If you’re into story-driven games where every decision you make can affect the outcome, Detroit: Become Human may feel like a masterpiece. If you’re more into fast-moving action and flair, this game isn’t for you. As I lean towards the latter, I had to remind myself this is designed for a specific type of gamer. It’s a truly unique and original experience that’s deeper than we are used to playing. Unfolding the layers of metaphorical complexity takes patience. As long as you know what you’re in for, you’re going to enjoy the journey.

Dubbed as an action game, Detroit: Become Human plays as a “create-your-own-story” similar to the popular Telltale Games series. Players take the role of three androids who begin to develop humanlike consciousness over the course of the game. Unfortunately, you’ll be faced with the mortal realization that your decisions could be fatal, and the game plays on without a continue screen to fall back on as we have all become so accustomed to seeing.

Back in 2014, one of the main characters, Kara, was revealed at a tech demo displaying advancements in motion capturing technology. She served as the catalyst for game development and the writers of D:BH created a dystopian world in the near future where androids are given roles in the workplace, which inevitability spikes unemployment to record numbers. Androids were created by a company called CyberLife, who’ve been working on a new prototype: a crime solving detective named Connor. Connor assists an android-hating veteran detective as they try to discover why androids have started to display deviant behavior. Markus is the third main character, played by actor Jesse Williams of Grey’s Anatomy fame. Markus belongs to a famous actor with a spoiled son who eventually causes Markus to be on his own. Markus learns what it means to feel emotion, likely as a result of his empathic owner. Markus becomes a revolutionary after finding Jericho, a safe haven where androids can feel free from human oppression.

Kara belongs to a white trash abusive single father who takes his drug-fueled aggression and depression out on his daughter and bot-maid. In a dramatic scene where you decide whether to step in during a domestic assault, you’re faced with the decision to help Alice escape. The fight scene with the father was one of the few moments of excitement I experienced. All of the gameplay boils down to these few actions by the player: walking slowly, pressing buttons when prompted, and reading dialogue. There is a little detective work like searching for evidence and scanning the environments for clues. Be aware that these actions are the only thing you’ll be performing. There’s no running, jumping, shooting, or any of the sorts without simple prompted button tapping.

 Detroit: Become Human was reviewed favorably for its exceptional attention to detail and intricate story. Quantum Dream used innovative motion capture tech to render the characters on screen to look identical to the actors who portrayed them. Sony is on a run with studios that are making hyper-realistic graphics. Quantum previously made Heavy Rain on the last generation and this serves as an embellishment on their ambitions. Detroit will be praised for its improvements but it’s not easy to overlook the downfalls of the gameplay. Movement is shoddy and rarely works smoothly. Sometimes you’ll have to move the controller to perform actions and that rarely works correctly. To be as frank as I shouldn’t, this game is a snoozefest.

I’m giving Detroit: Become Human a 6 because it isn’t great and it isn’t completely terrible. The original concept of having all possible choices laid out after each chapter in a flowchart is intriguing. Players can even see how their choices compare to the rest of the world. The glitchy controls and limited environments really hinder the flow of the game. Detroit had tons of potential, but in the end, the game felt as robotic as the androids themselves. The developers seemed to look over the fact that player will have to listen to the monotonous tone of robots for hours at a time.