Genre: Action-Adventure
Release date: January 18, 2016

Video games based on television and movie franchises have a rocky history. Many of these games are inevitably underdeveloped and feel like a quick cash grab by IP owners, casting a lasting shadow over this portion of the industry. So how does the latest title by Phosphor Games stack up? On the bright side, Gemini: Heroes Reborn doesn’t feel like some cheap knockoff of a popular franchise, but it’s still far from a great gaming experience.

I want to make it abundantly clear that I’ve never watched the Heroes franchise, least of all Heroes Reborn, the series reboot. So if I say anything that’s terribly, horribly wrong, feel free to call me out in the comments.

That being said, as far as I can tell the game doesn’t appear to tie into much of the established Heroes universe at all.

Cassandra, the lead protagonist, is brought to an abandoned research facility by her good friend Alex in order to search for clues about Cassandra’s past. They’re quick to discover that the facility isn’t exactly abandoned, and Alex is subsequently captured by some goons.

Cue rescue mission.

On her search for Alex she develops superpowers and encounters the evil director of the facility. With some mediocre but predictable late game twists, Gemini: Heroes Reborn generally falls flat in the story development department.

Gemini: Heroes Reborn plays like an almost successful splice between Bioshock and Portal. For example, when Cassandra is first discovering her powers, she shoots up with a syringe to increase her abilities, a scenario clearly comparable to Bioshock.

Her powers include traveling between two points in time, telekinesis, and the ability to slow time down. The time travel aspect in particular evokes feelings of Portal as Cassandra hops between different settings in the puzzle platformer sections. But it can also be used as a means of sneaking up on various enemies. See a guard standing in a corner? Go back in time and head to that location, then switch forward and knock him out with a chair. It’s as simple as that.

Combat itself leaves a little to be desired. While I was greatly entertained during the first few encounters, the appeal quickly wore off and the battles became a chore. Every battle essentially boiled down to chucking enemies into one another until they finally stopped getting up. A game such as Gemini could have greatly benefited from more robust stealth elements which would have made the confrontations feel less formulaic. But the general rule of thumb in Gemini is that killing everyone is the only way to unlock the door. Great..

There’s something to be said for ragdoll physics and glitches. Though they’re always unintentional, there’s great hilarity to be found in seeing a defeated guard flailing about in a wall. Despite my years of experience witnessing these types of bugs, glitches and ragdoll physics just never get old and Gemini: Heroes Reborn has its fair share of such moments. 

The visuals in the game are a lot like the gameplay. They’re fine and they get the job done, but ultimately they’re a very forgettable experience. The textures give the game a very dated feel, particularly given the drabness of the facility itself. If you’ve seen a crumbling research facility once, then you’ve seen it a thousand times.

I’ll give some props to the voice actors though. With a script that occasionally stumbles in an attempt to utilize “young people slang,” the lead voice actors make the most of their roles. While the slang isn’t quite as rough and cringe-worthy as, say, the first episode of Life is Strange, the dialog does provide its fair share of eye-rolling moments.

If I sound harsh on Gemini: Heroes Reborn it’s because there’s plenty to criticize. The underdeveloped story, the monotonous gameplay, the dated presentation, and the glitches all weigh heavily, and the game is quite short. It took me just under five hours to complete. However, at the end of the day I’m willing to admit that I did have fun at certain points. Although being able to jump higher when time is slowed doesn’t make any scientific sense, it was still a blast to leap around the environment. And yeah, although the combat did got boring after awhile, there was fun to be found in the first few hours as I time-traveled in front of someone, threw them across the room, and then vanished like a time-ninja.

+ Acceptable protagonist + Momentarily fun gameplay   – Becomes stagnant after awhile – Barebones plot – Short running time