#this is my first time drawing connor and it is deceptively hard

[rinksrats]

hockey screencap 3/???

[ladye11e]

Deception pt 40

The conflict between the Assassins and the Templars is getting out of hand. Lies, deceit and subterfuge, now you must pick a side...

Tagging @geekgoddess813 @i-wontgivein @imakemyownblog @sweet-flash @ermergerd517 💕💕

Link to the full fic so far is Here.

Connor stayed at the docks until the ship was out of his sight, feeling, numb, about what he had just done. He had just saved his best friend, but the price of betraying his family for it was almost too much to bear.

Suddenly remembering the letter that you had given him earlier, he drove out of the marina and back to the side street he was in before, confident that there still wouldn't be any prying eyes about here. He leant over to the glove box and pulled it out, resting his hands on the steering wheel as he held it in the tips of his fingers, debating whether to read it or not. Did it matter? You had already tried to explain, but he hadn't wanted to hear it, far too angry at the time. But now he had calmed down and was thinking slightly clearer, he actually did want to know what would push you to do this.

He knew you better than most, well enough that you most certainly would have a damned good reason for it. So folding the top back and tugging out the folded sheet of A4 paper, he smoothed it out as slumped back in his seat, already rubbing his temple with his free hand as he began reading.

My dearest Connor,

You know I'm crap at these things, but for you, I've tried. I'm sure you've figured out a lot by yourself by now, but please, PLEEEEEEASE don't be angry at anyone else but me. I've been working for the Templars for six years as I said, but it was Master Auditore that sent me there to find and assassinate Shay. A piece of cake really, but then I started to find out things about the Brotherhood that I didn't agree with. Not things I'm going to tell you, but like you always said to me when I first started, follow your gut and do what you think is right, and everything will be okay? So I did. And then I went and fell for the man that I was sent to kill. You know me, gotta do everything the hard way!...

He let out a heavy sigh as he carried on reading the rest, some of which he already knew, some of which he didn't. Now he was feeling slight, empathy, he still didn't agree with what you did, but now could at least understand the reasons why. Just as he was coming to an end, he nearly dropped the letter and had to re-read the last bit three times more, not quite believing his eyes as the printed words finally sunk in.

... I donated $100,000 to the children's centre that you volunteer at, in your name of course, so expect them to dogpile you when you go in next. I know this doesn't make up for anything, but I hope it's a start. Must go, you're about to find me in my apartment.

All my love,

(Name)

Now that was something he didn't expect, and he sat there in a state of shock, wondering for a moment where you could have gotten the money from. But then it finally clicked, and he was somewhat proud that you had tried to turn this around, even if it was 'blood money'. He flinched slightly when a couple of loud raps came from his window, winding it down because in the sudden onslaught of rain; which he hadn't even noticed had started, had made it so he could only see a blurry outline of a person through the glass.

"Jacob?! What are you doing here?"

"You gonna let me in? Or let me freeze to death in this pissing downpour?"

Connor almost cursed under his breath when he stuffed the letter quickly into his pocket, before unlocking the doors as Jacob hobbled around to the passenger side, jumping in and shaking himself off, making everywhere instantly sodden.

"Right. Are you gonna tell me what the hell is going on? Or do I have to beat it out of you?" Jacob sneered, grinning when Connor rolled his eyes and scoffed.

"You could attempt to, but we both know what the outcome would be. And I do not know what you are talking about. Nothing is 'going on'?"

Both of them sat there staring at each other, unflinching as they tried to look for a telltale sign of how much they knew, but they were equal in the stubborn department and nothing was let on. It was Connor who spoke first, but that was to change the subject completely when his gaze dropped ever so slightly to Jacobs' hands and saw that they were swollen, knuckles red raw and gashed open.

"Do we, need to take someone to the emergency room?"

"Hmm? Nah, don't think a brick wall needs the A&E. Anyway, what was with the evil eye back at the manor? Why didn't you want Auditore to know that we'd seen that asshole on the Jackdaw? And I know (names) not dead, so where is she?"

Connor froze and, bit the inside of his cheek hard enough to draw blood as he fixed his gaze on the raindrops trickling down his window screen, anticipation balling in his gut as he wondered how on earth he could have found that out.

"Bit obvious, you're not exactly cut up about it for starters. You used one of them Doppelthingys, didn't you? Knew that weren't her."

