The other level I got to play was one called “Hunted”. I’m unsure right now of the storyline details, but this level sees Jodie as a fugitive as she will have to run from the cops. This level opens in a humorous way because you control Aiden and your goal is to wake up Jodie any way you can. I remember chucking water and a heavy bag on top of her. After that moment though, Jodie has to wake up and escape through the forest to avoid the authorities. I don’t want to spoil the gameplay too much, but I must say that it’s action-packed and exciting.
One thing I do want to point out is that there are several gameplay similarities between Beyond: Two Souls and Heavy Rain. Although the gameplay mechanics in Beyond: Two Souls feels more fluid and responsive in Heavy Rain, it is still categorized as an “interactive drama” more than a traditional video game. What I mean by this is that it’s a game with lots of button prompts while you watch the action unfold. It’s kind of like watching a TV drama, only that you can interact with it at certain points. If you didn’t like style of gameplay Heavy Rain had, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to adapt to the style of Beyond: Two Souls either. It’s also worth mentioning that some of the button prompts are exactly the same as those seen in Heavy Rain as well.
Visually however, Beyond: Two Souls is a huge improvement over Heavy Rain and is graphically on par with The Last of Us in my opinion. The character models are so life-like and the environments are heavy in detail as well. All of the characters in the game are motion-captured by real actors and nothing in the game looks or feels unrealistic.
I only had a chance to play the game for 60 minutes, but I left with a smile on my face. Much like The Last of Us featured a gripping story and powerful characters, I feel that Beyond: Two Souls will also have that same type connection with players as well. I did not have a chance to experiment with the many different scenarios featured in the game, but there are many. I was told the script for the game was very long because the writers wrote lots of different scenarios depending on the decisions that the player makes during the game. If you loved the many different outcomes that were in Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls will also feature lots of replay value.
