https://youtu.be/j-pF56-ZYkY

"Are you familiar with Shrödinger's cat? Until you decide what happens, everything is happening at once, like in Detroit." -Chloe

Hello and welcome to the MadHouse. Today we are going to talk about Detroit Become Human with my guest bioshock2013 who prepared this chapter for you! Say, "Thank you, Katie!" or not, the choice is yours.

How do you define humanity? When does a machine become human? Or will it always be a machine? ... Those are all questions which will be following us through this chapter. Yes, today we'll get serious. Not too serious, don't worry. Spoiler alert read at your own risk, some spoilers will most likely come up, as usual.

First things first.

Glossary

Androids: Synthetic beings that resemble humans. They are mass produced for various purposes by a company called CyberLife, and are sold throughout the United States with the slogan "Designed by CyberLife, built in Detroit."

Deviant: Refers to a phenomenon where androids deviate from their programmed behavior.

Red Ice: A drug that closely resembles and shares very similar symptoms to Methamphetamine. Due to the lower socioeconomic status of a large portion of the citizens that inhabit Detroit (due to major unemployment after androids were introduced), this drug gained major popularity.

RA9: This consistently appears around deviant androids. They speak the word, hold it important, and write it down, over and over, in many places. Some speculate that RA9 is the android's God, and will lead them in their battle for freedom and equal rights.

Are the androids human?

One question that I'm sure you've asked yourself as a player is: Can androids actually become human? If you were to hypothesize what life would be like with androids would you be able to accept them as equals? Would you regard them as family members, and trust them in your home and/or at your workplace?

Did You Know

✤ The game was in development from 2012 ( That's six years of development!?!?)

✤ The creator of Detroit: Become Human, David Cage also created similar titles such as: Beyond: Two Souls and Heavy Rain.

✤ Due to the expansive possibilities of the game, the script ended up being almost 3000 pages long. Just to give you a general idea of how crazy long that is the ENTIRE Lord of the Rings Series, including The Hobbit, was 1544 pages.

✤ Detroit: Become Human has three playable characters.

✤ The 2017 trailer, showing a playthrough with the character Kara sparked some serious controversy, after child abuse was displayed in one of the possible outcomes.

✤ David Cage has noted in interviews that he took inspiration for Detroit: Become Human from The Singularity is Near by Ray Kurzweil.

Kara

Kara is an android that had to be reset due to severe damage by her owner, Todd Williams. She is a base model that can be purchased for $799, and has been purchased to care for his daughter Alice. Depending on how you play, depends on how far you see in her storyline, as she can be killed in the second chapter "Stormy Night." Out of all the playable characters, she is the one who can die "permanently" 6 of her eight chapters.

Connor

Connor is a "top of the range" android, who was specifically designed to hunt down deviants; androids that have veered away from their programming and have gone rogue. It's up to player to decide whether he follows his programming, and captures his own kind, or becomes deviant himself, helping them revolt against the android's oppressive owners. Connor is able to die every single chapter, but is repaired, apart from the ending.

Markus

Markus is a one-of-a-kind android, custom made for his owner, notorious artist, Carl Manfred. In his time with his compassionate owner, he was able to develop a soul and a begin his journey of self-awareness. Unfortunately one day, Carl's resentful son Leo, comes to his father's house and attempts to steal a painting for some red ice. When Leo becomes aggressive towards Markus, he becomes deviant, and the player has the option to finally fight back. From this chapter, Markus rises up and can potentially become a notable figure, becoming the face of the android resistance. Unlike the two other playable characters, Markus is unable to die until the chapter: Peaceful March. Having said that, his death can alter the game substantially.

Which Detroit character are you?

https://www.buzzfeed.com/jhastings/which-detroit-become-human-character-are-you-3hzli?utm_source=dynamic&utm_campaign=bfsharecopy&utm_term=.ohDXRE97r5#.piEJLXQv60

Social Commentary

One of the strong points and one of the most controversial, is the games social commentary. David Cage is known for tackling hard topics head on, and Detroit: Become Human is no exception to this rule. The game addresses things such as child abuse, slavery, segregation and civil rights. Drawing direct parallels to the adversities that the androids have to face, from specific times in our history i.e. The Holocaust, slavery, and then segregation of African American people.

Do you think that he did a good job at portraying these topics, and bringing them to light to a potentially unaware audience? Or did he mismanage the content, and misappropriate several atrocities throughout our history?

The Butterfly Effect Mechanic

Although the Butterfly Effect is not a new concept within gaming, it could be argued that this game has taken this idea, and pushed it to the limit. Unlike other games where you make a choice, that may or may not affect the ending, this game is constantly forcing you to make really difficult choices with straining time limits, that can affect your experience throughout your whole playthrough, not just the ending.

Even in the very first chapter,when you play as Connor, you can change how the game goes and alter relationships that you have with certain characters depending on the choices you make. Let's say that you go out onto the balcony to talk to the deviant Daniel, without searching for clues, it's very difficult to successfully maneuver the scene, and end up with both Connor and the hostage getting out in one piece.

This game is one of the best examples of a seemingly small decision creating a major impact to different parts of the story. If the player chooses to perform a violent protest, this can end up killing everyone in Kara's party, as they attempt to cross the Canadian border. None of the choices are simple, and even if you have the best intentions, like in real life, that doesn't necessarily mean you'll end up with the best outcome.

https://youtu.be/DZxtcJZ_pig

What did you like about the survey, what you didn't like about it? Do you think that the comparison to attempted genocide is a bit on the nose, and disrespectful. Or on the contrary, do you believe that it brings this significant time in our history, reflecting on the cruelty of humanity?

Different Endings

This question is for the people who completed the game. Seeing that there are over a 1000 different combinations to get when playing, I'm sure there's going to be a vast range of responses. What ending did you get? Were you happy with the outcome, or were you disappointed?