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