"Jacob..." Connor whispered as he carried on babbling about his theory, scratching his chin and nodding to himself in determination that he was right.

"Doppelfinger? No, that's not right..."

"Jacob."

"Ah ha! Doppelganger! That's it, one of those! And she's off hiding out somewhere..."

"Jacob!!"

He abruptly shut up when Connor roared out and slammed his fists on the dash; sending a crack rippling all the way across, trembling as he collapsed back into his seat and rubbed his face harshly.

"I promise you, that was (name) in my trunk. If you think for one second that I am not 'cut up' about it, push me further, and see where that gets you."

Jacobs face dropped, and for probably the first time in his life, he actually felt slightly panicked. He had seen Connor angry before but never towards his friends, and after what he had seen him do to Ezio, he made a smart decision for once in his life and decided to let it drop, even though he was almost certainly feeling the same way.

"I think... I need a drink. You coming with?"

Numbly taking his hat off and shaking the water off it; fiddling with it before he put it back on, Jacob scooted out back out into the gloomy weather when Connor shook his head once, leaving him with his thoughts. Now that he was alone again, Connor groaned as he saw the extent of the damage he had caused in his anger; thinking briefly how he was going to explain how it occurred, but he dismissed it quickly as he had bigger worries on his plate right now.

His stomach churned at the thought of helping a Templar, but he didn't have a choice. Well, he could kill him he supposed, and the thought had crossed his mind more than once, but he couldn't do that to you, even after everything that's happened. After weighing up his options of how he was going to pull this off; as he knew where Ezios facility was but had never actually been there, he threw a minor strop as he reversed out of the alleyway and, headed towards the suit store.

As he wasn't authorised to use the entrance at the back of the facility, Connor banged on the front door loudly to call the attention of the assistant, who was still about locking up for the night. He looked unnerved as he opened it up; even though he knew who was stood before him, but he was wary as he didn't know what would warrant such urgency.

"I need to speak to Ezio." Connor blurted as he barged in.

"I'm sorry sir, Master Auditore is, indisposed at the moment. Perhaps you could come back in the morning?"

Connor pinched the bridge of his nose as his last nerve had been struck; dismissing the little bit of patience he had left, and grabbed the assistant with one hand by his lapel, lifting him in the air and holding him an inch away, growling in his face.

"Take. Me. To. Ezio. Now."

The now petrified salesman pulled at his collar so stop himself from choking and nodded furiously, wheezing when Connor dropped him back down to his feet and gestured towards the back of the shop.

"There... W-was no need... Follow m-me..."

Drumming his fingers on his arm impatiently on his crossed arms while the aide opened up the hidden door upstairs, Connor barged into the facility as soon as it was open, spotting the very man he wanted to see leaning against a console at the other end. He couldn't help the twitch of his lips when he saw that he had his shirt sleeves rolled up; droplets of blood spattered up one side, and he was slightly dishevelled as if he had been working out.

"Connor? What are you doing here?"

"You should think about replacing your man at the front, it did not take a lot of convincing to get him to let me in. I came because I wanted to know more about this hunter (name) was attempting to find, possibly, ask him a few questions of my own?"

Ezio smirked when Connor clenched his fists tightly and looked around for where Shay could have been held captive, his eyes landing on an almost discreet door to his right; the only one that didn't have a sign on it to indicate what it was.

"I see. Well, I shall leave Niccolò where he is, for now, it isn't often he comes across someone as, formidable as you. As for the hunter, unfortunately, his lips are staying sealed, even though I tried to convince him otherwise. Perhaps you will have better luck?"

Connors initial instinct was proven right when Ezio led him to the room he had spotted on his own, raising his eyebrow when he stopped at the threshold and hovered his hand over the keypad, not yet opening it but standing there thoughtfully.

"Two things before you go in. Firstly, he is restrained, but you should exercise extreme caution. We are not sure what he is capable of."

"Hmph, I do not think that will be necessary. The second?"

"Principessa. She is, where she is supposed to be?"

Thoroughly confused as that was a bizarre way to put it, Connor merely nodded as he didn't know what to say to that with prying; which would no doubt aggravate the master again, standing behind Ezio and slyly peeking over his shoulder as he keyed in the code to open the door, quickly memorising it before glaring into the pitch black room when the door opened.

"Enjoy. Please leave something for the rest of us, hmm?" he chuckled. "Press the buzzer when you are finished."

