Detroit: Become Human reviews - what do the critics think?

Quantic Dream’s next story-driven epic, Detroit: Become Human, is released exclusively on PlayStation 4 today.

The game, created by the developer behind Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls, is set in a dystopian sci-fi version of Detroit in 2038, where lifelike machines have become an integral part of society and replaced the jobs of many hard-working humans. 

Players can follow three plot lines throughout the game, all of which centre around android workers in the futuristic city. These include a maid, a hostage negotiator and an activist fighting for greater rights for the city’s robot inhabitants.  

Here’s what the critics have to say about Quantic Dream’s gritty vision of America in the not-too-distant future. 

The game is “spectacularly crafted”, says The Guardian, and the “unparalleled” ways players can make the story their own is “astonishing”.

The development team have clearly put “countless late nights” into building the game’s levels, the newspaper says, all of which “are better described as film sets”. The game is brimming with small details, such as an android not flinching when a drop of water lands on its face.

Characters, meanwhile, all have story lines that are intertwined with one another, says Ars Technica. 

Connor, the hostage negotiator, “is by far the most interesting”, the tech site says. “Despite being all metal and electronics, Connor somehow shows the most humanity and growth of any Detroit character.”

The choices players make throughout the plot “can impact events to a greater and more satisfying degree than in most games of this type”, says IGN.

But the website says the narrative itself could have been “handled with a softer touch, especially considering the subtlety that can be conveyed through its tech and performances”.

Detroit: Become Human is “well worth playing”, but Gamespot argues the story-driven title “struggles to strike the right balance between giving you freedom of choice and reminding you that it's all a game in the end”.

The game is the closest Quantic Dream has ever been to “nailing” the multiple story arc genre, the website says, although “it’s obvious that there's still room to grow”.

Detroit: Become Human for PS4 is available on Amazon for £48.99.