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PlayStation 4 Reviews Video Games

“Detroit: Become Human” Video Game Review

 

Science fiction has a long history of covertly (and not so covertly) tackling sensitive subjects of a social and political nature. Issues of race and racism, for instance, have been explored in everything from the original Star Trek and the movie District 9 to such novels as Octavia Butler’s Kindred and Rivers Solomon’s An Unkindness Of Ghosts. And now it’s the driving force behind thethird-person cyberpunk video game Detroit: Become Human (PlayStation 4), the newest interactive movie from Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls developer Quantic Dream. It’s just too bad the game isn’t as fun as it is thoughtful.

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3DS PlayStation 3 PlayStation 4 Video Games WiiU Xbox 360 Xbox One

Exclusive Interview: Skylanders SWAP Force & Beyond: Two Souls Composer Lorne Balfe

 

You’d have a hard time finding two games with as little in common as Skylanders SWAP Force and Beyond: Two Souls. Unless you pay attention to their music, since both feature the musical stylings of composer Lorne Balfe, who’s previously worked on 2009’s Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, 2011’s Crysis 2, and, last year, both Assassin’s Creed III and Skylanders: Giants. And yet, when it comes to Skylanders SWAP Force and Beyond: Two Souls, Balfe also thinks they have little in common, which is how he likes it.

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PlayStation 3 Reviews Video Games

Beyond: Two Souls Review

 

Beyond: Two Souls is an attempt by the French studio Quantic Dream to evolve video games beyond being just interactive versions of big dumb action movies, and into a true storytelling medium. Which is what they previously tried (and failed) to do with 2005’s Indigo Prophecy and 2010’s Heavy Rain. But while this PlayStation 3 exclusive, published by Sony, has some of the same flaws, those flaws aren’t fatal this time around, and if you’re willing to give yourself the time to get used to these shortcomings, you’ll be rewarded with a rather unique and engaging adventure.