⭐⭐⭐.5
Developer (Platform): Remedy Entertainment (Xbox Series X)
Publisher (Release): Microsoft Studios (2016)
Length: 6-8 hours
Genres: Adult; Sci-Fi; Thriller; Action
❗️Disclaimers❗️:
minor blood and gore
themes of hopelessness and trauma
this review contains low-level spoilers
recommendation: vibe check before playing and buy on sale
👍 Pros 👍
Strong world-building and performances
Slick gameplay that shows some of the foundations for Remedy’s future game Control
Gorgeous graphics
👎 Cons 👎
Jagged structure thanks to a haphazard balance of gameplay and live-action cutscenes
Anticlimactic finale that is unlikely to be resolved
Poor performance settings
👀 Synopsis & Trailer 👀
When a Fracture in time leaves Jack Joyce with time-manipulating abilities, he’ll have to face his past, present, and future if he hopes to prevent the End of Time.
🛎️ Introduction 🛎️
Remedy Entertainment and the illustrious Sam Lake are unparalleled when it comes to crafting mind-bending stories dotted with easter eggs. Quantum Break is a surprising little gem that confuses as much as it delights. Beautiful and gripping, it struggles to truly feel like a game.
🧩 Plots 🧩
Remedy’s works, as I’m coming to see the more games I play, love their parallels. Good and evil, light and dark, hope and despair, even its characters aren’t immune with Alan Wake and Mr Scratch, Jessie Faden and essiJ, and Quantum Break’s Jake Joyce and Paul Serene. Conflicts and opposing forces are their staples, and they never fail to craft tantalising tales using them.
It always starts with a doomsday device
Quantum Break handles timey-whimey stuff with consistency and confidence, creating a well-paced action drama that tries to balance a traditional gaming experience with live-action TV-like episodes. Everything is great…but gameplay flow is negatively impacted by the live-action content. It all becomes a bit of a jumble, leaving the player constantly relearning mechanics and plot points due to being made passive for up to 30 minutes after learning them.
Easter Eggs abound
The finale, is, well, underwhelming. Remedy crafts such intricate plots that expertly weave to clash for an epic ending…yet, they never do. I’ve noticed this with Alan Wake and Control (easter eggs abound, AWE, people), both of which were more concerned with setting up potential sequels than having a clear ending. Normally, that’d be okay, but given Alan Wake only got a sequel a decade after its release, it’s dissatisfying.
…well-paced action drama that tries to balance a traditional gaming experience with live-action TV-like episodes.
🎭 Characters 🎭
Quantum Break is packed with stars. Remedy and Microsoft went all out to attach major players to the game. Our protagonist Jack Joyce (Shawn Ashmore) faces off against Paul Serene (Aidan Gillan) with support from William Joyce (Dominic Monaghan), Beth Wilder (Courtney Hope), Martin Hatch (Lance Reddick), and Liam Burke (Patrick Heusinger). That only names a few and there’s absolutely no weak link, with solid performances both vocally and physically (during the live-action segments).
I am so sorry, sir
Relationships compliment the main plot by, of course, paralleling it. As our cast fights to stop the End of Time, bonds break, form, and shape themselves in ways that make them unpredictable, no matter how much we’re told everything is already set.
Quantum Break is packed with stars.
👾 Gameplay and Graphics 👾
Despite its fractured structure, once you get it down, Quantum Break is beyond fun to play. Remedy loves messing with traditional mechanics and making them their own in unique ways, and this third-person, action-adventure game continues their trend. Anyone coming to this game after Control is going to see where that game’s foundations came from.
FINISH HIM
I had a mixed time with the visuals. It’s stunning, no question, but I can’t tell if it’s because I’m used to 60fps or because there were no options to turn off that damn motion blur and film grain, but adapting to Quantum Break’s 30fps and aesthetics took me a little bit. I get the sense that these options are unavailable for a reason, perhaps to preserve base performance given how intensive it can get (effects and the variety of time powers are decent), but it does dirty some of that polish.
Timey whimey
Once done, sadly, you’re done. The game does have sections where the player is given a choice that will ‘affect the game’s outcome’. This, however, is more focused on smaller, character-related stories than the core plot of Quantum Break, which ends the same regardless. With different scenes and small flavour changes, a second go would be fun, but it’s not necessary.
Remedy loves messing with traditional mechanics…
🧠 Final Thoughts 🧠
Quantum Break is a fun, thrilling, and gorgeous experience that plays with hit-or-miss mixes of gameplay and live-action sections. Its fun combat mechanics will keep you entertained but its short length and abrupt, ambiguous ending will leave you a little dissatisfied. As far as I know, Quantum Break isn’t a part of the Remedy Connected Universe (yet, anyway), and with Microsoft owning the property, we may never get answers to the many questions left after the credits roll.
The Phoenix Project 