Quantum Break

[goldenegg]

Anyone else pick up Quantum Break last week?

 

I just finished it and really didn’t enjoy it much. At its best, it was an extremely mediocre game. Otherwise, it was either really boring or getting on my nerves due to the poor combat control.

The game doesn’t even follow its own rules. For example, it shouldn’t be possible to fight using guns when time has stopped. It’s shown multiple times that dropping or throwing an object would simply find that object ‘floating’ and motionless. Sure, it’s just a video game, but things like this really stand out. Why not completely change the rules of engagement when time has stopped? Melee weapons only could have been interesting, but the combat system would still need a completely overhaul.

The live action show felt absolutely pointless. I don’t feel it added anything over rendered cut scenes, which I would have greatly preferred. Like the game, the show is very poorly written, to the point where you can almost feel the actors squirming as they deliver their lines. It comes across as a low budget and immature production.

After a single ~8 hour play-through, I have absolutely no desire to play it again with different choices. Given the 2 year delay for this game, it really should have been much better.

[Metal Ghost]

I don't know....I'm loving this game so far.

 

Anyone know if your game saves are interchangeable between X1 and PC? I just got my PC code, and it'd be cool if I could play on X1, and then pick-up where I left off on the PC.

[Austin]

Yeah, reviews seem to be mixed. I want to check it out because Remedy's storytelling is usually really good (Max Payne, Alan Wake, etc), but there has to be good gameplay as well (Max Payne; Sorry, Alan Wake..). I'll probably wait until it's a $10 or $20 game.

Edited April 13, 2016 by Austin

[Metal Ghost]

Combat got A LOT better in Alan Wake's American Nightmare, which from what I've read is basically what Remedy had planned for Alan Wake 2 but when it became apparent that they wouldn't be making an AW2 anytime soon they created AW:AN instead. I liken it to Assassin's Creed vs ACII. AC was a great game, but the combat was decidedly not great, to be generous. AC II really moved it a few steps in the right direction

[PhoenixMoonPatrol]

 

Anyone else pick up Quantum Break last week?

 

I just finished it and really didn’t enjoy it much. At its best, it was an extremely mediocre game. Otherwise, it was either really boring or getting on my nerves due to the poor combat control.

The game doesn’t even follow its own rules. For example, it shouldn’t be possible to fight using guns when time has stopped. It’s shown multiple times that dropping or throwing an object would simply find that object ‘floating’ and motionless. Sure, it’s just a video game, but things like this really stand out. Why not completely change the rules of engagement when time has stopped? Melee weapons only could have been interesting, but the combat system would still need a completely overhaul.

The live action show felt absolutely pointless. I don’t feel it added anything over rendered cut scenes, which I would have greatly preferred. Like the game, the show is very poorly written, to the point where you can almost feel the actors squirming as they deliver their lines. It comes across as a low budget and immature production.

After a single ~8 hour play-through, I have absolutely no desire to play it again with different choices. Given the 2 year delay for this game, it really should have been much better.

 

 

Saw my friend play the game. Looked really fresh and fun and I'm at the point where I wanna buy this on payday. Plus the game's scored really well in its reviews so I think your opinion is in the small minority.

[goldenegg]

Not that small a minority. About 1/4 of the user reviews on Meteoritic echo my issues with the game. Even some of the more positive review mention similar problems, the difference is that the issues didn't detract from their enjoyment of the game.

 

You get a copy of the 360 version of Alan Wake with the game. That's a far superior game than Quantum Break.

[+wongojack]

 

 

 

 

It is an excellent story. I don't understand your comments about the acting at all. Sure, this isn't an on stage performance of the Royal Shakespear company, but they exceeded the standards established by other TV performances in the same genre - easily.

 

I believe buyers should think of this game like buying a season of a TV show they really like on Blue Ray. The actual show is about 90 mins of showtime, but it can change based on what you do in the game, so kinda like 3 hours. The main character you control does not appear in the show, so the game tells a different part of the story and it is all excellent. They manage to avoid a lot of the cheezy time travel story elements that make similar stories so terrible. AND - they make fun of those same tropes in the process with the in-game messages you can find along the way.

 

(The actors even sat down and did a dramatic reading of the embedded "Time Knife" story that you can find on Youtube - hilarious)

 

The actual drama is balanced between several "main" characters all of whom are well developed and interesting. If you like high budget sci-fi TV shows then I can't see how you wouldn't like this. I think that why people make the judgement that the show is unnecessary is because the playable character in the game does not appear (in the show). However, these scenes are necessary for building a compelling narrative and connection to the viewer/player. There are interesting perspectives to explore from several different characters of diverse archetypes. These aren't necessary to drive the plot, but they do flush out various additional themes and let you actually see how the events affect more of the world they've created. While video games typically focus only on plot, a well balanced book, film, or show can deviate and that is exactly what Quantum Break does.

