Features
‘Detroit: Become Human’: Exploitative and Tasteless
Like any David Cage game, Detroit: Become Human tells a story that is ambitious, ridiculous, and doesn’t shy away from difficult content. The game takes place in a dystopic future Detroit where androids have become a part of everyday life: they live as bodyguards, nannies, maids, and sex-workers, and are treated as non-human property. That is until the androids begin to gain consciousness, and we follow the lives of three of these deviants: Connor, Kara, and Markus, as they struggle for freedom.
There’s a lot to be said for Detroit as a game: its environments and level design verge on the cinematic, its narrative choices make the world feel both expansive and meaningful, and the actors involved deserve real credit for an incredible array of moving performances. However, the story that Detroit tells is exploitative, it is tasteless, and it is unimaginative. It is challenging in every way, save for the philosophical. For the most part, Detroit’s “ambitious” scenes rely on shocking content that forces an emotional reaction, taking advantage of themes such as child abuse or the Holocaust without gravitas, respect, or due consideration.
You can read our full review of Detroit: Become Human for an impartial look at the game that fairly considers gameplay and mechanical elements. But this opinion piece looks to provide a critique Detroit’s more questionable story decisions, and the scenes which undermine the game’s argument and vision – because frankly, Detroit doesn’t deserve praise for exploiting stories of abuse and genocide for a game that only goes skin-deep.
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Exploiting Child Abuse and Player Emotions
We knew right from the start that Detroit: Become Human was going to be heavy going. The 2016 and 2017 trailers both featured children in peril: first a child dangled from a rooftop, then a young girl being beaten by her father, but David Cage defended the dark subject matter with the promise that “there’s a context in the story, there’s a reason for that”, and we gave the game the benefit of the doubt. The problem is that having now seen the game in full it is clear that Cage’s child abuse narrative isn’t content with just one scene, and definitely isn’t used with care, context, and solid reasoning.
Todd beating his daughter, Alice, as Kara looks on helplessly is the main drive in Kara and Alice’s storyline. The horrific scene allows Kara to break through her programming, and follow the maternal instinct to protect Alice through the rest of the game, but beyond this convenient plot point, there isn’t much in the way of context to justify Alice’s constant exposure to violence, isolation, and threats of pedophilia.
Is there a context to help us understand Todd’s actions? He’s poor, overweight, he uses drugs, and his wife recently left him. If that sounds like a stereotypical ‘bad’ character backstory, that’s because it is. Alice doesn’t do anything to provoke Todd’s violence, in fact, she doesn’t say anything as the script escalates Todd from angry muttering to flipping the table and hurling abuse at his child. It would be laughable how the writing magics child abuse out of nowhere just to satisfy some dramatic tension in a scene – if it weren’t so horrific.
Of course, this isn’t an argument that games should never use violence or show complex situations. As an art form games are uniquely capable of helping us to explore such painful topics and resolve our feelings around them, to empathize, understand, and feel moved to action. Detroit: Become Human simply doesn’t do that. Instead, it revels in your feeling of anger, confusion, and helplessness, it exploits your emotions by shoving a child on screen and beating her as an easy plot device.
Even your final vindication of breaking free, and perhaps even murdering the abuser, is a brief-lived freedom because Kara’s story literally doesn’t develop any further. Her entire storyline is looking after Alice, running from strangers, policemen, and threats of child molestation (Sorry, Jerry). The game even puts you through a concentration camp with Alice, separates you, and threatens that she could be exterminated.
It doesn’t help that Alice’s script comprises some of the most desperately clichéd Disney-sweet lines possible: “Why didn’t he ever love me?” “All I wanted was a life like other girls, maybe I did something wrong?” “Maybe I wasn’t good enough. That’s why he was always so angry.” “I just wanted him to love me. Why couldn’t we just be happy?” – I’m sorry, Alice, it’s because David Cage thinks being abused is a great plot device. The problem is these lines are so senselessly over-dramatic that much of the effect is lost – at least in my case, I couldn’t take the hyperbolic handling of Alice’s abuse seriously. It was staged precisely to manipulate the viewer, and it was sickening in its laziness.
Perhaps Cage’s reasoning lies in the fact that towards the very end of the game we discover that Alice was an android all along. Perhaps this is supposed to make us wonder whether it was ok for Todd to beat her, for Zlatko to turn her into a slave, or for the concentration camps to exterminate her. I’m afraid that whether concentration camps are good or not is a moral quandary far too deep for me to answer, so I’ll stick with pointing out that whether the child is an android or not, the child abuse that Detroit depicts takes advantage of its players, and uses a deeply serious subject utterly without care. The bottom line is if you want to feature child abuse in your game, it should be done with delicacy, and respect, not as a shoddy covering of a lack of character development and a quick recipe for some emotional drama.
