Excellent Graphics And Acting
The character models are one of the most realistic I’ve ever seen from a video game since L.A. Noire. Ellen Page (who plays Jodie) looks (and acts) phenomenal in this game. Sometimes it may feel like you’re actually watching a movie more than playing a video game. Willem Dafoe (who plays Nathan) plays his role really well too and his wrinkly face is rendered to perfection here. Although I did not know the actors who played the other characters, they acted their parts excellently as well. The actors really help you get immersed into the story as their performances are engaging and very realistic. This isn’t the type of game where the characters are bland and lack any emotion.
Co-Op Gameplay
You wouldn’t think a game like this will have an offline co-op mode, but it does. A second player can join in and control Aiden while the other player is Jodie. If somehow you get stuck and don’t know what to do, you can call your friend to help you out. It’s a nice touch to the game, since it lets a second player get involved rather than just letting them sit on the sidelines.
Not
Disjointed Storytelling
The one thing I didn’t like about the game is that Jodie’s life isn’t played out in the correct order. The story would have been easier to follow and be more suspenseful if you were to play the chapters in the correct order. No, the chapters are all muddled up and sometimes you’ll be confused as to when and where things happen in the timeline because of this random way of storytelling. For example, you start off the game seeing Jodie as an adult, and then you play her as a child, then you are an adult again and then back to a teenager and so on. There’s actually a storyline reason why the chapters are all muddled up, although it’s still kind of random how the game is set out this way. You could always replay the chapters again, and see how events fit into the timeline if you somehow get confused.
Some Slow Parts
There are certain chapters in the game that are longer and less exciting than others. Sometimes Jodie will settle down in one place and do “normal” things. When I played the game the first time, some of these events felt slow and I wanted to her to focus on the main storyline instead. By the end of the game, you’ll get to understand why some of the parts are slow because you’re supposed to connect with certain characters more than others. Still, I did feel kind of bored when Jodie had to do chores on a farm. I play video games to avoid doing chores in real life; I don’t want to do them in a video game…
Awkward Controls at some points
When it comes to controlling the characters, the controls are pretty similar to Heavy Rain. Players will go through a series of pressing buttons in a sequence which is very familiar to those who have played Heavy Rain. While that may be a good thing to some, some parts of the game will really get annoying and one of them is when players are controlling Aiden. The idea of controlling a ghost and being able to go through walls are indeed nice but it gets tedious when there’s some sort of a learning curve when playing as Aiden. Sometimes the movement can be super sensitive, while often times they simply refuse to work making players think if it’s even bugged or not. There are also times where you have to align the left and right sticks in the correct position to heal people with Aiden. This can be a frustrating experience when you first play the game.
In addition, there are segments in the game that allow players to play some sort of a third person shooter. At first it was awesome but it gets to a point that it’s not even necessary to implement it in the game. Oh, not to mention when players are doing active time events, they will get so confused as to what to press as the game is not simply telling you which buttons to press to successfully dodge it. Come on, this is not a guessing game.
Verdict
Beyond: Two Souls is another entertaining and great game from David Cage. The story is excellent and engaging throughout and the acting is superb. Graphically, the character models are realistic and it’s amazing the aging PS3 can still produce visuals like this. The fact that you are able to control a ghost is something you won’t find in any other video game which makes Beyond: Two Souls a unique experience. Not to mention there’s a lot of replay value on offer here too thanks to the multiple scenarios you can explore. The game only has some flaws such as awkward controls and a slow pace at times, but these aren’t enough to ruin the experience overall. If you loved Heavy Rain, there’s a strong chance you’ll get to love Beyond: Two Souls as well.
[Editor’s Note: Beyond: Two Souls was reviewed on the PlayStation 3 platform. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]