Review

Remember Me

Any true gamer knows that when it comes to action packed video games, Capcom is well seasoned. With titles like Devil May Cry under their belt, it’s easy to say that Capcom knows what they’re doing. This time they’ve partnered up with DONTNOD Entertainment in an effort to bring their fans something new. While Remember Me is certainly a new IP, the real question has to do with whether or not it’s worth remembering!

Remember Me is set in a futuristic France in the year 2084. In this universe a company named Memorize profits by allowing people to swap memories à la Total Recall. Unfortunately for the people of France, this power has given Memorize the ability to not only control people but also to erase their minds. The story starts as the main character, Nilin, is being carried away to have her final memories erased by Memorize. A man called Edge helps her escape in an effort to recruit her to his side; apparently she is what’s known as an Errorist, a member of a rebel group that’s fighting against Memorize. A long story short, Nilin must fight not only to take down Memorize but also to regain the memories she lost.

Remember Me’s story and gameplay mechanics are interesting on paper. In reality though, together that don’t push Capcom’s latest game past the mediocre mark – which is sad as I had high hopes for this title. The story itself follows the normal beats I’ve grown accustomed to over the years. The premise was so cool that at some point, I was expecting something big or really dramatic to happen. However, the more I played the more I felt like I was just going through the motions. Not to spoil anything, but nothing really happens that sets Remember Me apart from other action based games; there are some cool concepts and a small twist at the end, but there’s nothing truly noteworthy here.

What really bothers me though is the gameplay. Remember Me features a fighting system with a new unique twist in the ability to create your own combos. By customizing them in the Combo Lab, you can give each one a different effect (like having a combo that replenishes some of your life bar). The problem is that the timing on the button presses are awkward; there is a slight pause in between each hit which pretty much always allows the enemies around you to attack. I have rarely seen the end of a long combo because of how long it takes to input the corresponding buttons. There was so much potential in allowing personal combos but it just so clunky. If it was as smooth as maybe DMC’s fighting, I think this could have been a breakthrough system. As it stands though, it feels bland and uninspired.

One cool aspect was the ability to change people’s memories, which results in them changing how they feel about you. This could have be an amazing asset, if it was used more than four times throughout the whole game. The whole idea of Nilin being an Errorist that can alter/erase people’s memories was the main selling point of the game but it’s only utilized four times. Then there is the fact that it is impossible to fail at changing memories. Each scenario finds you fiddling with a memory until you got the “right” result. It would have been better to allow for multiple takes on each person’s unique memory; allowing the freedom to change a character based on how you altered their memories (similar to moral choices in other titles) would have been something worth talking about!

Even visually, the game is lackluster. As we get to the end of this gen we are seeing more developers push the bar of the current systems in terms of what they can do. And yet, Remember Me didn’t benefit from this trend.  Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t look horrible (a lot of work went into the finer details) but most of the environments and characters look mediocre at best. The same can be said about the music and voice overs. What we got was a bunch of stereotypical voices and bad electronica.

Remember Me is an average game at its best and a poor one at its worse. The great memory idea doesn’t add much of anything and the story isn’t very good. While not a horrible game, I wouldn’t recommend more than a rental…