Slowly walking in, Connor squinted when the door slammed shut and the overhead lights flickered on; for what he assumed they had been turned off for sensory deprivation, leaning up against the wall with his arms crossed again until his eyes adjusted to the brightness. It appeared that Ezio hadn't wasted any time in 'questioning' Shay, Connor was almost shocked when he saw him bound to a metal chair that was bolted to the floor, seemingly beaten to with an inch of his life. Clothes torn, deep bruises already emerging on his neck and shoulders, and from what he could see of his face as he was slumped forward, he was barely recognisable as most of it was stained crimson.

"That was, very dense of you. I thought you might have had some brains.

Shay lightly groaned and lifted his head to see who was talking to him; which wasn't easy as one eye was completely swollen shut with the other following close behind, straining against his bonds and spitting blood on the floor when he made out who it was.

"You. I'm gonna burn this whole place down when I get outta here, then I'm gonna make good on my promise!"

Connor just stood there with an amused smirk on his face as Shay continued to struggle; quite surprised at the amount of fight he still had left in him, sliding himself along the wall until he was just underneath the security camera. Slowly and deliberately he reached up and pulled the cable out of the back of it, before crouching down in front of Shay, holding what was left of his gaze when he looked down from what he had done.

"You have gotten yourself into quite a predicament. You should hold your tongue, unless you would want me to change my mind?"

"Change yer mind about what?! Torture me, kill me? Seems like ya favour both," Shay snarled, throwing his head forward in attempts to headbutt Connor, but of course, he missed.

In retaliation Connor snapped up and grabbed Shay by the shoulder, delivering a hefty blow to his gut before leaning over to growl in his ear, "That was for threatening me. And this..." Another hit, but harder this time, making Shay gasp as wheeze as the wind was knocked out of him. "Was for sedating me. Twice."

Resuming his crouched position in front of him, Connor waited for Shay to catch his breath and slid his hand in his jeans pocket, curling his fingers around the very thing that would make Shay more, cooperative.

"Now. Are you going to behave? Or shall I walk back out that door and leave you to your fate? In an ideal world I would have chosen the latter, but as I have come to realise recently, not everything is as simple as I would like it to be."

Shay was now thoroughly confused as he now only paid any attention to what Connor was saying, flicking his eyes back up to the camera briefly before going to Connors' face again, who now had his head cocked and eyebrows raised.

"Ya know I'm kinda busy here, so if there's something ya want, make it quick." Shay sneered, now gritting his teeth defiantly.

Connor didn't say anything as he pulled his hand out of his pocket and, held his fist right in front of Shays nose so he could see it properly through his obscured vision, a sly smile creeping up his face when he finally uncurled his fingers and revealed what was nestled in his palm, Shays breath hitching as expected when he saw your necklace.

"Would you like the opportunity to give this back to who it belongs to?"

[vlkwsouthpens]

THE COVER SELLS THE BOOK!!

I am thrilled to share with you an interview I did with my cover artist. And she is an artist. I found Karen Kalbacher on Fiverr, as FuzzyM, back in 2013 when I wrote my first book, Now Arriving…Sister Station 1. She has become more than an illustrator, I’m proud to consider her a friend as well. I thought it might be interesting for you to discover what goes on during the creation of a book cover. I hope you will enjoy the interview. I’ve included some samples of her work. I’m sure you’ll agree this woman is loaded with talent!

      1. I see you are also a children’s writer and ghostwriter (so many talents!). Which do you enjoy more, the writing or the illustrations? At heart, I’m a writer. I love seeing a plot come together and creating new and interesting characters and worlds. It comes a bit easier for me, so that helps. That doesn’t mean I don’t love being an artist and creating illustrations, I do. The fun is in the challenge. I like taking another person’s idea or world and bringing it to life for them. It also involves a lot of communication with the client and feels more collaborative. I’ve always had a hard time choosing between them and took several English courses before choosing to major in art. Who knows if I made the right choice? 2. For a new client, what services do you offer when creating a book cover, and how much input do you like from the client? I create covers based on the client’s needs. I can do photo editing, add titles to an existing image, or I can create an entire design from scratch. I normally design in Illustrator to create vector-based graphics. This has the distinct advantage of being easy to resize while maintaining quality and being editable. When a client is new, I like a lot of communication. We are both feeling one another out. I can’t see inside the client’s head, so I ask a lot of questions about style, colors, feel, and often ask for images of covers in a similar vein to what they want. I want the author to love their cover. It’s important to me that we both love it at the end of the project. It’s a lot easier for us to get into a grove if the client has ideas. Blank canvases are intimidating. I can work a lot faster if the client hands me something. It can be as simple as a list of wants and a color they hate/adore. 3. What is your favorite genre to create covers for and why? Wow, I specialize in Cozy Mysteries at the moment. I love them because the settings are always new and intriguing. There are often a lot of elements that have to be balanced like red herrings, Easter eggs, and pets. It makes it like a jigsaw puzzle to assemble and balance. That appeals to my artsy side. My second favorite is children’s books. I love bright colors, the characters are kids or animals and they are deceptively simple. I’d love to break out into more fantasy covers. I don’t get to draw unicorns nearly enough for my taste.

