Fortunately for the latter party, it won’t be happening again in Beyond: Two Souls.

Speaking in an extensive interview with Eurogamer on the creation and development of his upcoming paranormal thriller, Cage discussed the way events will unfold in the game’s single-player narrative. For one, the 15-year story arc surrounding heroine Jodie Holmes won’t be presented sequentially; Cage used the term “chronological disorder” – “like in the film Memento” – to describe how Beyond might jump from Jodie’s adult life in one scene back to her teenage years in the next.

But it also seeks to prevent recurrence – recurrence of a player’s actions throughout gameplay or experiences throughout story.

As testimony to its thematic diversity, Cage claims that Beyond’s E3 2012 train-escape demo – a gameplay sequence wherein Jodie, assisted by her ethereal companion Aiden, leaps from a speeding train in a frantic flight from the law – is the only chase sequence present throughout entire game.

“Beyond is not based on patterns and levels. Each moment is different. Each scene offers you a different challenge. Each scene is unique, like you see in a film.”

It makes for an appropriate metaphor: Beyond, racing through Jodie’s life, peeling away the secrets behind Aiden and the afterlife, can still jump anywhere at any time. How such a cinematic lens shapes the pacing and tempo of Beyond’s action remains to be seen; however with its Oscar-nominated cast (Jodie is portrayed by Ellen Page while Willem Dafoe was confirmed last month as the scientist Nathan Dawkins) and nixing of the quick-time events that were so pervasive in Heavy Rain, it’s certainly well-suited for a game that’s reportedly longer (at 12-15 hours) than said slow-starting predecessor.

What’s your view of the variety that Cage is infusing into Beyond: Two Souls? Did some of Heavy Rain’s more repetitive elements help create an immersive experience…  or induce a deeper sleep?

Beyond: Two Souls releases October 8, 2013, exclusively for PlayStation 3.

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Follow Brian on Twitter @Brian_Sipple.

Source: Eurogamer