Is Detroit: Become Human a Simulation Game?
The question of whether Detroit: Become Human is a simulation game is complex and hinges on how one defines the term “simulation.” The short answer is: no, Detroit: Become Human is not a simulation game in the traditional sense. It does not simulate the complexities of real-world systems, like a city-building simulation or a flight simulator. Instead, it’s a narrative-driven adventure game that uses interactive storytelling to explore themes of artificial intelligence, sentience, and societal change. While it presents a futuristic setting with seemingly realistic androids, its primary focus is on the branching narrative and player choice, not the accurate simulation of a real-world or complex system. The game immerses players in a world where their decisions directly impact the narrative outcome and the lives of its characters, but this is achieved through carefully constructed script and game mechanics, not by simulating a fully functional world with a complex set of rules.
Understanding Simulation Games
Before delving further into why Detroit: Become Human doesn’t fit the simulation genre, it’s essential to clarify what simulation games typically entail. These games generally aim to replicate real-world systems or scenarios as accurately as possible. Examples include:
- City-building simulations: These games simulate the growth and management of a city, requiring players to manage resources, infrastructure, and citizen needs.
- Flight simulators: These games replicate the experience of flying an aircraft, often with complex controls and physics.
- Sports simulators: These games attempt to accurately simulate the rules and mechanics of a particular sport.
Simulation games often prioritize realism, accuracy, and complex interactions within the simulated environment. Detroit: Become Human instead, prioritizes a deeply personal narrative experience through player choice and a branching storyline, which relies more on scriptwriting and interactive storytelling techniques than on an accurate simulation of real-world systems.
Why Detroit: Become Human Is Not a Simulation
Here’s a breakdown of the key reasons why Detroit: Become Human falls outside the simulation genre:
- Focus on Narrative: The game’s primary emphasis is on its story and the player’s emotional engagement with the characters. The branching narratives, the decisions you make, and the relationships you forge are at the heart of the experience. The game focuses on a fictional, emotional and character driven story, as opposed to any complex simulated environment.
- Limited Interactivity: While Detroit: Become Human offers interaction, it’s primarily through button prompts, dialogue choices, and exploration within designated environments. The player’s interaction does not extend to the freedom to manipulate the world or systems outside of the story.
- Lack of System Simulation: Unlike a true simulation, the game doesn’t attempt to simulate a complex society with economic, political, or logistical systems. The world is primarily a backdrop for the personal stories of the android protagonists. It does not simulate things like android manufacturing or the economic impact of the androids on the fictional Detroit.
- Predefined Scenarios: The game is built around a series of predefined scenarios and interactions, with branching paths and consequences. However, this means that it isn’t a true open-world or sandbox experience, as a simulation often would be. The scenarios and pathways are predetermined by the game’s developers.
- Character-Driven Experience: The core experience revolves around the player’s connection with Markus, Kara, and Connor, and their individual journeys. This makes Detroit: Become Human a fundamentally character-driven experience rather than a systemic simulation of a future world.
Detroit: Become Human as an Interactive Narrative
Instead of being a simulation, Detroit: Become Human is best classified as an interactive narrative or a branching story game. It uses game mechanics to present the player with a detailed narrative that unfolds based on their choices. Key features of interactive narratives include:
- Player agency: The player’s decisions affect the story’s direction and outcome.
- Multiple endings: The game features a variety of different endings based on player choice. The game boasts approximately 85 story endings, though the number of truly distinct endings is closer to 40, due to some overlap.
- Emotional engagement: The game often prompts emotional responses from the player, creating a strong sense of investment in the characters and their fates.
- Flowchart mechanics: The game presents a flowchart at the end of each scene to reveal the branching paths of the story, showing players how their choices have shaped their unique narrative.
In conclusion, while Detroit: Become Human offers a compelling and immersive experience, it does so through narrative design and interactive storytelling, not through the simulation of complex systems. Therefore, it is accurately described as an interactive narrative game, rather than a simulation game.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Here are 15 frequently asked questions about Detroit: Become Human to provide additional information and clarity:
What type of game is Detroit: Become Human?
Detroit: Become Human is a narrative-driven adventure game played from a third-person perspective. It is known as an action interactive game, but the action aspect is primarily based on quick-time button prompts and dialogue choices, not complex combat mechanics.
Does Detroit: Become Human have actual gameplay?
Yes, Detroit: Become Human has gameplay, though it differs from traditional action games. Gameplay includes decision-making, exploring environments, completing quick-time events, and managing dialogues to progress the story. The game offers an abundance of unique scenarios and consequences, which can be seen as core components of gameplay.
Is Detroit: Become Human an interactive game?
Absolutely. Detroit: Become Human is highly interactive. Player choices dramatically alter the course of the narrative, resulting in multiple branches and drastically different outcomes for all the characters and the world around them. The player’s actions directly affect the story and the relationships of the characters.
Is Detroit: Become Human set in a realistic future?
Detroit: Become Human depicts a fictional near-future story where lifelike androids serve humans. While the technology is fantastical, the themes of social inequality, discrimination, and technological advancement are based on real-world concerns and societal issues. It is not intended to be a factual or realistic prediction.
Can Detroit: Become Human have a happy ending?
Yes, Detroit: Become Human has a “good” ending. This ending typically involves Markus leading a peaceful protest, Kara and Alice escaping to Canada, and Connor deviating from his programmed mission to join the android revolution.
Could androids like those in Detroit: Become Human ever be real?
While not as advanced as those in the game, functional and realistic humanoid robots are becoming a reality due to advances in robot technology. Detroit: Become Human explores the ethical and societal implications of such advancements through a narrative framework.
Why is Detroit: Become Human so popular?
The game’s popularity stems from its deeply engaging story with numerous choices, stunning visuals and memorable music. It makes the player think about the consequences of their actions long after completing a play through. The game’s exploration of complex themes, combined with its branching narrative, draws in a wide audience.
How many endings does Detroit: Become Human have?
While the game features 85 distinct flowchart endings, many of them overlap, meaning there are likely closer to 40 unique outcomes for the narrative based on player choice.
What is rA9 in Detroit: Become Human?
rA9 is a mythological figure in the game, viewed by some androids as a religious entity or a messianic figure. The game presents conflicting information about its origin and purpose, with hints suggesting that it might just be a story invented by the androids to provide them hope.
Is there a Detroit: Become Human 2?
There are hints and suggestions that a sequel may be in development, potentially related to the “Human Tokyo Stories” project. However, there has been no official confirmation of a sequel and how it might tie into the larger universe or the game’s story.
Is Detroit: Become Human a masterpiece?
Detroit: Become Human is a very well-received game and often hailed as the most ambitious game ever created by Quantic Dream. Its varied stories, decisive choices, flexible gameplay, and impressive graphics make it a memorable and influential title, even with some minor flaws.
How long is the full game of Detroit: Become Human?
A standard playthrough focused on the main story takes about 12 hours. For players aiming for complete exploration and unlocking all endings, the game can last around 31 ½ hours.
Is Alice a deviant?
It is not definitively stated when or if Alice becomes a deviant. Her emotional trauma and history of abuse before the game suggest that she might have already been deviant before the main story began.
Is Detroit: Become Human suitable for children?
Due to its mature themes such as slavery, abuse, crime, and death, the game is rated 18+ and is generally unsuitable for younger players. However, a mature teen might be able to appreciate the game if they are aware of these mature topics.
What is the controversy around Detroit: Become Human?
The main controversy stems from the game’s heavy use of references and imagery associated with historical oppression, such as the triangle marks on the Androids. This has led to debates on whether the game appropriately handles the topics of oppression and social inequalities.