BEYOND: Two Souls debuts at Tribeca Film Festival

BEYOND: Two Souls is somewhat beyond….well, it’s graphically beyond anything else on any platform.  Featuring incredible realism and what looks to be an engaging storyline, BEYOND: Two Souls has caught the attention of the Tribeca Film Festival, and we’ve got some new fantastic artwork, screenshots, and a fantastic video.  This is the first I’ve seen of character Nathan Dawkins (Dafoe) and the visuals are once again stunning.  Here’s a little about the game in case you’ve missed our previous coverage:

Releasing in North America on October 8, 2013, BEYOND: Two Souls takes players across the globe on a journey that explores 15 years of Jodie Holmes’ (Page) life. The original story seems to have jumped right from the silver screen, as main character Jodie, aided by scientist Nathan Dawkins (Dafoe) discovers a connection to a mysterious entity, setting off a thrilling journey to discover the truth about life, death and who she is – a central theme that provides a rich and evocative narrative.

The exclusive post-screening panel featured actors Ellen Page, Kadeem Hardison and Eric Winter. During the discussion, led by moderator and video game journalist Harold Goldberg, they spoke of how their professional acting backgrounds contributed to their performance in this genre defining game. Additionally they discussed the challenges of working in a motion capture studio to produce such an epic story. Often void of any traditional inspiration such as costumes, props and environments, the mo-cap studio is a vacuum created to capture true performance.

The game features a non-chronological narrative with an all-star cast including Ellen Page (Juno, X-Men), Willem Dafoe (Platoon, Spider-Man), Kadeem Hardison (A Different World, The Dark Party) and Eric Winter (The Ugly Truth, The Mentalist). With that cast I’d like to see any sort of valid argument to games being art.  If you are a tech hound, here’s a bit about the engine that powers this incredible looking title:

Quantic Dream used cutting-edge performance capture technology that allowed the actors’ performances and expressions to transcend the gaming medium, making the spectacular life of main character, Jodie Holmes, tangible and real. “Quantic Dream is incredibly proud to share this vision of storytelling in games that redefines and breaks the boundaries of what games can achieve. We hope that BEYOND’s recognition as an Official Selection of the Tribeca Film Festival will only act as a catalyst to create more emotionally-charged games that explore mature themes,” said David Cage, founder of Quantic Dream.

The video, artwork and screenshots are all from Tribeca Film Festival presentation entitled “Homeless” which  follows Jodie during an emotionally and physically challenging part of her life where she is homeless and must find the will to survive in dire circumstances. The scene explores the relationships she forms with other homeless characters and the challenges they face, including finding their next meal, struggling to survive and retaining their belief in humanity.

The game releases exclusively on the PS3 on October 8th of this year.  Enjoy the artwork, screenshots, and and trailer below and look for our continued coverage as we head towards E3.

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