Our short time with Beyond: Two Souls wasn’t perfect, however. Featuring music from Lorne Balfe as well as the late Norman Corbeil, the urgency of the story is appropriately portrayed and further helped by the stellar voice acting: almost the entire cast was present during the demo (we did not encounter Willem Dafoe, unfortunately). There was enough action to differentiate Beyond: Two Souls from Heavy Rain, but the signature Quantic Dream feel was always present. The end result was the town being completely leveled, with Jodie left confronting the commanding officer in intimidating fashion. From flipping cars to possessing officers and forcing them to turn their guns on their colleagues, even causing a helicopter to malfunction and crash into the town, we got to see what Aiden is truly capable of. Once in the town Jodie found herself pinned down by police and SWAT team members, leaving it up to Aiden to go from officer to officer and defeat them in unique and destructive ways. In the third segment we used Aiden’s possession powers to help Jodie steal a motorcycle, and then his ability to shield Jodie in order to help her escape to a nearby town. Once we found ourselves in the woods it was all up to Jodie to find a way to escape the pursuing officers, as well as the police dogs which eventually caught up to her. During the escape from the train we got a feel for the basic mechanics, as Aiden assisted Jodie to the top of the train and then Jodie physically engaged the officers following her. In our demo of Beyond: Two Souls, we found ourselves controlling the two characters through four different segments: a daring escape from a train, a frantic sprint through a dark forest, a fast-paced getaway on a motorcycle, and a climactic clash in a small town as the police close in on Jodie. Warning: This section contains minor spoilers for the game. If at any point the player encounters a dot floating on an object, Aiden or Jodie can interact with it by using different combinations of the analog sticks or by doing physical motions with the Dualshock controller. The real change comes when the player switches over: as Aiden players can transcend the physical plane, allowing them to travel through walls and objects from a first-person view. When an action sequence occurs, such as Jodie throwing a punch at a police officer, time slows down and the player must flick the right stick in the direction that Jodie’s momentum is carrying her. As Jodie, the game controls much in the way that any third-person title does. Throughout the demo, we found ourselves switching back and forth between controlling Jodie and Aiden. From what we played, the action is much more frequent in Beyond: Two Souls, as Jodie is trained in martial arts and her mysterious apparition of an accomplice, Aiden, is able to forcibly manipulate people and objects in the physical world. The demo we had a chance to get our hands on placed us into a situation where the police where attempting to capture the main character, Jodie (played by Ellen Page). While the storylines have nothing to do with one another, Beyond: Two Souls utilizes a lot of the same ideas and gameplay mechanics found in Heavy Rain. By taking those elements and applying them to a story that is an action-packed spiritual exploration of what happens after we pass on to the next plane of existence, Quantic Dream thinks it may be able to please both sides of the Heavy Rain debate. While Heavy Rain has yet to receive a sequel, it will be receiving a spiritual successor in the form of the supernatural thriller Beyond: Two Souls. On one hand, players were treated to an intricate narrative featuring interwoven character-driven storylines, stunning graphics, and a mystery with a big twist ending but on the other hand, there were many who weren’t ready to accept that something with such little player input could be an enjoyable video game. The release of Heavy Rain in 2010 proved to be about as divisive as video games get. As she traverses the globe, Jodie will face incredible challenges against a backdrop of emotionally-charged events never before seen in a video game.Įdited by Andy Badwool, 10 September 2013 - 10:10 AM. Experience the most striking moments of Jodie’s life as your actions and decisions determine her fate. Live the remarkable life of Jodie Holmes, a young woman who possesses supernatural powers through a psychic link to an invisible entity. Featuring a brand-new game engine, a compelling, original story, and a top-notch Hollywood cast Beyond: Two Souls offers a sophisticated, technologically advanced, immersive gaming experience on PlayStation 3. From the makers of the award-winning Heavy Rain™ comes a unique, psychological action thriller.