Remember Me review

[Neon Ignition]

Halfway through now with a gameplay time somewhere around two and a half hours so it's clear this is a short one. This is future Paris though where the number of French people appears to have dropped as the British and Americans move in. As a setting it can look nice as the reviews have stated however as far as I can tell it has no bearing on the narrative at all.

In terms of approaching the game think of it as:

-Uncharteds climbing
-Enslaved's combat
-Hints of Mirrors Edge styling

It's a solid game, built using Unreal engine. My biggest in game niggle is the camera which can wander in a fight and the lock on which is required in some battles but struggles to identify the right target.

The memory remixs involve a sequence that you rewind and hit O when an object glitches, you trial and error till the right outcome happens. It's not down to the user though, everything is prescripted and that includes level design which is linear to the nth degree.

Putting all the pieces together so far it's a competent, decent enough game however all aspects are individually bettered elsewhere and the short length means ?40 is a high entry price.

[elaniel]

I'm enjoying this so far, the remixes are a brilliant idea. Finding sections to be too dark though. Something to play to hold me over until The Last Of Us next week. This is well worth a play, but I agree that ?40 is a tad high. Perhaps ?30 would be better.

[112]

So does it actually play like PN03? Because that's what popped into my mind when I viewed the trailer... Not a bad thing, mind!

Edit. I really should pay attention more, just read the owning post properly... Now I know how it plays

112

[EvilBoris]

I'm liking it so far

the combat is very much like Batman AA/AC

The graphics are really beautiful and the world really does have a european flavour to it (DONTNOD are Paris based).
The Unreal engine is certainly being put to good use, although it's a little jaggy at times compared to more AAA stuff.

Also the characters have that Unreal Engine look, with noticeably compressed textures and that slightly silvery skin shader that both Mass Effect and Enslaved both are guilty of using.

[FelixofMars]

I just got it via Greenman on PC, so far I like the theme. not a fan of the fixed camera stuff in it though. Quite like the combat concept although it feels like its been ripped out a dance game. The memory remix is pretty good too. The overall style is very much feeling Dues Ex : HR which is not a problem for me.

As Boris said the graphics look a little rough which is surprising as I thought UE3 was a little better for visuals (see Gears 3) but I guess it is a new studio with new IP. Like Dishonoured I hope to see more of this as long as it isn't milked.

[EvilBoris]

I was just wondering around Paris for the first time and notice that nobody has any shadows, it's slightly Shenmue Esque there.
Kinda weird. Does the PC one fare better there>?

[FelixofMars]

I don't think so, I am pretty sure it's a standard Unreal thing to be able to have dynamic shadows so there is very little reason it cannot be done. I wonder if its just a very small team.

Edit: from the wiki it seems like they are and had to get funds, I wonder if Capcom got this for a steal and if they are essentially indies like the Hawken guys.

[teddymeow]

This is pretty good this.

Sure, it's not the prettiest game but it has a certain charm.

Combat it nice and chunky and.the memory remixing - though hardly taxing - is quite fun.

I can't stand the voice acting though. Edge especially sounds super emo with his "fight the power" one liners and over pronounced words.

[Family Fry]

I don't think so, I am pretty sure it's a standard Unreal thing to be able to have dynamic shadows so there is very little reason it cannot be done. I wonder if its just a very small team.

Edit: from the wiki it seems like they are and had to get funds, I wonder if Capcom got this for a steal and if they are essentially indies like the Hawken guys.

Well the game was lined up to be published by Sony and apparently the dev said that they "gave it away"

"Sony wanted to focus on a different type of game and we don't really fit with that," claimed Guilbert. "But we're in a very good relationship with them. They stopped a number of games last year at Sony and we took back the IP rights and were able to continue to develop it thanks to the support of the investors.

"We were then able to sign the game to a publisher whose portfolio is a better fit for the game. [...] This project is not exactly the same, it is an evolution. The concept of what we had with Sony was different."

http://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2012/08/15/sony-stopped-a-number-of-games-last-year-including-allowing-remember-me-to-become-multiplatform/

[FelixofMars]

Yeah I think this happens alot though, sometimes publishers start a product and either get cold feet part way through or run out of money or both. Part of the reason Outsider died was that the first publisher ran out of money and pulled away from development (again gave us back the IP) so we had to redesign the project. hence the Bournification videos that are hanging around on the internets. This may have also lead to the art not looking as good as it could if there was a changeover in vision.

Dogs Life also had the same thing, but I didn't have my hands on that.

[EvilBoris]

Really loving this!
I'm at chapter 5 now, which i'd guess was about 6 hours in (playing on Hard), slightly dissapointingley I have only seen 2 Memory Remix sequences, the 2nd of which is the one that they demoed. I was under the impression that would be a much bigger part.

Still really enjoying the combat, the system for creating your own combos is quite satisfying, to be able to go the menu mid-battle and change it round a little.

[EvilBoris]

I've found these screenshots of the game which really show off some of the beautiful locations and scenery. They are all in game

[FelixofMars]

I have seen evidence of shadows "finally" I think they only show up on the dynamic spotlights which makes some sense.

I am finding that there seems to be too many tutorial parts or new items, it gets a bit confusing/annoying tossing in yet another mode.

I think the scenery is quite nice for what it is but there does seem to be a regular frame-rate drop on PC which is surprising.

Overall I think its quite a good action/puzzle game, but feels rough around the edges. I am really getting a feeling of Messiah from this game to, make its all the future apocalypse and the obvious possession links.

[EvilBoris]

Yeah I've seen those Darker bits are lighting-alicious, so weird they chose not t have it during the daylight sections. Even a little SSAO would of helped!

[SuperBeatBoy]

Find it a really derivative and lazy game. The combat is a poor clone of the arkham games with really poor level design and i find its influences especially the story & characters, just lazy and forgettable. Not worth the ?20 i spent.