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Detroit Become HumanMain MenuErin Delaney025b2f64f51a6f5572cf01fdd8fffd9be1dd2c19
Become Human
12019-04-08T17:44:45-07:00Erin Delaney025b2f64f51a6f5572cf01fdd8fffd9be1dd2c19329013plain2019-04-16T21:29:30-07:00Erin Delaney025b2f64f51a6f5572cf01fdd8fffd9be1dd2c19MarkusOverall the game Detroit Become Human fails to make a real posthuman leap, but they do string together some threads give the opportunity to the gamer to think through some posthuman and postanthropocentric questions about the life of the game and our life. Questions about what it means to be human, treatment of the environment, relationships with animals, gender and sexuality, and how technology fits into our perception of ourselves and our lives are all within the game, yet they fail to fully step out of their perspectives to extend their questioning further. They ask what it means to be human in terms of technological autonomy yet do not question where biological and android animals fit into their revolution. When the President declares war on the androids in one ending, it is not the androids of the zoos they are talking about but the humanoid ones. The birds in Carl's house show the technology is in common life, at least of the affluent, yet Markus never is angry for his android bretheren left in the cage. They ask if love between androids is as valuable and as real as love between humans yet does not extend this question between the two, other than in terms of sexual oppression and domination through the Eden Club and the use and abuse of domestic robots. One could argue the Kara-Alice relationship was an attempt at that but it was a failed attempt if that. Our relation of animals is questioned through the focus on extinct species yet it does not touch on the food industry and other ways we commodify animals the same way the androids are. Even interesting quetions of the inequality of android mortality between those connected to Cyberlife and those dumped like Markus, or how their long life span would affect temporalities or their perspectives. Most frustratingly is it is from the point of view of three androids yet it sticks to humancentric time and dates to tell the narrative, most likely to keep things clear for the player and because the androids are built for human service, but there was quite a lot of flexibility to play with time in a form of media like this.