Sunday, October 8, 2017

Quantum Break Review


This review was written almost a year ago and has never been posted anywhere. You are the first to read it and I hope you enjoy.


Have you ever tried to prevent something from happening and in doing so you wind up being the one who caused it? This concept is the core of Remedy Entertainment’s newest story, Quantum Break. Remedy, known for drastic innovation and complex storytelling, mixes elements from their previous titles into Quantum Break's intriguing new plot. Building from Alan Wake's episodic style of storytelling, Quantum Break includes a live action show to compliment the interactive portions of the plot. Unfortunately, bland gameplay and passive storytelling prevent Quantum Break from being a truly fantastic experience.
Whether it’s Max Payne’s gritty, noire tale of vengeance or Alan Wake's haunting search for his missing wife, storytelling epitomizes a Remedy game and Quantum Break exceeds expectations. Jack Joyce returns home to assist his best friend, Paul Serene, in a project that was essentially shut down by Jack’s estranged brother, William Joyce. Unfortunately, not everything goes as planned and Jack finds himself in a race to prevent the end of time. Taking control of Quantum Break's primary villain at the end of each act in order to make a decision that impacts the show is refreshing; however, these moments are short lived.
 The television series compliments the interactive portion of the story by revealing the struggles and motives from an antagonistic point of view. Finding certain items during an act will prompt their appearance in the show as a way of rewarding the player for exploring. This thirty minute passive experience between gameplay slows the pace and will most likely be skipped by those who prefer the immersive experience. The show, albeit fun to watch for those with an open mind, lacks in both acting and production quality. It can be impactful, though, as it persuades gamers to feel compassion and sympathy for those who oppose them. When the story is pieced together completely it oozes the dark, intoxicating charm that comes with a Remedy game, but the passive experience may leave you fatigued between acts.
 The interactive portion of Quantum Break's story, unlike the show, bursts at the seams with it's fantastic acting. Shawn Ashmore (Jack Joyce), Dominic Monaghan(William Joyce), and Aidan Gillen(Paul Serene)brilliantly display their talent. Remedy captures the actor’s facial features perfectly in Quantum Break's beautifully rendered graphics. The environments are vastly detailed as well, however, there isn’t much room to explore in this linear tale.
     Players easily stumble upon collectibles that fill in the gap for Quantum Break’s current events. If players choose to bypass collectables because they don’t want to read another boring email they may miss out on many Alan Wake Easter Eggs that are sprinkled throughout or other beautiful gems like Time Knife, a hilariously and terribly written screenplay from the hyperbolic delusions of a lonely, underpaid employee who has a crush on his boss.
Gameplay in Quantum Break introduces gamers to time powers. Jack’s accident early on blessed, or cursed, him with a wide set of powers he uses to plow through droves of enemies. Jack can highlight items of interest and enemies on the map, suspend the AI in a time field that absorbs anything shot into it, or dash around the battlefield. Other features allow Jack to rewind or stop time in certain areas in order to solve a mini puzzle that allows access to the next area.            
With the additions of an explosive time blast and a controlled sprint that ends in a melee takedown, every fight has the potential to be new and exciting. Unfortunately, the mediocre arsenal of weapons fails to enhance a firefight and spamming time powers will grow old. Especially if you're on the hunt for collectables and spamming the enhanced vision every three seconds.
     Another bland and unoriginal area of Quantum Break is its enemies, an uninventive crew of cannon fodder with very few variations. The standard soldier is the primary combatant with the occasional position rushing shotgunner and snipers to back them up. Tank enemies have a home here as well, however, taking them down is far too simple with an upgraded Time Blast. 
     The only enemies providing a challenge are the ones that occur during time stutters. A stutter brings the world to a halt; however, Jack is still able to move around. Few sequences throughout Quantum Break’s playthrough provide unique platforming areas that require the player to have quick reactions to a stutter. Soldiers equipped with technology that allows them to continue moving put up a fight during these sequences. Their similar use of time dodge and their ability to move in a stutter are the only things that separate them from regular soldiers.
Remedy teases us with a taste of enemies that should have been in the game, Shifters. Many of the side collectibles mention shifters as terrifying enemies that can only be seen during a stutter. Jack gets an up close and personal experience with this later in the story, however, never once does the player get to go head to head with them. It's a shame to waste such an interesting prospect in favor of the bland enemies that litter this linear experience.
     The final boss fight adds insult to injury. This fight spikes in difficulty by flooding the player with countless enemies while being attacked by the boss's instakill abilities. Once the pattern can be figured out it becomes a series of rinse and repeat actions and no real fight against the big man himself.
Quantum Break looks fantastic and it tells a unique story that is amplified by above par acting outside of the TV show. It introduces unique ways to play games through long bits of passive media. Unfortunately, it falls short where games should really shine, game play. With uninspired weapon options, enemies, and boss fights, Quantum Break has plenty to improve upon if Remedy ever hopes to make a sequel.

+Fantastic story and acting
+Beautiful graphics
+Unique time powers
-Uninspired enemies and weapons
-Passive experience slows pace
-Final boss fight