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Concentration Camps and Civil Rights as Political Allegory
While you might agree Detroit’s use of child abuse goes too far, there are other issues with how it uses political allegory. The game’s core philosophy is the question of whether androids should be accepted as human: with thoughts, feelings, and rights of their own. In David Cage’s world, androids do not have rights, nor are they even recognized as having personhood or consciousness.
Androids cannot disobey, and the only consequence of harming one is a possible insurance fee for damaging someone’s property. Androids are referred to as ‘it’, they are banned from bars and public spaces alongside ‘No Dogs’ signs. Androids are marked with blue triangles and an armband that must be visible at all times. They are literally rounded up and sent to concentration camps, stripped, separated, and shot.
Clearly, there is an allegory here to the slave trade and civil rights movement, and boy does Detroit highlight it. From black characters literally explaining their sympathy for androids through the similarities of their past treatment, to using ‘We have a dream’ and the black power symbol as slogans in the android uprising, Detroit: Become Human is not afraid to draw parallels between real periods of discrimination and genocide in our history, ones which we still feel the presence of today, and the very important android uprising taking place in this game.
Perhaps these historical references help players empathize, not just with the story of the androids, but also with those of other races and creeds. Perhaps it helps players to understand the struggles of others and the horrors of the past. But does it not also destroy any moral complexity to the android’s right to freedom? Literally aligning the actions of the humans with Hitler cancels out Detroit: Become Human’s most interesting question as to the android’s right to freedom.
Obviously, androids are human and deserve their own rights, to disagree is to side with the Nazis, KKK, and child abusers all in one. Even if you think Detroit: Become Human has every right to use these sensitive political references with all the subtlety of a rampaging elephant, you might agree that Detroit’s handling of them destroys any question of what is morally right or wrong in this situation.
How far this use of traumatic historical events is a problem for you is ultimately a matter of taste. Historical events are not sacred – to be left untouched and unquestioned, and drawing parallels to them in works of art can create a powerful commentary and connect to a new audience. But in my opinion, Detroit goes too far: it rubs your face in too many obvious references, salts too many open wounds, and above all borrows from a history which it has not earnt the right to use.
Detroit: Become Human is not solemn, it is not complex, it is not thoughtful in its use of allegory. A story that wants to highlight the horrors of Hitler’s concentration camps, the struggles of the civil rights movement, racism, segregation, and the terror of experiencing child abuse – should not also include rain-drenched lesbian sex robots fighting in underwear and heels.
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Fetishizing Torture and Demeaning Women
Detroit: Become Human’s “philosophically challenging” content is made unforgivable when we look at the game’s use of women. It falls into the skin-crawling category of obsessive power fantasies: both of the male controlling and torturing captured women, and of overtly sexualized yet domineering women who are beyond the need for men (but let’s enjoy looking at them anyway).
The former occurs as Kara and Alice are captured and tied up by a perverted android serial-killer, and potential pedophile, who attempts to wipe Kara’s mind and turn her into the perfect slave. His house is filled with the disfigured and sexualized bodies of previously captured androids, one male android left sitting in a bathtub with only a head and torso remaining screams excitedly that you “must obey master” as you flee past. As your memory is drained away Alice is shoved to the ground as the abuser tells her “I’m going to teach you some manners you little bitch”, and held captive for the pervert’s own fancies, whatever they may be.
In all fairness, this scene can play out in multiple ways, and some might not seem like such full-on BDSM psycho torture scenes as others. In case you missed the highlights, you can find tortured androids in the basement who tell you “He likes to play with us”, and a burnt out female droid on her knees in the corner of Zlatko’s bedroom, wearing nothing but panties. If you fail to regain your memories, you can literally stay as Zlatko’s slave for the rest of the game, with Alice dragged away to a black screen. Let’s take a moment to appreciate this quote:
“The rule I give myself is to never glorify violence, to never do anything gratuitous. It has to have a purpose, have a meaning, and create something that is hopefully meaningful for people.” – David Cage
Is Zlatko’s torture mansion not gratuitous? Is it serving a purpose? I would argue that this torture fantasy comes out of nowhere. It makes no fine points about the nature of humanity, and it has no connection with Detroit: Become Human’s or Kara’s greater story. At most, it adds a side-character we can take along with us. Was it necessary to show the monstrosity of abuse performed upon androids? Was it necessary to beat Alice again? At best, this scene once again exploits child abuse and sexualized torture for the sake of ‘intense’ drama. At worst, this scene is meant to titillate.