  4. Give us a glimpse into the process of creating a book cover. I like to talk to a potential client before we get a gig going. It’s a chance for us to feel each other out and see if we’re a match. So, generally, I will have a short conversation with you about the size of your cover and what your needs are. After that, we set the price based on the amount of work involved. The client will then send me all the pertinent details. I’ll look at everything sent to me. If there’s a mood board, I will consider what elements are similar in the images the client likes. This could be as simple as colors, shapes, or composition. If there’s no mood board, I will sketch out a thumbnail with the elements the client has requested. This is mainly to see how to balance them on the page and for me to get a feel for the image. Then I’ll sleep on it and let my subconscious work on it. I might also send it to the client if I think it will help them visualize what I’m doing. After marinating, I’ll take the sketch into Illustrator. I’ll hunt for reference photos to help me create the detailed versions of what I’ve sketched. I tend to start with the backdrop. It’s usually complete so I can move the elements around on it like a stage. I add the main element (body, sleuth, kid, dragon,) and move them around until I like it. Then I detail it. I add bagels to the sleuth’s breakfast plate. I add toys around the dog. I find the light source and shadow everything. I might also add highlights. Finally, I drop the titles on top. I will send an almost done version to the client to get their input. The client and I normally go back and forth a bit to shape it into their vision. I’m done when the client is happy.

  5. What has been your most challenging cover/client to do and why? Every cover is challenging, that’s why I enjoy doing them. Sometimes you and the client can’t see eye to eye and that’s frustrating for both. I used to ghostwrite for a client. When she asked me to also create the cover, I was excited. But it just didn’t work. We couldn’t get on the same page. I would send what I thought she wanted. She wouldn’t like it. She would try to describe it better. I would try again. We just ended up aggravated. She wasn’t a bad client. She was a good person. She had just chosen the wrong artist for her vision. We weren’t a match. We went on to ghostwrite together for a while after that. I think an artist is like a psychiatrist, you need to shop around for the one that really gets you. 6. Describe for us the perfect client. Most clients are perfect clients for me. It’s not hard. They need to have a vision even if it is stick figures on a piece of paper. Anything to work with is better than nothing. They need to communicate with me. I’m friendly, I promise! Most importantly, they need to respect me. I will make a zillion changes for a good client. A rude client gets whatever is stated in the deal. They should be enjoying the process. We should have fun together. 7. Life can’t be all about books; what other interest do you have. Did I read something about knitting doll? Hobbies? Who has time for hobbies? I’m kidding! I love walking. I’m lucky in that I live near a little park and within easy driving distance of a dozen more. I am a knitter! A corner of my living room had a laundry basket overflowing with yarn. I have created doll patterns from scratch and I do a lot of fingerless gloves, scarves, hats, and the occasional baby blanket. I have a podcast called Eh, it’s Something to Do that I record on Wednesdays with Rick Connor. I’m also an avid reader. My apartment is brimming with books and art supplies. It’s a bit chaotic. 8. What is on the horizon for your business? Right now, I am looking to expand my client base. I would like to expand into pet portraits, do a few more children’s books and possibly start publishing my own line of books. I would like to do more writing gigs for individuals or businesses. I would like to branch out and so a horror story cover or fantasy. On the practical front, I am constantly learning new Illustrator tricks to improve the quality of my work. 9. Give us a few samples of your work.

  10. How can you be reached? Share your links below. Find me on Twitter: @1fuzzymonster Find me on Instagram: @1fuzzymonster_Karen Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/1FuzzyMonster/ Blog: https://karenkalbacher.com/ Direct link to my portfolio: https://1fuzzymonster.wordpress.com/portfolio/ 11. Any final words for us? Choosing someone to flesh out your vision is an important decision. A good artist/writer will take the time to get to know you. They’ll be enthusiastic about your project. I love my clients. I consider them friends. I look forward to working with them on multiple projects. It’s very rewarding.

