Detroit: Become Human Review Summary

Last updated: 2026-03-01
  • Impactful player choices and multiple endings
  • Compelling story with emotional impact
  • High replay value and choice-based consequences
  • Plot and narrative issues reported
  • Camera and control problems noted
  • Optimization and performance issues
Detroit: Become Human header

Emotions

Archetypes

What players like:

Common complaints:

Gameplay feedback:

Performance notes:

Recommendations:

Other player notes:

Review evidence

Why players say this

What players like

Impactful player choices: The game features a narrative heavily influenced by player choices, where decisions have significant and often irreversible consequences. This includes moral complexities and thought-provoking scenarios that affect the story and endings.

Compelling and engaging story: The game offers a compelling and well-written story with engaging plots and memorable characters. The narrative is unique and powerful, keeping players mentally engaged.

Emotional impact: The game delivers a strong emotional impact through its story and characters. Players experience an emotional rollercoaster and deep involvement with the narrative.

Impressive graphics: The game is praised for its beautiful and stunning graphics, which are visually impressive and detailed. The high-quality visuals contribute significantly to the immersive experience.

Excellent soundtrack: The game features a memorable and dynamic soundtrack that enhances the atmosphere and overall experience. The music is well-crafted and adds to the game's appeal.

Common complaints

Plot and narrative issues: The game suffers from various plot inconsistencies, illogical world design, and unrealistic narrative elements. Character motivations are often unrealistic and unconvincing.

Camera and control issues: The game has problems with camera positioning and controls. The camera can be difficult to manage, and controls are often non-intuitive and uncomfortable.

Excessive text and repetition: The game has excessive text and requires players to replay large amounts of content to unlock story branches. Some scenes are repetitive and cannot be skipped.

Unrealistic portrayal of androids: The game fails to depict androids with proper AI and the human element in androids is unrealistic.

Quick-time events problems: Quick-time events (QTEs) are often too fast and partly broken, making them difficult and tedious for players.

Gameplay and performance

Interactive movie experience: The game offers an interactive movie experience with quick time events (QTEs) and decision-making elements. This blends cinematic gameplay with interactive storytelling.

Multiple endings and high replay value: The game features a branching narrative system with multiple storylines and endings based on player choices. This design encourages multiple playthroughs to explore different outcomes and perspectives.

Choice-based consequences: The gameplay revolves around a choice-driven narrative where player decisions significantly impact the story and outcomes. This includes dialogue choices and actions that alter the sequence of events.

Choices impact the narrative: Player choices have a significant impact on the story, affecting future events and the overall narrative. This includes moral choices and their consequences on the storyline.

Multiple characters and storylines: The game features multiple characters with unique storylines and interconnected stories. This includes three main characters with different and intersecting storylines.

Optimization issues reported: Some players have reported optimization issues, particularly on PC. This includes poor optimization, lag issues, and FPS drops. Specific mentions include performance issues during rain and snow scenes, as well as on certain hardware like the Steam Deck and 1050ti GPU.

High system requirements: The game has high system requirements, with some players noting that it requires a gaming PC or a powerful PC. Specific mentions include the need for a GTX 780 or higher and compatibility issues with old CPUs.

Smooth performance on mid-range systems: The game runs smoothly on mid-range and decent hardware, providing stable performance without lag. This includes smooth progression and gameplay, making it accessible for players with average systems.

Crashing and technical issues: Several players have experienced crashing and consistent crashing issues. Additionally, there are reports of rendering issues, black screen problems, and screen freezing bugs.

High-quality audio and soundtrack: The game features a dynamic soundtrack and very good audio, enhancing the overall gaming experience.

Recommendations

High replayability: The game offers high replayability due to different story outcomes and multiple endings, making it engaging for players who enjoy narrative-driven experiences.

Strong storytelling and emotional depth: The game is highly praised for its cultural significance, strong storytelling, emotional impact, and character development. Players appreciate the narrative density and thought-provoking themes.

Recommended for story-rich game fans: The game is particularly recommended for those who enjoy deep, interactive storytelling and narrative-driven experiences. It is praised for its story and gameplay.

Worth buying, especially on sale: The game is considered worth its price, particularly when purchased during a sale. Some players suggest waiting for discounts before buying.

Highly recommended to everyone: Many players recommend the game to a broad audience, including teens and adults. It is seen as a must-buy for a wide range of players.

Buying context

Community fair range: $7.99 - $14.00.

Game completion: 30.0h.

Story completion: 10.0h.

The game has a slow and potentially boring start, but it becomes more engaging and exciting as the story progresses.

Reported time to anchor: 3h.

Friction: Slow pacing; Repetitive tasks; Characters move at a snail's pace; Initial tasks feeling like chores.

Unlock drivers: Story progression; Narrative deepening; Convergence of storylines.

Player profiles

Story-Driven Newcomer: Explores the game with a focus on the story and emotional connections, often making decisions based on gut feelings and initial impressions. Motivation: Emotional engagement and narrative immersion. Stance: buy.

Choice-Exploring Enthusiast: Enjoys replaying the game to explore different narrative paths and endings, often making different choices to see how the story changes. Motivation: Exploring different story outcomes and experiencing the consequences of their choices. Stance: buy.

Philosophical Veteran: Thoughtful and reflective, often replaying the game to explore different moral choices and their consequences. Motivation: Engaging with the game's philosophical themes and moral dilemmas. Stance: buy.

Platform notes

Steam Deck: The analysis of user feedback for 'Detroit: Become Human' on Steam Deck reveals several critical issues impacting the user experience. The most severe problems include persistent issues with shader cache compilation, which leads to long wait times and frequent crashes. Additionally, there are significant complaints about the game's controls, described as unintuitive and poorly adapted for PC gameplay. Graphics and performance issues are also notable, with users reporting poor graphics quality and performance problems even on high-end hardware. While there are positive remarks about the game's graphics, music, and overall experience when it functions correctly, these issues collectively contribute to a less than optimal gaming experience on the Steam Deck.

Extra review signals

Monetization: The game has received mixed reviews regarding its pricing and refund policies. While some users appreciate the lack of DLC and the ability to unlock content through in-game points, others feel that the game is overpriced and have had issues with refunds. The game's story is seen as a positive aspect, especially in comparison to other games in the market that rely heavily on microtransactions.

External guides: The analysis of user feedback reveals that the primary issues revolve around the need for instructional data to understand the game's complex mechanics, the impact of choices, and the consequences of decisions. Users frequently mention the importance of not relying on external guides to fully immerse themselves in the game and experience the story naturally. Additionally, there are mentions of spatial data needs, particularly regarding navigation within the game world. The overall sentiment indicates a high reliance on instructional data to enhance the gaming experience.

Other review notes

Historical context and reflections: Players appreciate the historical context provided in the game, as well as the personal reflections it evokes.