 

Regarding the ending, the entire plot is based around recovering a specific device. This is very satisfactorily resolved without any sort of feeling of rush or need of extension. Where the story may misstep is in the same place all shows do when transitioning between seasons, they surprise the audience with a reason to continue the story. Sh!+ nobody really f'ing minded when they did it right in the middle of the first season of 24.

 

The gameplay is nothing special on its own, and they don't do anything to unnaturally lengthen the play by forcing the player to fight "yet another wave." I think they wanted to maintain the feel of a TV episode in the game, so when you kill the last baddie - the scene is over. This will probably make some gamers feel like the game is too short, but I liked it. I don't need to kill 13 more bullet sponge enemies in each scene to feel like I got my money's worth. I will say that I was generally unimpressed by the gameplay for the first few acts, but I really enjoyed experimenting with the time powers in Acts 3-5.

[goldenegg]

 

It is an excellent story. I don't understand your comments about the acting at all. Sure, this isn't an on stage performance of the Royal Shakespear company, but they exceeded the standards established by other TV performances in the same genre - easily.

 

 

 

We'll simply have to agree to disagree. For me, it's my least favorite XB1 console exclusive. I don't find it quite as bad as The Order 1886 on PS4, but it comes close.

[Major Havoc 2049]

I just started the final chapter yesterday and should finish QB up today. So far I'm really enjoying the game and think the story is the best part of the game. The gameplay and combat is solid and satisfying. The combination of a video game and modern episodic TV is really cool and a unique experience.

[+wongojack]

I just started the final chapter yesterday and should finish QB up today. So far I'm really enjoying the game and think the story is the best part of the game. The gameplay and combat is solid and satisfying. The combination of a video game and modern episodic TV is really cool and a unique experience.

 

You are my only friend who had played this and made some of the comparable decisions (the game borrows from Telltale and shows you how many friends/community agreed with your choice). We were agreeing on each, but then I figured out that I passed you. I've since started over and chose all the opposite choices. Episode 4 was quite different when I reversed course and both versions were very compelling to me. I quit last night just as I started the final fight on Hard difficulty. I think that'll take some time so better to be rested (and patient) for it.

 

For newcomers - the game's hardest difficulty is really pretty easy. You could start on Hard without many problems, but the final fight is a toughy. Of course, you will probably be playing multiple times, so you could save Hard for later if you wanted.

[+wongojack]

 

 

We'll simply have to agree to disagree. For me, it's my least favorite XB1 console exclusive. I don't find it quite as bad as The Order 1886 on PS4, but it comes close.

 

I watched a bunch of reviews and read some others this weekend about the game. Most people seem to praise the performances and production quality of the TV show. Although a short review in the Washington Post did make the comment that some of the actors are sort of upstaged by their digital likenesses. I thought that was a valid point but chalk it up more to the fact that they really put a lot of time and attention on the in-game cutscenes.

 

I watched the Angry Joe review, and he made some good points too. The fact that the world is not explore-able will frustrate some players, and it results in some inevitable area boundaries that don't make sense. Why Jack can manipulate objects in time, but can't open a gate? Accepting that requires some willful suspension of disbelief. I don't have a problem with that stuff, but it is easy to see how someone would. Regarding guns: They do have one audio message that plays that explains why bullets work in the stutters - Monarch worked on tech to make this possible. But that is an obvious after the fact add to explain the game mechanics.

 

Mostly, I don't think that playing this game all night the day it comes out was the intended experience. I'm not saying you did that, but Joe seems to have done it that way. I also think that if you are the kind of gamer that skips all the dialog and just gets to the action that this is NOT the game for you. Joe called the TV episodes "cutscenes" and complained that they lasted so long that his controller shut down. Right - because it isn't a cutscene. It is a TV show episode and my Xbox controller turns off during every Netflix episode that I watch. He was just expecting something else.

 

So expectations are key here. This is a 100% single player linear experience that has a 90 minute TV show associated with it. Compare it to watching Netflix episodes and playing a compelling update to something like Max Payne (that tells a different part of the story) and you will be fine.

[Metal Ghost]

 

You are my only friend who had played this and made some of the comparable decisions (the game borrows from Telltale and shows you how many friends/community agreed with your choice). We were agreeing on each, but then I figured out that I passed you. I've since started over and chose all the opposite choices. Episode 4 was quite different when I reversed course and both versions were very compelling to me. I quit last night just as I started the final fight on Hard difficulty. I think that'll take some time so better to be rested (and patient) for it.

 

For newcomers - the game's hardest difficulty is really pretty easy. You could start on Hard without many problems, but the final fight is a toughy. Of course, you will probably be playing multiple times, so you could save Hard for later if you wanted.

 

I want to re-start the game and make different choices too. I finished it this past weekend and, all in all, really liked the entire experience. Can't wait to dive back in and make those opposite decisions at the junction points, though I just finally started Halo 5 a couple of days ago so I might have to wait a bit before choosing to jump back into QB.

 

I don't know, IMHO Quantum Break is an easy recommendation from me.

[Steam_User]

I never played it but I did see PewDiePie play it seems good, maybe I should get it, when I can.