Cyberpunk is a phrase that has been tossed around often to describe a futuristic theme where technology becomes a necessity for survival along the lines of food, shelter, and water. Games ranging from Deus EX and System Shock as well as movies such as “Blade Runner” and “Total Recall” have depicted a future where humanity and technological integrations have overlapped into all elements of life and society including the replacement of biological appendages and functions.
In the new game Remember Me, players are set in Paris in 2084 where technology has allowed the population to upload their memories to the net. Not only can people share memories, but unpleasant memories can be removed as well.
The company behind this technology, Memorize is using the memories to control the population through never ending surveillance of a person’s memories. There are also individuals who have absorbed too many memories and have become mutated as a result.
The result of this is the rise of a resistance movement named Errorists who strive to bring down Memorize.
Players play as a female character named Nilin who escapes from Memorize detention before the last of her memories can be wiped away. Blessed with a gift to steal and remix memories, Nilin becomes part of a plan to capture the head of Memorize in an effort to alter his memories and save society.
Being able to replay and modify memories is a big part of the game as well as combat which can be upgraded from a Combo Lab to upgrade various fighting moves and styles.
With thousands of possible combos, being able to customize a style that works best for you is one of the great aspects of the game.
The platforming and combat in the game may become a bit repetitive for some and others may find it a bit frustrating. There are at times issues with save games as death can remove progress earned between save points.
The game has solid graphics and is to be praised for taking a new narrative to the genre and the introduction of memory manipulations was a nice touch. I also loved the characters in the game that despite some uneven writing and storylines stood out. In the end, Remember Me is a fun game and a great concept but falls short of being a classic due to several issues mentioned previously as well as camera and control issues.
3 stars out of 5.