Be sure to check out the above sites and see for yourself just how talented Karen is! I know my readers love her covers.

A Special Interview! THE COVER SELLS THE BOOK!! I am thrilled to share with you an interview I did with my cover artist.

[minhthangcoi9993-blog]

Review Game Detroit: Become Human

It’s a testament to the breadth of Quantic Dream’s branching storylines that I felt terribly guilty as the credits rolled after my second playthrough of Detroit: Become Human, as I’d played against my personal moral compass to test how far I could push the story’s exploration of the morality of artificial intelligence. This was very much the opposite of my mostly peaceful first run, and Detroit obliged my wickedness to a surprising degree, leaving a trail of bodies of those who had previously survived in my wake. And while it never seems to know when enough heavy-handed expositional dialogue is enough, Detroit: Become Human manages to be a frequently moving melodrama that bends to your choices with meaningful results.

Each of those playthroughs took around 10 hours to complete, and during that time Detroit’s pace rarely lags thanks to the deft juggling act it performs, alternating between three android characters across multiple chapters: Kara, a housekeeper who must care for a little girl named Alice, Connor; a prototype police model whose assignment is to round up ‘deviant’ androids, and Markus; a carer model who believes androids should share equal rights with humans.

The trio of performances is excellent. Bryan Dechart is delightful as Connor thanks to his deadpan innocence, which makes for a great foil against the whirling dervish of his cynical partner, Clancy Brown’s Lieutenant Hank Anderson. Valorie Curry brings quiet strength to Kara, and excels at selling her love for her ward, Alice, who is quite possibly the least charismatic video game child to have ever existed. Jesse Williams employs all of his dreamy Grey’s Anatomy warmth as Markus and is never unlikeable, no matter how you choose to play him.

Based on your choices, you can change their personalities and the tone of their individual stories. In my first playthrough, for example, the relationship between a humble Connor and the android-hating Anderson played out like a knockabout buddy comedy. In my second, I let Connor’s ambitions take over, and his story was of a different genre.

Though Markus appears to fundamentally remain endearing no matter what you do (unlike Connor, who really can be played as a hero or villain), there’s a tug-of-war going on within him that throws up some of Detroit's most interesting moral quandaries. Kara’s story seems less tonally flexible but is the quietest and most intimate, which provides a welcome contrast to all the running and explosions you can opt into in the other two stories.

Play more Jelly Doods

Hot new 60 Second Burger Run

For the most part, supporting characters adapt to the way you choose to play, but there are occasional misfires. When I played as ‘nice’ Connor, for example, Anderson was far too aggressive toward him to be believable. When I played as ‘mean,’ or even ‘indifferent’ Connor, his fury made a lot more sense. At one point, Markus gained a lover very abruptly, and I felt I’d missed a slow burn somewhere. It’s noticeable when your choices feel they’re going against the grain of a more robust story.

I found all three of Detroit’s central characters to be dramatically interesting, which meant putting them in compromising situations – or worse, killing them – was a real fear throughout. It’s testament to the writing and performances that I found making decisions “just to see what would happen” teeth-clenchingly hard.

I'm a Real Boy

The backbone of Detroit’s story – meaning the one that’s relatively fixed in place despite the choices you make around it – is big, ambitious fun that takes Phillip K. Dick's question of whether androids dream of electric sheep to the nth degree. In doing so, however, it does suffer from a multitude of plot holes. Marcus appears to gain magical android powers when it suits him; Hank is impressed when Connor solves the most basic of mysteries; and one twist makes absolutely no sense if you look back on that particular storyline after having finished.

These were noticeable (and often pretty funny), but they weren’t deal-breakers for me. Detroit is audacious and silly as hell, but it’s got real heart to it. There were enough moments of quiet tenderness to keep me emotionally invested, and the stakes were suitably high - particularly in its final act - to keep me thrilled.

With this in mind, there is a lot of clumsy exposition and dialogue I was willing to forgive, as one would while watching a fun B-movie. But occasionally, Detroit ignores the standard writing rule of “show, don’t tell” to such an extent I was yanked out of the story. Bad guys spout monologues that spell out Detroit’s themes in capital letters. (There’s a compartment for androids on public transport, in case you didn’t get what Detroit was going for here.) Select side characters, like Hank’s harrowed police chief and the inexplicably wise and mystical Lucy - are loudly cliched, so we understand what their roles are without any real character development.

