I used to love the Heroes TV series. The first couple of seasons were great (and I still enjoyed the latter), so now that we have a new Heroes game out in the form of Gemini: Heroes Reborn to coincide with the Heroes Reborn TV series. I’ve previously wondered what a Heroes game could look like. Maybe a LA Noire style game with Matt Parkman’s ability to read minds and plant thoughts. Maybe even an RPG style game with Sylar or Peter Petrelli’s ability to gain others abilities with big skill trees etc. Both (in my opinion at least) could be amazing if done well. Alas we never got either of those. And here we are with Gemini, a game that doesn’t resemble either of those thoughts above, and a game that is certainly not amazing.
In fact I find myself in a bit of a torn situation. Because it is a game that really does have a lot of potential. There are clearly ideas there that maybe given a bigger budget and more time, could have developed into a genuinely good game. But as it is, all it is a game of potential, that is unfortunately going to be put into the bracket of ‘milking it’. Let’s get a game out because there is a TV show out type thing. It harks back to all those games based on films that were all the craze years ago.
Cass is our protagonist, with her friend Alex she is looking for information on who her parents were. Alex is quickly captured at the apparently abandoned base they are at and Cass has to find him. It seems a fairly bland concept and story, which is fairly poorly acted. And while there are some twists along the way, I found I saw them coming well before the actual reveal. Which is really disappointing. As the game progresses Cass develops new powers to combat enemies and get from point A to point B. The powers are easily the games strength, but some awkward implementation stops them from becoming its saving grace.
The powers you possess do vary, and they are well thought out. You are able to travel back and forth to a certain point in time, seeing the building as it currently is and once was. This is needed to access doors and places that may only exist in certain timelines, and does make for some nice puzzle elements during the course of the game. And also helps get a breather when you are facing some tough enemies. Next up is the ability to pick up objects using your mind, move them around and throw them about. You can also do this with certain enemies, and use objects around you to fight enemies. Slow time is also present, giving you a small window where you are able to move around enemies with ease, and is also lets you jump a lot higher and further than you could before. Later in the game you also develop a force push type power, where you build up energy to release at an enemy. The power which could arguably be the coolest, but is severely lacking in functionality is the ability to catch bullets and throw them back at the enemies. It is so inconsistent in its use and only seems to want to work when it wants I found myself not bothering with it most of the time, though there are time where there is simply no other choice, which leads to some frustrating gaming. Because of this, I found that most fights ended up with me using the same tactics for each one. Even introducing new enemies that are meant to be tougher are easily finished by using a tried and tested formula.
I was able to finish Gemini in 3 hours. Which for a game which boasts 16 levels is far too short. And it hampers the ability to tell any sort of story. There no feeling of connection to any of the characters, and everything just feels very rushed. As I’ve previously said, this game really does has some potential. But for the story to have any sort of weight behind it, it should be pushing 12 hours minimum. Another massive negative is the long loading screens between levels. Which makes the graphics pop in after every load even more annoying. Just what was taking so long to load?? There are some moments where the visuals actually live up to minimum expectations for a game of this type, in particular the grassy outdoor area at the start of the game, but the rest look as though it could be ran on a last gen console.
Despite all the negatives, there is still something there in Gemini: Heroes Reborn that I feel a warmth to. Though I wouldn’t recommend this game at all, I’m still glad I played it. It is just a shame that it has been released in the state that it’s in, and not been given a larger development budget.
**Thank you to XCN who provided a copy of the game to review**