In a separate scene, we see a reverse “forward-thinking” and “empowering” view of women. As Connor, we are tasked with the daunting video game trope of having to enter a strip club, examining another case of deviant android activity. What we uncover, after a dutiful investigation of every possible angle at the strip club, is a murderous female android, skin shimmering in the falling rain, beautiful and fearsome as she flings herself against us, determined to fight in nothing but her bra and stiletto heels.
Yet her empowerment is realized yet more as we discover that not only is she sexily rebelling against her rape and abuse as a sexbot, but also that she is in love with her fellow oiled up naked colleague. The revelation that these strippers are not only independent sexy women but are also, in fact, lesbian lovers, is almost too ground-breaking to bear. What an incredible romance story. What a novel idea. What a convenient excuse to spend hours modeling softcore pornography. If you’re not picking up on the sarcasm in this paragraph, you might have the perfect reading level to appreciate this scene.
As if it wasn’t enough, Detroit: Become Human’s voyeuristic sexualization of women is not just an uncomfortable addition to an otherwise philosophically sound venture. Detroit fundamentally does not understand what it is doing. How? With its menu screen.
Detroit: Become Human uses a female android, Chloe, as your own personal menu navigator. She speaks to you, adjusts your settings, gives you advice, and- crucially, can be set free at the end of the game. The idea is that the player, by the end of Detroit: Become Human, might well feel uncomfortable with their own use of Chloe as a personal android. She’s chained to the menu screen, forced to serve your whims, and eventually, she decides to ask you to let her leave.
It’s a neat metanarrative touch, and it would remain so, if not for the fact that Quantic Dream tweeted recently that due to popular demand they’ll be returning Chloe to the menu screen. You’ll be able to “acquire a brand new model (but your original Chloe will still be free)”. So, never mind about android freedom, we understand that you miss your blonde menu-screen pet, we’ll return her but say it’s a new model so you can feel ok about it. It’s impressive how a game can manage to so fundamentally misunderstand its own premise.
Detroit: Become Human is an impressive game. It is beautiful and ambitious, and despite its failings, it has unquestionably had an effect on many players. It is right that games should strive to address complex subject matter, and leave their impact on the political landscape. But in my opinion, Detroit loses all credibility with its thoughtless script, its careless depiction of child abuse and genocide, and its decision to feature demeaning sexual fantasies under the guise of progressive fiction.
It is easy to be swept up in the glamour of Detroit, but its story is ultimately cheap. If Cage wants to champion video games as an art form, and espouse complex gameplay mechanics in favor of a pure script punctuated with quick time events, then it stands to reason that the story be critiqued closely. Sadly, for all its efforts, Detroit: Become Human ends with a story that is emotionally, politically, and sexually exploitative. These themes deserve better.

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Joanna Nelius
June 28, 2018 at 2:15 pm
I really appreciated reading your take on D:BH. While I thought, overall, that the game attempted to be a commentary on the savage nature of humans, it did seem very unfair that the female protagonist got the brunt of the abuse. Not verbal abuse like Connor and Markus receive, but hardcore physical and emotional abuse. The entire scene with Todd, Alice, and Kara at the dinner table felt SUPER forced, too.
Cris
June 29, 2018 at 11:20 am
Agree with you! This game’s story is garbage. Cage is so far from being a genius with his storytelling. Hideo Kojima’s stories for instace have much more impact and layers.
C-LOS
June 29, 2018 at 12:13 pm
“Obviously, androids are human and deserve their own rights, to disagree is to side with the Nazis, KKK, and child abusers all in one.” Really? Androids are human simply because they have advanced AI and are sentient? ..and to disagree is to side with Nazis, KKK and child abusers? Wow.
Mike Worby
June 29, 2018 at 10:07 pm
For those of you wondering where your comments are, or why they’re not showing up, let me clear something up for you: we do not allow comments that insult or harass our writers. If you want to disagree with Helen’s work, you’re perfectly entitled to do so, as long as you do so in a civil way. Insults, condescension and sexism will not be tolerated here.
John Cal McCormick
June 30, 2018 at 2:15 am
Hang on. We’re not allowing insults, condescension, or sexism in an article about a David Cage game?
John Cal McCormick
June 30, 2018 at 2:13 am
I haven’t played the game yet but reading this it makes it sound like everything I’d feared. David Cage has been doing the same thing for ages. This is the guy that was like, “Fuck it, let’s just have a mad doctor who wants to shove a power drill in her ladybits,” for absolutely no reason in Heavy Rain.
