Gameplay Journal Entry #8

Freedom: Detroit Become Human

Detroit: Become Human is a story about a new subjugated class… Androids. They are seen as either a tool for the progression mankind or the end of humanity. You play as three different androids and choose the paths towards their freedom. Even though the game takes place in a fictional future, the topics and conflicts are very real. There are conflicts in the game that mirror the oppression and subjugation that people have forced onto others in the past. There are protesters seeking to harm androids for “taking their jobs”. Busses in the game are segregated so that androids have a small compartment in the back, separate from humans. You see businesses with signs out front that say, “Androids Not Allowed”. Androids are treated as things for humans to use and abuse instead of an entity with a mind and a voice. Some of the mechanics in the beginning of the game reflect the control that humans have over androids. You are limited on where you can go and what you can say. There are red “restricted” walls for areas where you cannot go. You finally awaken when you break down these virtual walls and are no longer subject to human control. You become free.

Playing Detroit: Become Human gives you different perspectives of the conflict. It allows you to make ethical decisions that have a lasting impact on your overall gameplay experience. Nissenbaum and Flanagan agree that “existing games should be enhanced and diversified, or rather, that games should at least be developed in a way that they could include ethical ideals — or human values” (182). Detroit: Become Human has engaging, cinematic, and thrilling gameplay that will test your own ethics and morals. It just might reveal something about yourself that you never realized before.

Detroit: Become Human trailer

Sources:

Flanagan, M., & Nissenbaum, H. (2007). A game design methodology to incorporate social activist themes. Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems — CHI ’07. doi:10.1145/1240624.1240654