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Platform: Xbox Genre: Shooter / Action Publisher: Namco Developer: Namco ESRB: M (Mature) Released: March 2004
A Word on the Strategy Guide: BradyGames gets it right with another great guide. Not to sound too glowing, the guide for Breakdown offers solid gameplay tips and a step-by-step walkthrough from beginning to end with tons of screens to accompany the easy to read text. Although maps aren't really necessary for most of Breakdown, there are instances that a map would have been better than a description. But I'm a visual person most people won't miss the maps. Worth plunking down the dough if T'Lan warriors are giving you grief.
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BreakdownScore: 8.3 / 10 |
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Pros: - A real first person first-person shooter - Interesting sci-fi story and presentation - Good action |
Cons: - View is a little claustrophobic - Picking up items - Environments are not very interactive - Definitely not for everyone – rent first |
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"Although I really liked Breakdown for its story and first-person implementation and grew to love the combat, some will think it’s a “niche” title with too many idiosyncrasies for a wider audience." |
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Namco has done the impossible with Breakdown. When I first heard of Breakdown, I completely wrote it off. A first-person fighter? Who is Namco kidding? Then I completely forget about it. Now, after actually playing it, Namco has made me a believer, even a fan of the concept.
You find yourself behind the eyeballs (and in control of) Derrick as he wakes up. It becomes quickly apparent that he’s part of some kind of secret government experiment that has either gone awry or has been compromised. Soldiers are slaughtering people left, right and center and Derrick is saved only in the nick of time by Alex, a female operative who knows him but whom Derrick can’t remember. It’s in this saving act that made me a believer. After the tutorial/training, your handlers supply you with a drugged hamburger (leaving your vision blurred and open to the aforementioned attack). After saving you, Alex helps you over to the toilet and jams a finger down your throat! It was on the second heave and even before I’d fought any live targets that I was sold on the style and execution of a real first-person game.
The story unfolds completely from Derrick’s perspective – behind his eyeballs for the duration. This means masks can obscure his vision and when he gets knocked down he’s momentarily dazed – shaking his head to clear the cobwebs. (This also provides some cool “cutscenes” that are framed directly from Derrick’s point of view.) You can also become completely disoriented by some of your acrobatic moves, specifically the back flip and evasive roll. The punches and kicks (performed with a combination of the right and left triggers and left stick) develop their own rhythm but throw in a roll and you can become completely lost as to where enemies are. Fortunately, the roll and back flip are so hard to execute with any regularity that you can avoid accidentally performing them. The other moves are much easier to pull of and deliciously executed combos can send opponents flying. Derrick can also use an assortment of guns and grenades to take out opponents but more often than not, particularly after you gain the ability to block bullets, you’ll march up to everyone for the personal touch. (Of course, it’s not always the easiest approach when taking on two or more bulletproof T’Lan warriors at once. Just jab and run!) Keeping your ammo stocked turns out to be a chore. Every time you pick up an item you’re subjected to Derrick scooping it up then giving it a once over before adding it to his inventory (or eating it to restore his life energy). This is cool at the start because it really does help immerse you in the experience, but after the fiftieth you’ll wish you could just walk over the ammo and have it magically enter your inventory. The story actually manages to be interesting and mysterious enough to compel you forward. To maintain the illusion of being Derrick, story elements play out before you through cleverly framed sections (such as when you watch an attack chopper appear and blow away a helicopter you were trying to get to) and through clipboards scattered throughout the facility. As Derrick undergoes his metamorphosis and develops the Mother of All Skin Rashes along with more powerful moves, he is subjected to a melting perception that kicks in at spots to give the story another layer of mystery. Maybe the most enigmatic is a cat that appears and disappears, but there are more puzzling images, like an office hallway that suddenly ends in a desert wasteland where you fight off small exploding bugs and find bodies somehow cocooned. Is any of this real? Mere hallucinations or more clues as to what happened to Derrick and how he became part of government project? (It can all be compared somewhat with Half-Life and its complete avoidance of real cutscenes.)
The puzzles are mostly straightforward, every day problems, like climbing rubble to find a way out. (There is a minimal amount of “key” hunting.) This lends to a believability of what Derrick’s doing. What doesn’t help the believability are environments with zippo interactivity. Having masonry crumble with body impacts or even chairs you could knock over would have gone a long way to creating an even more intense game experience (and decrease the annoyance when chairs “snag” you if you walk too close to them). In terms of graphics and sound, Breakdown is good on both counts. The graphics are sharp and the animation very good, although Alex runs very stiffly. The audio falters on occasion when bad guys seem to shout the same thing, creating an unintentional echo, but there’s not much else I can complain about. I’d recommend Breakdown as a rental before you plunk down $50US to buy it. Although I really liked Breakdown for its story and first-person implementation and grew to love the combat, some will think it’s a “niche” title with too many idiosyncrasies for a wider audience. But you know what they say, “One man’s idiosyncrasies are another man’s innovation.” - Omni (March 24, 2004)
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