Latest in the impressive list of releases Capcom have brought us this year is third-person action-adventure Remember Me.
With a complex battle system involving devastating combo moves, this will certainly leave button-bashers dumbfounded and often laying on the ground waiting for the checkpoint to reload.
Set in the year 2084, in what is known as Neo-Paris, memories are something that can be shared, bought and wiped. The Memorise Corporation has invented an implant known as the Sensen (which acts as an in-game guide) where memories can be uploaded to the internet in a social networking style which in turn enables the corp to act as a surveillance city. Of course, there are people who are against this, and rebels known as the Erroists are determined to bring down the whole company.
You take the role of Nilin, a former elite memory hunter whose memory has been wiped by the authorities who fear her knowledge and capabilities. Waking up in prison after the painful procedure, it is clear that it was only partially a success as she still remembers her name. With the help of old friends and the Erroists she must escape her captors and once again learn her true identity and abilities.
Nilin is a lovable and sympathetic character from the start, who you will feel a warm connection to. As a female protagonist she is not only very easy on the eye equipped with some very lethal moves, she has also been injected with a fantastic voiceover and a great script. It’s easy to lose intrigue and compassion with a character if such things are not in place but Remember Me has successfully delivered.
Neo-Paris is set in two very contrasting scenes, The slums are where poverty and disease is rife and where danger lurks around every dark corner, and of course there is the section of the city where the rich live, who ignore the horrors that reside just outside of their safe confines.
The architectural structures within the game have been designed flawlessly to depict the comparison of the two. Banksy-style graffiti adorns the walls of the slums, whereas beautiful and peaceful coffee shops are seen in the shopping parades of the opulent side of the city.
Equally matching the beauty of the in-game world is the music, again drawing you into the futuristic setting and evoking varied kinds of emotion to suit each situation.
Starting out on the adventure, and still in the prison, Nilin makes a slow zombie-like, disorientated walk towards a hovering robot instructing her to follow. This acts as a tutorial helping you learn all the much-needed knowledge you will need to proceed further, as well as learning about the slightly complex combat system.
The combo lab is a fully customisable system that allows players to decide which buttons are pressed for each specific combo, although the first is by default. If you strike the buttons at the right moment you then hit again. While it is great you can pick and choose which button follows another to create a killier blow, it can also render you a tad frustrated. Combat lacks the fluid nature of other action-adventure titles and can feel forced and artificial. Another downside to this style of combat is the changing zoom screens which hinder the sight of where your next foe is going to attack, which makes combos a tricky business to master.
Presens, which you unlock as you venture through the game, are also key to the combo lab. They come in the form of regen, chain, cooldown and power, which will all provide many combinations for you to use to aid in combat and all with their own unique ability.
The enemies in the game come in all shapes and sizes of robots, authorities and deranged, distorted looking humans known as leapers (mutated from absorbing too many memories). Most come with different strengths and abilities and you will have to carefully plan out combos to defeat while jumping and cartwheeling out of harm’s way when you see a red exclamation mark above the attacker’s head indicating they are about to give you an almighty wallop.
Boss levels involve strategic planning also, along with the casual ducking and diving involved with smaller opponents. Once defeated, these unlock some nifty augmentations for your character to cause environmental structural collapse, unlock doors and even use against other bosses. I found that these end-of-level fights made for an interesting and challenging battle in-between the many episodes of the game.
Another feature that Nilin has access to is The Memory Remix. This is where you can modify a memory of the subject to suit a particular situation. This works by rewinding, fast-forwarding and selecting the specific changes and in the correct order, acting as a somewhat trial-and-error puzzle.
Along with all these new game-defining features are the usual in-game collectables that can be found across the city. This is where there is some freedom to explore your surroundings, although in such a stunning world you do wish there was slightly more freedom to roam.
Remember Me, has taken a bit of something from other well-known games and popular sci-fi films. The climbing and shunting across ledges is very Tomb Raider, the futuristic setting and clinical confines at the start are similar to that of Deux Ex and the helpful robots that roam the city are reminiscent of I Robot. For me this creates an enjoyable experience.
The voiceovers, script and look of Remember Me have all very clearly been thought out and combined in a cleverly addictive fashion, gaining the audience’s attention and emotional involvement. Even with the occasional changing zoom screens and somewhat tedious battle system, Remember Me is a game I won’t be forgetting in a hurry and with that I hope there will be a sequel.
7.5 out of 10
Out now for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC – Xbox 360 version tested
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