REVIEW: Gemini: Heroes Reborn

“My name is Claire Bennet, and that was attempt number six.” The haunting words spoken by a 15-year-old cheerleader after falling 80 feet from a quarry structure during the opening scenes of Heroes in 2006, a show where ordinary people would start manifesting extraordinary abilities. From that moment on I was hooked. With many episodes to come followed by cancellations, reboots and now further cancellations of one of my all-time favourite TV shows, I didn’t quite know what to expect after being provided with a copy of Gemini: Heroes Reborn to review. Would this be a quick cash in to coincide with the show’s most recent revival or would the game turn out to be a final farewell for my much loved franchise?

As you start up Gemini’s opening training mission, you are met with a good looking game world with plenty of detail only to notice the very below par look of the protagonist and her friend, a character design which would not look out of place on last gen consoles. Gladly this turns out to be my only big problem with the game which is excused for the surprisingly fun and interesting gameplay mechanics to come.

You play as Cassandra, a happy go lucky college girl who is heading to the ruins of a destroyed quarry facility looking for information of her long lost family. You are accompanied by Cassandra’s best friend Alex, who in my opinion seems just a little too keen to help the damsel in distress. Upon reaching the wrecked facility, Alex gives you his Renautas company glasses which are a Google Glass style device which converts to be the game’s HUD for health, ability charge, conversation display, NPC movement and a battery indicator. This slowly depletes as you progress through the game’s story.

Once you reach the abandoned facility, you quickly realise that it is not as empty as Alex believes it to be. You are met by a single guard who you quickly get past by heading up onto the roofs in a Mirror’s Edge, parkour style escape, only for your friend to fall from a collapsing roof. After you drop down to help Alex, more guards appear and capture your friend. You are just about to be found when your surroundings change and you are magically in the same place but in 2008, 6 years before Gemini’s 2014 starting timeline. This turns out to be one of the greatest and worst parts of Gemini. With the sudden surprise of you manifesting abilities, the voice acting just does not seem to capture what has just happened in the game. I feel Cassandra reacts with the excitement of finding a £20 note on the floor rather than just finding out you have the ability to travel through time.

The next two levels are all about learning to use and understanding your newfound abilities. You are met with little resistance from guards as well as facing very basic puzzle situations for you to figure out what approach is most suited to what is in front of you. What’s strange is that your captured friend is giving you waypoints direct to your glasses from the room he has been placed in since his capture.

The abilities you acquire are as follows:

• Time scout – Holding in the B button allows you to look through time zones from one to the next, very handy for stealth techniques in learning where guards and enemies are.
• Time shift – Your main time travelling mechanic for jumping from the past to the present and vice versa by pressing in on RB.
• Time slow – Self-explanatory, press Y to slow down your surroundings and enemies, allowing you to escape sticky situations, stop bullets as well as jumping further and higher.
• Telekinesis – Which is found by injecting yourself early in the game with a syringed formula. This gives you the ability to open doors, pick up enemies and environmental objects and to throw items around. Items that can be picked up are highlighted by holding in LT then you charge up the strength of your throw by holding in RT then releasing in the direction you want the item or person to be thrown.

As the game progresses you learn to control these abilities better and some will even evolve giving you the ability to fire telekinetic bolts from your hand or slow time for much longer periods. For fans of the TV series, I would describe Cassandra’s powers as a hybrid of the teleporting abilities of Hiro Nakamura and Sylar’s telekinesis, which make her feel very unique but also very much a part of the Heroes universe.

Each mission gets gradually more difficult, but you are forced to use a mixture of your abilities to pass the challenges each level brings. For example, while in the present you will use time scout to check where enemies are placed in the past, you would then grab a table, chair or even a porta potty, charge up its throwing force while still in the present for you to then time jump and release your furniture of choice at the unsuspecting enemy. This adds a unique puzzle mechanic to Heroes which would soon become a repetitive game without its inclusion.

Experimenting with these mechanics is where I found my biggest but most hilarious problem. At times when you throw your enemy at walls or windows, they will bounce off everything with funny rag doll effects which would break every bone in their body, only for the guard to stand back up and come at you again as if nothing happened leaving you to do it all over again. Although a mechanic not intended for the game, it’s fun and adds a little humour to what is a more serious feeling story and game. Some might find that this detracts from the experience though.

The time shift ability is the stand out mechanic of the game. In most areas of the quarry facility you simply tap on your right bumper and with a swipe of your character’s right hand you are seamlessly in the alternate timeline. Beware, this cannot be done everywhere though, as walls and fallen buildings which have appeared because of the time differences might block you, so be aware of your surroundings as making a mistake can be the difference between life and death.

At times textures can take a few seconds to load correctly but this is very understandable as developers Phospher Games Studios have pretty much built the game twice in gorgeous detail to allow this to happen. With the 2014 timeline, the facility is pretty much destroyed, full of rock and fauna, whereas in 2008 the same places are very clean and shiny and a good show off of the capabilities of the Unreal Engine that Gemini is built on.

The soundtrack gives off a nice mellow vibe and complements gameplay very well. Listening to the familiar sounding ambience helps the pace of the game move along nicely. Although not the longest campaign at no more than 6 hours in length, the very low price tag attached offers very good value for money.

Achievement hunters on the Xbox One will also be very happy to know that all achievements can be obtained in one playthrough. Unlocks happen after completion of each level, and also for everyone’s favorite collectibles which are done in the form of case files of characters from the TV series like Mohinder Suresh and Molly Walker.

Summary

Overall, I was very surprised with Gemini. Unlike most other TV and movie tie-in games, the story is unique and for the most part enjoyable. It makes you listen to everything along the way if you want to understand the whole plotline. It might not tie exactly in with the happenings of the TV series but is very much a standalone title and story within the Heroes universe.

Gemini: Heroes Reborn is not the greatest game ever made, but it was never meant to be. With the recent cancellation of the TV reboot of the show, fans of the franchise might be forgiven for looking at this title as its grand farewell. For fans and newcomers to the series, the game will not disappoint with its unique blend of time travelling and kinetic abilities plus many Easter eggs from the show. Gemini: Heroes Reborn is a solid, fun and to the point representation of the Heroes universe. Plus, it has a very low price.