For those who like to debate the artistic merits of games, the release of Beyond: Two Souls looks set to make the uncanny valley that much smaller. A game so heavily story driven that it describes itself as being an "interactive drama", Beyond: Two Souls aims to draw you in with a gripping storyline, supported by performances from top Hollywood actors and actresses. And although we outright suck at Scene It when it comes to naming that actor, even we can tell that this is the Green Goblin.
Yep, definitely the Green Goblin
Taking on the role of Nathan Dawkins, Willem Dafoe is the latest addition to the cast of Beyond, playing a Government scientist who specialises in the paranormal, and has been assigned to the case of a young girl named Jodie - the main character in the game, and the one you'll be controlling. Voiced and acted by Hollywood actress Ellen Page, Jodie has come to the Government's attention thanks to her supernatural powers, brought on by a psychic link with what's described as another "entity", a thing she's named Aiden. But her powers come at a price. Without knowing where her powers have come from, or even how to truly control them, you'll travel the world as you try to discover the secrets beyond her psychic link, and who, or what, Aiden really is. You can see a trailer, showing off Dafoe's role in the game, below:
As a game that's so heavily story driven, much of the intricacies of the plot are currently being kept secret (after all, if spoilers were to leak, it could ruin much of the appeal of the game), but what we do know is a little about how the gameplay will work. Seemingly sharing some familiar traits with point and click games, games by developer Quantic Dream tend to have a rather relaxed pace, with you choosing objects to interact with, and people to talk to, rather than just running around and shooting everything in sight. And in fact, it's been said that your choices in Beyond will have a huge impact on the direction the story takes. One of the things the developers have been keen to emphasise is that they've tried to minimise the things you can actually fail at - instead of failing, and having to retry the scene, the story will instead split off in a branch, presenting you with a new situation to try and find your way out of.
Of course, no matter what you may find yourself up against, you'll never be entirely on your own, as you can take control of Jodie's spirit partner, Aiden, to tip the balance of a situation in your favour. Letting you effectively have an out of body experience at will, you'll be able to solve puzzles by interacting with objects well beyond your reach, distract characters by knocking things over, or open unlocked doors from the other side.
One things for sure though - going by the developer's track record alone, Beyond: Two Souls will be a game with an incredibly heavy focus on powerful, emotive storytelling, as it attempts to tell a tale that's unlike many others in the world of games. Focussing on people, rather than a generic post-apocalyptic situation, it's easy to see why the developers have been trying so hard to capture the actor's performances for their game. If you fancy taking a behind-the-scenes look at the motion capture for the game, along with a few insights from Willem Dafoe, why not check out the video below. One thing's for sure - it can't be all that easy delivering an emotive performance with loads of dots glued to your face.
