy rain, I never understood why David cage doesn’t use the left analog to walk & the right analog to look. The controls are awful.
Besides that personally I think this game is fantastic only because when I play it I’m high as a mother but regardless it’s a fun game & it could have been brilliant if it separated away from heavy rain & made you actually play the game.
Bargain hunt it
Avenger
Bargain Bin It.
Others will give their opinions, so I’m just going to talk about the plot. It’s disjointed. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as I found playing each main scene when I had some spare time was like watching a episode in the life of Jodie. This made it quite entertaining on a pick-up-and-play basis.
For those that say it’s not a game, they are correct. This is no different from The Walking Dead in simply playing scenes out. However Beyond has some cinematic flare which makes each scene very interesting. For example one scene there is a western folklore, and the other is a stealth military action, then another there is horror. There’s multiple genres to be enjoyed and its all done with good voice acting and monumentally gorgeous graphics.
One last thing I would say is that people should not expect an overarching story. The only thing that is important from beginning to end is the relationship between Jodie and Aiden. That aspect of the game is really small, and it is difficult to justify recommending it, but if you liked the Walking Dead, then I reckon you’d like Beyond: Two Souls.
I say Bargain Bin It merely as a way of saying buy it cheap, and then either keep it or sell it, it isn’t worth full price.
jimmy-google
I really enjoyed beyond. Partly because it was so different from anything else. I’m not sure I could class it as a game but I certainly found it more engaging than many games where you have far more involvement. It’s certainly something you should experience.
I found the story easy to follow and the jumping around actually helped the story. I actually quite liked the story too. If you go in expecting a traditional game you’ll probably be disappointed but if you have an idea of what to expect and have enjoyed what Quantic Dream have done before there is a really enjoyable experience there.
I would say rent it (which is what I did) but I found that after finishing it I wanted to see the other endings, for that reason I would say buy it.
I really hope there is a big action sequel because it seemed perfectly set up for a big action blockbuster
colmshan1990
The game looks and sounds fantastic, and plays really nicely.
It’s well written (for a game), with a rich and varied story, and astonishingly well acted.
But most importantly?
This is what every gamer always cries out for but never expects- something different. And it’s well Beyond worth playing.
BUY IT.
arrybags
I paid less than £12 for it over Xmas and played it through in a weekend.
There were some bits which I didn’t particularly like, being dropped into a war zone just felt like it didn’t fit.
But overall I really enjoyed it, it has its flaws but i think it is worth it.
Buy it (especially when it’s on offer)
Gaztee
Gotta say that heavy rain is probably my favourite game of the ps3 era. I was so looking forward to this. However I found this really disappointing. I couldn’t find a way to connect with the characters. I ended up giving up on it as I wasn’t enjoying it at all. AVOID – go find a cheap copy of heavy rain & play that instead!
Greg Turner
I really enjoyed it but Quantic Dream need to get someone else to write and just let David Cage direct.
Greg Turner
Whoops, I also meant to say RENT IT.