With the remarkable performance-capture technology – and performances – Quantic Dream has at its disposal, there’s no real reason for such heavy-handedness. Nor do I think Detroit is incapable of subtlety; some of the scenarios here are unusual and profound. But I wish its ideas had more room to breathe before being trampled by someone spelling out the meaning for us.

Characters are certainly capable of non-verbal expressiveness. The level of detail you can see in their faces is astounding; facial hair, blemishes, freckles, and moles are rendered in stunning detail, particularly in checkerboard 4K on the PS4 Pro. The animation is just as good; as Kara and Alice hurry through the rain on a freezing night, hunched over and miserable, I could have been watching two humans from the side-streets.

The world here feels very real, too, built with a sense of history. This is a miserable, dark version of a future Detroit where androids are so omnipresent that they’re old news, sold in chain stores for the price of a discount mobile phone. Little details from the sidelines tell the story of a burst tech bubble, like basements filled to the brim with discarded models or a street performer advertising the fact he is playing “human music.”

Though the path you are guided through in Detroit’s world is as linear as previous Quantic games, I felt like there was more time to enjoy these beautifully detailed environments. One of my favourite sequences involved chasing graffiti tags to find a particular location, which ended up being an eerie, silent excursion in a forgotten corner of the city. There’s also a marvelous scene in an abandoned amusement park which still creaked with enough life that I got a sense of what it might have been, once upon a time.

The way you interact with Detroit’s environments hasn’t evolved much from Quantic Dream’s usual formula, which is unobtrusive and mostly works. Action sequences are generally executed using timed button presses, swoops of the thumbstick, and occasional motion control, which evoke the action you are performing on a case-by-case basis. An android detective mode allows you to scan your environment to reconstruct crime scenes, and fast-forwarding and rewinding through these is a lot of fun, as is a new ability to ‘pre-construct’ scenarios before you execute them. I would have liked the opportunity to play around with the latter ability more than I was allowed to, in fact.

Like Beyond: Two Souls before it, though, Detroit: Become Human struggles to justify its multiple fight scenes with meaningful interactivity. Clicking on buttons at just the right time while struggling with an angry android encourages a welcome sense of participation in the fight, but you have to screw it up disastrously to fail. I understand that making combat a proper challenge runs the risk of introducing an immersion-breaking sense of trial and error, but I was left wishing the stakes were just a little higher after I ‘won’ each fight without really trying. Why make them interactive at all if the input feels so meaningless?

Of course, the way you play Detroit is primarily through the choices you make within it. While there’s that backbone of a story that can’t be shattered, which can occasionally result in frustration when it makes a decision for you to keep you from straying too far off the beaten path, I found its branching paths to be multiple and deep. Quantic Dream has been smart in making this multitude of paths transparent through flowcharts introduced at the end of each chapter, showing you just how differently it could have played out if you’d made another choice, enticing you to play through again.

Not every alternate choice leads to a drastically different story, but some will. Sometimes it might lead to the same result, but by a surprising new means. Sometimes it might change your relationship with another character and unlock a path that wasn’t there before. Sometimes it might result in death, whether that be of a supporting character or one of the central trio (they can all die at points throughout Detroit), or a dramatic action sequence with unexpected consequences. Comparing endings, not only between my first and second playthroughs but with other players, was astounding, particularly when I assumed everybody’s story had wrapped the same way as mine and found that nobody’s had.

For me, this is the biggest draw of Detroit. One playthrough really isn’t enough to see what it has to offer, and characters and world-building are interesting enough that it was a pleasure to go back to see what I’d missed in scenarios that are deceptively complex.

The Verdict

Detroit: Become Human is a poignantly pulpy interactive sci-fi drama where your choices can impact events to a greater and more satisfying degree than in most games of this type. Though I wish its story had been handled with a softer touch, especially considering the subtlety that can be conveyed through its tech and performances, its well-written and acted central trio were vital enough to me that I found myself feeling genuine distress when they were in danger and a sense of victory when they triumphed. Most importantly, Detroit offers a multitude of transparent branching paths that entice further playthroughs, and choices have a permanence that raise the stakes throughout.