Originally for PS3, the BEYOND: Two Souls is now enhanced for the PS4 with 1080P graphics for an even more immersive enjoyment of an amazing story, also a game that’s more than just a scripted story.
The Storyline
A singularly unique psychological action thriller delivered by A-list Hollywood performances, Beyond: Two Soulsâ„¢ takes you on a thrilling journey across the globe as you play out the remarkable life of Jodie Holmes. Born with a connection to a mysterious entity with incredible powers, Jodie was different. In an adventure spanning 15 years of her life, your actions will determine Jodie’s fate as she faces extraordinary challenges, danger, and heartwrenching loss on a journey to discover the truth of who she is. Beyond: Two Soulsâ„¢ promises an emotionally-charged journey unlike any video game before.
What’s unique about BEYOND: Two Souls is that there’s no fixed path to take, at certain points of the game you have the option to choose your course of action. Agree or Disagree? Entertain or ignore? Even scenes like escaping the cops may have different path, they end up the same place but the experience the protagonist goes through can be different.
The Gameplay
Gameplay wise the game is a mixed of a 3rd person, 1st person and observer view. The game works on 3rd person and observer view for Jodie while 1st person view when you control Aiden, the Mysterious entity. During the course of the game you’ll be switching between characters. The game is often in observer view when it’s story-telling, while Aiden’s view remains the same. The action oriented scenes however are 3rd person perspective.
The controls are great and I had no problem progressing with the game, although sometimes the indicators get a little difficult to view L1, X and square in particular, especially when they’re small.
As for the story, you are able to play the ORIGINAL (non-chronological order) or the REMIXED (Chronological order) of which I think the ORIGINAL is best as it starts off with a prologue and a scene from later part of her life, this makes it more interesting as the story goes back and forth to show her experiences.
There’s also the option to co-op (2 players) in this game, however I do not have 2 controllers (It’s high time I get one) so I’m unable to try this out but from what I read it makes the game even more enjoyable. One of you will play Jodie while the other will be Mr Invisible Aiden.
Graphics and Audio
Graphically the game is amazing, everything is played in letterbox format so you feel like you’re watching a movie rather than playing a game. The details and composition, totally mesmerizing. I can’t praise the developers enough on how realistic the facial expressions and body movements are. Even for Jodie, you can see a child like movement when young, a more matured movement during her teens and you’ll see adult body movement when she reached adulthood.
Oh and if you look at the screenshots, that’s Willem Defoe, and the protagonist Jodie Holmes is modeled after and voiced by Ellen Page – now how cool is that?
As for the audio department, good words aren’t enough to describe how well it’s done. Voice acting is superb, so are the sound effects and soundtrack. They match the scene very well, I felt like I was watching a movie. Totally cool.
The Verdict
I couldn’t fault this game, and I’m going to give it a 10 out of 10 for sheer brilliance in story telling, graphics and audio, making BEYOND: Two Souls as enjoyable as watching a great movie and even more enjoyable with co-op play ……. that is of course not the case if you have an annoying partner but that’s a user problem. 😛