Developer: Capcom
Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360, PC
Genre: Platform, Action/Adventure
Rating: 16+
If ever there was an example of the plot to a video game that made you say to yourself "Wow, this would make an AWESOME movie!", then Remember Me is that example. Set in Neo-Paris in the year 2084, you play as Nilin, who used to be the world's greatest memory hunter. In the future, memories are a hot commodity, and Nilin possesses the ability to break into people's minds to steal - and sometimes alter - their memories. But the game kicks off with Nilin's own memory having been completely wiped, so the goal of the game is to figure out who stole them and why. See, pretty cinematic stuff, right?
Stylistically, Remember Me certainly stands out from the crowd, with its visual references ranging from cyberpunk comic books to the likes of Blade Runner, and the sound design is immersive and technically spot-on. Gameplay, however, is a little less original. You'll spend most of the game doing one of two things; punching and jumping. The combat section consists of you building up the memories to remember how to pull off specific punch/kick combinations, with each different one causing different amounts of damage to your enemies or energy regeneration for yourself. There are a few options to choose from, but once you've figured out which ones are best suited to your gaming style, you'll end up sticking with the same three moves and that fights can quickly get very repetitive.
The platforming fares little better, as the game blatantly signposts where to go next, illuminating every walkway and climbing point, so there's no real sense that you're playing this game yourself, more just following a pre-destined set of directions.
The highlights come when you have to alter someone's memories to get a desired result once the remixed thoughts have been re-entered into their mind. Had there been more examples of this throughout the game, then this could've been a bone fide classic, but as there's only four of them spread throughout the nine levels, it feels like a bit of a missed opportunity.
Which describes Remember Me perfectly; conceptually brilliant, fantastic story, but still a missed opportunity to properly immerse the player.
Rent Or Buy: Rent
Presentation: 4 out of 5
Gameplay: 3 out of 5
Replay: 2 out of 5
Overall: 3 out of 5
