is a video game, anyway?

You know, when we were kids, that was an easy question. Video games came in plastic cartridges,

they moved sideways and within seconds of starting them, you were playing something.

How times have changed. Now you start them up and wait for an hour, watching things install.

And forget cartridges. In fact, forget plastic.

In fact...forget playing. These days, it's not about that. It's about...well, I'm not

sure exactly what it's about. All I know is, somewhere along the line, the gaming industry

developed a complex. And it thought it had to grow up. It thought it had to replace gameplay

with "meaning." Fun characters with famous actors.

It thought it had to be the movie industry.

And more than anything else, that's what this game is about. It's about the modern evolution

of video games, what you think of that evolution...and whether or not your opinion can change. Personally,

Beyond is...the furthest thing, from what I want in

video games. But when I accepted it for what it is...I couldn't stop playing.

Or watching. Or whatever.

And if you go into Beyond surrendering yourself to its evolution, I'll be damned if Ellen

Page doesn't charm your ass into submission. You'll be like Snake Man, when he's up against

the Needle Cannon. That's a video game reference, kids. They were these things that came in

plastic.

I'd give you some specifics about the gameplay, but...there aren't too many. It's just an

interactive movie with quick-time events. Button-prompt city, the whole thing. But there's

something about this one that hooked me, in a way Heavy Rain never even came close to.

And I think it's because...one, Ellen Page is just fantastic in this. Two, controlling

a poltergeist is just inherently interesting. And also...it's just, it's less pretentious.

I mean, they're both like movies, but...if Heavy Rain is a movie you'd watch in some

pseudo-intellectual film club, Beyond is a movie you'd pay to see on a Friday night.

What I like about it is that...it meets us in the middle. It compromises, because there's

actually traces of what you might call "traditional gameplay" here. Even something like walking,

right? It shouldn't be exciting. But it's done in such a way that...when you're walking?

The game is exciting. It's usually really exciting, because Beyond builds tension like

it's getting paid to. And that's when it hands over control.

And it always frames your actions, even if it's just pressing a button or taking a step,

as a really big deal. Within the context of the story, even minor actions feel momentous.

Speaking of which, the story is both a highlight and a cluster f*ck at the same time. It's

about Jodie, a little girl who was...born with a friend. A poltergeist, that's attached

to her like an invisible arm. Beyond tells the story of her life, and as games tend to

do, it gets kind of ridiculous. But when it works, the story's actually pretty gripping.

Especially when it's about the relationship between the two. Even though Jodie has been

tormented by Aiden her entire life, the girl and the ghost become inseparable.

In ways you might not expect.

But you know, I didn't expect to be saying this. Not about a game as game-less as this

can sometimes be. Not about about a game with a story it claims you can affect...but is

as unaffected by you, as this can sometimes be. And yet here I am, having thoroughly enjoyed

my time with Beyond, thanks to all the other things it can sometimes be.

Namely, one of the things Heavy Rain never was for me.

Fun.

I mean, video games can't be movies. No matter how much they may want to be, they're two

fundamentally different experiences. And I'm not saying I'm thrilled with where gaming

is currently headed. But, I mean, when Ellen Page is bringing down helicopters and walking

through fire? I'll gladly press that button.

Beyond may not be a video game. Who even knows what a video game is anymore...but whatever

you call it...

This one's alright with me.