Remember Me hands-on preview

Capcom’s newest IP, Remember Me, has one of the most unique premises and protagonists this year, and MyGaming was lucky enough to take the memory-grabbing action adventure for a spin ahead of its June release.

As for a little bit about the game, Remember Me takes place in the year 2084 in the city of Neo-Paris, where you follow the story of a female hero named Nilin, a memory-hunter whose own memory has been erased.

Nilin’s quest sees her trying to regain her lost memories and find out why they were wiped in the first place.

The set-up itself is incredibly interesting, and during the preview, it became immediately evident that developer Dontnod hadn’t just created a story, but an entire universe around the narrative.

Players will be as confused as Nilin as she awakes not knowing what is going on, but as the game progresses, you’ll find yourself unlocking your own (as well as others’) memories, filling in the blanks that create the narrative.

The setting of 2084 Paris is a unique location, as it provides a European architectural beauty, shrouded in the slums and poverty that has emerged in the future. Due to this, Paris becomes a layered playground, allowing Nilin to platform around the dynamic environments, which range from dingy shanty towns to gorgeous skylines and neon-lit research facilities.

The platforming and traversal itself is very well-executed. Nilin can leap, climb and shimmy along walls, giving some great verticality to the city. Players need to use timing and quick thinking to escape a number of environmental puzzles.

The other side of Remember Me is the combat. The combat uses a free-flow system similar to that of the Batman: Arkham games. That said, there is a twist on the traditional formula.

Players can create their own combos using the Combo Lab. As you progress through the game, Nilin will remember certain moves and techniques in her fighting arsenal, allowing you to assign commands in any order, which creates different combinations.

The story and premise of memory-manipulation and thievery isn’t just a backdrop for the game though, as players will have to engage in the art of memory changing.

One of the examples I got to see was where Nilin had to analyse the memory of another character’s husband undergoing medical treatment. The patient is actually all right, but Nilin, through manipulating certain elements in the memory is able to change to memory itself. Nilin tricks the character into believing that her husband has died, and therefore changes the motive for her actions. It may all sound a bit confusing in writing, but it works excellently and makes sense in the context of the game.

With the short time I did have with Remember Me, I must say that it did add a huge degree of anticipation for its release. It has that off-beat science-fiction background, yet has this relative action/adventure element that fans of Uncharted would find interesting.

Remember Me will release on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on 7 June 2013.