Gemini: Heroes Reborn Review

In my experience, licensed property games can be a hit or miss scenario. To much surprise, Gemini: Heroes Reborn leans more towards the positive side of this scale. Based in the world of the popular tv show, you are able to wield powers like telekinesis and time travel and delve deeper into the Heroes universe. There’s a competent story at work and generally entertaining gameplay. Fans of the tv show and newcomers alike will find some supernatural fun to be had.

Developed by Phosphor Games, Gemini: Heroes Reborn places you in the role of Cassandra, a young girl looking for answers about her parents. When her friend Alex claims he may have found a paper trail to their location at an abandoned facility, they stumble upon something much bigger. After Alex’s almost instant abduction by guards in this “abandoned” facility, her new goal is to save him so he can help her search for clues to her parents. Through her struggle to Alex, Cassandra unveils she is an “Evo”. Meaning she has the awesome ability to use super powers. Progressing through the game unlocks more and more of Cassandra’s new hidden powers.

Cassandra’s primary power has to do with time manipulation. She can warp herself in between past and present. The power’s functions are actually implemented in a really awesome way. Many times you are presented with objectives/obstacles that have to be completed in the past so you can move further in the future. Cassandra can also slow time. This proves to be extremely useful under the right circumstances. Sowing time means you can also slow bullets, enemies, and even jump further (still don’t quite get the reasoning on that one).

Cassandra’s second leading power is Telekinesis. This allows her to manipulate the environment, and even enemies around her. She has her practical uses like opening vents and clearing obstructions. Then not so practical uses like launching enemies into high-speed metal blade fans or circuit boxes, bringing forth a most gruesome death. I really enjoyed this one.

Gemini: Heroes Reborn hosts some pretty decent controls. Movement is done with standard FPS dual stick controls. Not buttery smooth, but not anything that prevents you from playing. At times the jumping felt too sensitive, but not enough for me to adjust the settings. Some of the powers can feel a bit off at times. Trying to grab certain items or enemies using Telekinesis too often had me launching the wrong things across the room. If this was a power that wasn’t used often I wouldn’t even mention it, but being a main staple power it’s something you wish was just a tad tighter.

In terms of graphics, Gemini: Heroes Reborn is running with the glorious Unreal Engine 4 under its hood. Unfortunately it doesn’t feel like all of its power is being harnessed. Not to say that this game should look like a AAA big-budget title, but it should at least be able to handle texture popping and frame rate. It should be noted that some of the lighting and landscapes do look pretty damn good at times. Plastic looking character models seem to wash away those beautiful environments you’re admiring pretty quickly though. Some problems also seem to arise when you load into one of the games many short levels, and you are waiting for up to 15-20 seconds just for the textures to pop. Graphically every time I was impressed, something seemed to come up poorly and cancel it out.

A positive asset of Gemini: Heroes Reborn would definitely be its dialogue and voice work. It is very well written and believable. Nothing ever feels like it’s cut and dry just reading lines off of a script. I actually cared what the characters had to say, their reactions, and banter. They were smart and delivered the emotion the story was meant to give. It didn’t have to rely on massive explosions or a grand orchestral score to hit its mark.

Even if you have never seen the tv show, Gemini: Heroes Reborn is worth a spin if you’re looking for something entertaining. While it may not be anything revolutionary or high grossing, it’s a fun adventure. It packs a decent story and gives the player awesome abilities to cause havoc with. The cherry on top is if you’re a trophy hunter, this may be the easy platinum trophy you’ve been seeking to add to your coveted collection.

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Sony Playstation 4 code was provided to Brash Games for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to editor@brashgames.co.uk.