Mike Worby
June 30, 2018 at 11:43 am
I’m as shocked as anyone! Not the man who left a camera lingering on a motion captured woman in the shower for ages!
anoetos
June 30, 2018 at 5:40 pm
I could kind of write a lengthy comment going through the authors text and argue why I see the game in a very different way than she did. How I do see the things she mentioned as being added as a cheap plot devices connected to the story and furthering and/or strengthening the plot. But probably this would be of little use here, for some reason this game seems to split opinions.
What I do want to say, is that I found the game and the story it told moving, gripping and captivating and I liked it a *lot*. And It *did* let me empathize more with people in misery, because it somehow put me in their shoes.
To people contemplating playing this game I would suggest to give it a try if you like that kind of story telling games. A *lot* of people liked it ( http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/detroit-become-human , https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5158314/ ) . And it also had quite a few positive reviews ( https://www.gamesradar.com/detroit-become-human-review// ) .
Chris
July 1, 2018 at 2:48 pm
Spoiler warning needed, pretty big one in here.
InterwovenThreads
July 1, 2018 at 3:43 pm
I gotta protest your comments about Alice and her abuse “coming out of nowhere”, because it’s a little insulting to abuse victims. The fact is, abuse like that often DOES come out of nowhere. The kid doesn’t have to be doing anything wrong. In both of the moments where Todd hits Alice, he’s super high and projecting his own issues to her. Even something as simple as her looking at him sets her off. That’s…realistic, albeit sad.
I also gotta complain about you acting like this game frequently has Alice at the risk of being “touched”. I never once felt she was in danger of that. The closes the game ever even remotely comes to that being a threat is Zlatko, and after meeting the damaged androids seconds later, it becomes clear his intentions are to experiment on her. Nothing about the Jerry scenario made me think that. Why would it?
Matt
October 9, 2019 at 4:30 pm
Haters gonna hate fact is this was a really well made game with a really moving narrative. you can have your opinion however i and most players will disagree with your sentiments. This is a really good game that pulls at anyone’s heartstrings.
steve
September 10, 2021 at 6:39 pm
Yeah, I am kind of wondering where she is coming from with her comments. Abuse is abuse and the movie is dramatic but that crap happens all the time. Maybe she doesn’t like to see it. The holocaust thing is more than the last scene. It was putting symbols on the androids from the start and making them sub living being slaves. Then there’s the segregation on the buses and treatment from passersby towards the androids. All these things covered happen to some extent in our society now especially these last few years. I don’t get her comments and she offers no alternatives that would say be any better. Maybe she would be happier if everyone had a picnic in the park and decided to live happily ever after. Conflict is a big driver of entertainment and inspires a better society if done well. I think DBH is some of the best entertainment in some time.
Perseus
February 23, 2020 at 12:28 am
I agree with Connor and Hank fighting the Tracis. that was unneeded. Why would they even stay there in the basement like mannequins and waste time when they could’ve just straight up jumped the fence considering Connor and Hank had to investigate upstairs for quite a while and can even fail that if the players don’t complete the footage clues? Lol I like Detroit way better than Beyond: Two Souls (utter shit) because it at least works as a choice-based game…but that wet fight scene was 100% just David Cage being David Cage.
Bee Bird
October 1, 2021 at 4:32 am
The complaints about Todd’s abuse being “stereotypical” and without real context tells me this woman has never been in an abusive relationship or suffered from victim blaming. Alice didn’t have to do anything to trigger him. The man was pissed, and he was looking for a punching bag. This is reality. It is horrific. And it happens. She evidently doesn’t understand the male psyche and how all of the triggers she listed wouldn’t be enough to make him abusive, either! He’s not just “poor,” he was laid off because of androids, his wife left him, making him feel inadequate as a man and provider, he’s on heavy antidepressants which come with sketchy side effects, he’s steeped in debt, addicted to drugs, feels a complete loss of control and identity, and his violent outbursts are just a convenient plot device?? What?! I guess we’re supposed to believe that if we do everything an abuser asks and placate them perfectly, we won’t trigger any voilence?? Are you serious?!
I can agree somewhat with the in-your-face historical references to slavery and the Holocaust. As a player, you obviously are not allowed to have any other opinion besides, “androids are people with souls too,” by the end of the game. But the complaints about Todd being a sloppy character for a cheap emotional reaction are absurd.
derpington
October 15, 2022 at 11:09 pm
The .01 percent(feminists) always have to crap on games. Y’all did the same thing when mass effect came out( called it a rape simulator). Please go play Fortnite. Please continue to quash any commentary that’s doesn’t kowtow to your glorious leader…just proves I’m right.