Whilst this is clearly a bit of a marmite game, I'd highly recommend it to those who liked Heavy Rain and Fahrenheit. The story is compelling and both Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe are outstanding. I also thought that Kadeem Hardison put in a great performance as Cole Freeman. The motion capture techniques used, brilliant acting and interesting storyline all combine to actually achieve something which doesn't happen much in games... it made me care for the characters. The only other game which has really achieved that in my opinion is The Last of Us (the relationship between Joel and Ellie). This is also a game which makes you think and not everything is black and white. I don't want to spoil it for others, so won't go into too much detail, but there is a section with a child soldier which really made me sit up and take notice and the game explores the morality and consequences of the player's actions. It makes you question what you are being told and whether it's the right thing to do. Furthermore, my ending (there are 12 possible endings, depending on choices made in the game) was bittersweet. It's rare for a video game to have such an impact on the player in my opinion.
The graphics are outstanding and are amongst the best on the current gen consoles. The soundtrack is also superb, not quite as good as The Last of Us, but not far off.
My only criticisms of the game would be that the slow-motion action scenes weren't as good as the system used in Heavy Rain and I think it does take an hour or two to properly get into the storyline. The latter isn't helped by the fact that the game is not in chronological order, jumping between different time periods and at first I found this annoying. However, the more time you invest in it, the more it makes sense and the more hooked you become. Actually looking back, whilst confusing and irritating at first, this quickly becomes a great device for keeping the player wondering what will happen next and in some cases, wondering what it was that caused the consequence you are playing through.
One thing I would say is that the demo doesn't really do the game justice and I'd recommend those on the fence to at least rent the game and invest a decent amount of time in it before deciding if it is for them or not.
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Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 October 2013
Platform For Display: PlayStation3Edition: Special EditionVerified Purchase
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 October 2013
Platform For Display: PlayStation3Edition: Special EditionVerified Purchase
