Quantum Break — Review
by Remedy Entertainment
Review copy provided by Microsoft Canada
There’s something about Quantum Break I can’t put my finger on, and I don’t mind that. As of this point, I’m not done having fun with it yet, and I am still feeling the desire to play. Which is something most games strive for and miss the mark on. It’s a fun mix of story and action. But does it drive home enough to stick around in your mind?
Remedy Entertainment is well known among these parts, as we’ve loved the concepts behind their Wake series. Pour on the story, add an overwhelming dash of uncanny-valley, and press X to Jason. A winning combo, as Quantum Break seems to take some inspiration from titles like Heavy Rain / Beyond Two Souls and piles it on top of their already established track-record. Remedy, the studio behind Alan Wake and Max Payne is back at it again with the white vans… and by vans I mean protagonist, and by white I mean… white.
Now, the apparent avoidance of writing a story that doesn’t have the working title “White People Problem Simulator” in its infancy isn’t a gigantic sore-spot… but it should be noted. Especially in 2016. Included in the repetition parade is their 3rd person, over-the-shoulder perspective, which may be a welcome consistency if blockbuster movies with QTEs isn’t your bag.
Quantum Break starts out in the same vein as all previous titles by the developer, except for the part where they make you give a shit about the characters. And by that I mean it didn’t try to build a connection at all. There’s a lot of investment missing in the beginning, and the dramatics of the story that unfold lose urgency when no one cares about those woven within it.
The CG faces on all of the main actors fluctuates from outstanding to scary, depending on character importance, and pay-grade. On the first slide of the cast billing, beautiful expression. On slides two-through-five? Horrifying Hollywood botched plastic surgery minus human soul. The former may have led to the soft writing as the dev team could rely on players saying *read in oddly enthusiastic young-persons voice* “oh man! That’s that PIPER guy from LOTR! I can tell because his face looks soooOoOo REAAAAL. Better try to keep him alive!”. The latter led to nightmares. The consistency seemed as lazy as the dialog writing.
The one thing that’s clear right away is that Remedy has figured out their controls. Input and movement are a lot more fluid than previous titles, except when it comes to the cover mechanic. By that I mean there’s really no usable cover mechanic. Plenty of shocked armed baddies were privy to me attempting to kneel and slide over to the edge of cover only to have there be no edge detection and my protagonist wander out into a hallway of hellfire and bullets.
The games target-assisted third-person shooting segments felt like an after though as no effort was needed to be a godlike marksman. Take the aid off, and your playing Heavy Rain: CSGO. Twitchy. There’s a nice middle ground you can find by turning the assist off, and lowering the joystick sensitivity.
Regardless, the combat seems like it’s only present because someone thought of a good/cool gameplay mechanic that wouldn’t translate into story driven quick-time events. Mixing that with the lack of understanding as to why the protagonist and his friends are all well-trained murderers, Quantum Break feels like two separate games. It plays out as if you were watching two grindhouse films at once by switching movies every scene.
I’m being picky, but I can’t complain too much. At the end of the day, what matters is that I was having fun. Sometimes at the expense of the concepts/script, and sometimes because the mix of cut-scenes and action set-pieces is genuinely a good romp. I found myself smiling a lot, putting down the controller at the end of a session and reminiscing about the time-shifty-kick-assery that I just pulled off.
The time mechanics are slick, and the visuals surrounding your character at all times during combat are beautiful. The game plays smoothly (unless you’re trying to cover), and all of the skills you learn along the way that manipulate time add a twist to the cover-shooter genre. Remedy is excellent at this. Taking a game-type everyone loves, and adding little unique touches. Alan Wake had the Flashlight Mechanic, which was brilliant, Quantum Break has time.
Quantum Break is a fun game. It’s not the best. And it sure won’t make anyone’s lists for GOTY. But it should still be enjoyed. Games are supposed to be fun at their core, and Quantum Break has that in spades. Short? Maybe a little. A little full of itself? To a fault. Fun? Absolutely.
