Some games are more likely to get your attention than others, and when it comes to the games of Quantic Dream, consider us hooked, if only for how realistic they are.
There’s no doubt that animated movies and video games are getting more realistic, and there’s even a term that exemplifies when the imagery is so close, it’s hard to recognise the difference.
It’s called “uncanny valley”, and it’s that point where a game or movie is so close to the real thing, you have trouble telling them apart. Animation has been heading there for some time, and even back in 2001’s “Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within”, we were close for movies, but video games have been inching closer and closer.
The current technology used in video game consoles is so good now, however, that uncanny valley is within reach for games developers, as well, and one of the closest has been dabbling longer than most.
You probably haven’t heard of Quantic Dream, but if you’ve owned a PlayStation 3 or PlayStation 4, there’s a good chance you’ve played one of its games.
Responsible for “Fahrenheit” (also known as “Indigo Prophecy”, which is also on Android and iOS), “Heavy Rain”, “Beyond: Two Souls”, and one of its first titles “Nomad: Omikron Soul” starring David Bowie, it’s a company that has been dabbling with the idea of uncanny valley as a story-telling mechanism since it first started churning out titles, and it’s ready with another.
Sony has sent word this week that its next title, the science-fiction thriller “Detroit: Become Human” has gone gold, and will launch in late May, arriving exclusively on the PlayStation 4 on May 25.
A demo has been made available of one of the first missions of the game, offering a taste ahead of time in roughly 3GB, and giving a glimpse what uncanny valley looks like this year on the PlayStation 4. We expect this to look good, but we can only imagine how much better it will look if you have a 4K TV and a PlayStation 4 Pro.
Frankly, we can’t wait. Now if you’ll excuse us, we’re going to wait for our terrible internet connection to get a 3GB file.
