Parent's Guide: Beyond: Two Souls - Age rating, mature content and difficulty

Beyond: Two Souls is an adventure that puts you in control of Jodie Holmes, a girl with a special "gift". Tied to an "entity" known as Aiden, the game follows Jodie through fifteen years of her life, jumping backwards and forwards from the past to the present, as you begin to unravel the mystery of her life, her "gift", and her future.

Drawing strong influence from the world of cinema, Beyond is a game that almost anyone should be able to pick up and play - although the content here certainly wouldn't be suitable for most. Arguably less demanding than other games, while several scenes let you take full control of Jodie and explore, others simply ask you to watch as the story unfolds, pressing a button, or pushing a stick in the right direction at the right time. It's a more graphical intensive version of a "visual novel", like 999, Virtue's Last Reward, or even something like Phoenix Wright, with an emphasis on telling a story over putting you through your paces.

Whether you're guiding a young Jodie through her first night in a research facility away from her parents, or infiltrating a base alongside the CIA, you'll have to make good use of Aiden, Jodie's attached "entity", to solve puzzles, and figure situations out. By pressing triangle, you can jump to take control of Aiden, who, being a ghost-like entity and all, can pass through windows, walls, and floors, interacting with things, or even possessing people as he goes. Putting Aiden to good use is key to solving the game's puzzles - and a second player can even opt to be your Aiden, if you have an extra controller!

With two difficulty levels on offer, one of which has been designed for those who rarely play games at all, Beyond is a game that makes a special effort to be easy to pick up and play. It's also surprisingly hard to actually fail things - the story will instead adjust to make up for anything you've not done particularly well at. Although its content certainly makes this one for older players, there are few entry barriers that would stop you from enjoying Beyond.

Aimed at an adult audience, Beyond: Two Souls has a fair amount that parents should be aware of, and as such, this section will contain light spoilers. Bad language isn't as strong, or as frequent as in many other games, but the older Jodie gets, the more foul mouthed she becomes, with a fair few "f**k"s and "sh**"s making their way into the dialogue. While you can romance other characters, it never gets beyond simply kissing on a bed, although there are several awkward scenes where men try to force themselves upon Jodie (with dialogue about "taking it and liking it"), although both are stopped before anything can really happen.

There are also sections where Jodie is given the option to kill herself, or self-harm using a knife, which could be highly traumatic for younger players. While you don't follow each even through to its conclusion, you can make Jodie self harm, and she'll draw blood with a knife on her wrist if you let her. There are several other violent moments in the game where enemies are shot and spurt blood, or can be possessed, and made to shoot themselves in the head - although the game does cut before you see the result of your possession. When you come across dead people, there is also usually a fair amount of blood on the floor or around them, along with some obvious wounds.

Age Ratings

Format Reviewed: Playstation 3