Beyond Two Souls: Hands on

Beyond Two Souls: Hands on 

As time ticks down to the launch of the PlayStation 4, you could be forgiven for thinking that the game developers would be throwing all their eggs in that basket.

You’d be wrong – the recent launch of The Last Of Us showed that, if anything, even more is being thrown into the games that are launching exclusively on the PS3.

And so it is with Beyond Two Souls which is due to launch in October from Quantic Dreams, who brought us Heavy Rain.

Not only is this latest a cross between strategy and supernatural, it’s also managed to score Hollywood heavy weights, Ellen Page as its lead, Jodie Holmes – and also Willem Dafoe as a scientist who has mysterious ties to Holmes. With a script reportedly in the 2000 pages long territory, it seems this will be quite the game to play.

A hands-on play of two levels of the game promised – and delivered – much of an experience; at times, the action transitioned so smoothly into cut scenes, you were unsure if it was a game or a movie.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.

It was unclear whereabouts in the game the two preview levels had come from – that will, no doubt become clear in time. In the game you get to play over a 15 year period of Jodie’s life and see the relationship between her and Aiden explored.

The first level is set in Somalia, and sees Holmes using her military training to take on a mission to assassinate a Somali leader deep within a compound. However, Holmes has a little something up her sleeve to help with the task in hand – a supernatural entity called Aiden, who can be called on to aid directly in the missions and influence the action (via a FPS feel).

The ability to switch between Jodie and Aiden becomes key to ensuring not only your survival in this mission but also its success. By using the triangle button, you can switch between the pair of them at key points (not at any time during the game, it initially appears) to execute what you need. You can choke or possess the opposition by using the L1 button and pulling back on the analogue sticks – helpful hints appear in the game on characters or locations in the forms of dots, indicating what needs to be done or giving you some clue as to what Aiden can or can’t do in his trippy floating form.

The switching angle is a fascinating one – by using Aiden, you can head through buildings and past enemies where normally you’d require a degree of stealth. It takes just a few moments to work out how to do what with this character, but it’s fairly easy to pick up after an initially disorientating start. Though you learn very quickly that these two are linked and if you push too far out of those boundaries, the link breaks and Aiden becomes useless.

The Somali story is an interesting one – while the key to the game appears to be in the action and planning (there are apparently different outcomes a la pick-a-path mentality), the designers have not lost focus on the engagement of the emotions. When Jodie’s first seen in this level, she’s befriended by a small kid called Salim who’s keen to help her. However, upon completion of the mission, the emotional and moral consequences are pretty dire for Jodie – and it’s great to see the game developers haven’t lost sight of the actual story telling or sacrificed it at the expense of the action and the cut-scenes which are almost cinematic in feel.

A second level, entitled Hunted, starts on a train, with the distinct feeling that Jodie’s on the run and wanted for treason.

But decrying the fact she’s shattered and not slept for days, you start off as Aiden, floating on the train and basically, acting like a bored poltergeist, knocking over coffees, shaking water bottles and generally being a naughty toddler.

However, all that playful malevolence changes when the guards spot Jodie and a chase ensues, and you need to channel both Aiden’s destructive side to get onto the roof of the train and Jodie’s speed to avoid being captured.

Jumping off the train puts you in the woods and on a collision with the hunting dogs set to track you down – it’s a desperate dash to freedom and all culminates in an Aiden-led showdown with SWAT forces that either ends explosively – or ends in a capture because you’ve taken too much time to try and free her. The ability to possess SWAT forces and wreak havoc from within is very reminiscent of some superpower films and is a nice idea. Though, the fact that a shield can be created by Aiden to protect Jodie can be used whenever may make the danger feel a little distant.

Graphically, the possession / choking by Aiden is beautifully executed with flames hurling out of the screen from the victim; and it all looks incredibly smooth throughout with the camera seamlessly transitioning from the action on the ground to the action above. You really feel at times like you’re in a movie – whether that could prove frustrating as cut scenes kick in without warning or a bonus as the narrative plays out remains to be seen.

The whole Hunted sequence ends with Jodie and Aiden using their powers to their maximum capability and Jodie warning that next time, anyone who crosses them will be killed – it hints at a grittier story to come.

There was no mention or sighting of Willem Dafoe’s character in the preview, so that mystery’s yet to be unlocked – but it looks as if Ellen Page’s brought her A game and the motion capture’s worked beautifully.

Beyond Two Souls looks like it has the potential to be very impressive. I certainly left the hands on wanting more and feeling like I’d seen something different. Granted, a couple of problems with some of the Quick Time Events in hand-to-hand combat with Jodie left me pondering where I was going wrong, but the morality and fact there were consequences of using humans as conduits for Aiden seriously impressed me – it looks as if Quantic Dreams are about to release something which could show the PlayStation 3 isn’t ready to be consigned to the history books just yet.

Beyond Two Souls is out on PlayStation 3 from October 11^th.