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Written by Ian Johnston
Byline: An apt name for a very flawed game.
One thing that is often sorely lacking in videogames these days is innovation. Most developers seem content to embrace a "me too" approach, whereby they merely imitate a formula that has proven successful for another developer. First-person games have been clogging up store shelves with regularity for years now, the vast majority of which are mediocre at best. Most of them are fairly generic too; take one protagonist, sprinkle liberally with huge guns, and mix in nasty aliens, monsters, terrorists, and or Nazis. Once in a while a first-person adventure games comes along, like King's Field: The Ancient City, but for the most part, the first-person shooter exemplifies first-person games.
It's refreshing then when a developer tries to take the staple elements of the first-person shooter/adventure genre in a new and different direction. Such is the case with Namco's latest Xbox game, Breakdown. Unfortunately, although Breakdown does have a number of notable merits, its flaws far outweigh anything it has going for it. Among its many problems are an awkward gameplay engine, infuriating AI, and excessive - not to mention non-adjustable - difficulty. Given a bit more time in development it could have been a phenomenal game, but sadly, it is what it is.
Visuals:
Without question, Breakdown's graphics are its best feature. Beautifully detailed environments, character models, and cut-scenes abound. Some of the environmental effects, like fire and explosions, aren't very impressive, but that's definitely the exception and not the rule. The framerate never seems to drop, even when there's a lot happening on-screen, which is commendable given how intricate the graphics are. Tiny details like facial wrinkles, patterns on leaves, and small text on objects lend a sense of thoroughness and complexity to the environments that might not have otherwise been accomplished. Most of the NPC's, or non-playable characters, do move in a somewhat stiff fashion, stopping and turning abruptly as they walk or run, but it's not terribly noticeable.
It's also important to mention that this is a game that takes its first-person emphasis to an extreme. For example, the character you play as has a few evasive moves he can use to dodge enemy attacks. Two of these moves are a backflip and evasive roll. When performing the backflip the perspective literally changes as it would if you performed a backflip in real life. The perspective flips around rapidly to correspond with the flip, which can be quite disorienting.
The same thing happens when you do an evasive roll; the perspective rolls too, which really isn't very helpful. In the heat of battle, when knowing your position relative to your enemies is crucial, the brief moments of disorientation that accompany the evasive maneuvers renders them essentially useless. Kudos to Namco for trying something different with the first-person shooter/adventure genre, but it just didn't work out too well.
Audio:
The vast majority of Breakdown's aural experience is conveyed via the sound effects. Be it character dialogue, gunfire, footsteps, grunts, falls, and so forth, the sound effects do an excellent job of conveying a sense of realism. The music, while not as good as the sound effects, help create a nice feeling of tension as the game progresses. The combat music, for instance, sounds very frantic, thereby conveying a feeling of urgency when fighting. In contrast, harrowing scenes are punctuated with somber music, emphasizing sadness or stoicism. All in all, the music and sound effects provide a nice listening experience that's a bit better than average.
Gameplay:
As any artist will tell you, form follows function. And while Breakdown's ultra first-person approach is a nifty form, it isn't altogether functional. That lack of function is very evident in the game's many gameplay deficiencies. First and foremost, battle is really cumbersome. You typically fight two types of enemies: human soldiers and superhuman solders, known as the T'Lan. When fighting the human soldiers you can use a limited array of weapons (pistol, sub-machine gun, grenades) or take them on with your bare hands. The T'Lan, however, are immune to your weapons and must be engaged in hand-to-hand combat.
The moment fighting begins, with either enemy type, there's a sense of real frustration. When fighting the humans the frustrating part is how many hits they take to die. You should not have to unload ten or more bullets from a sub-machine gun into one regular human soldier to take him out. Furthermore, there's no specific targeting, meaning you can't shoot them in the head and take them out faster. There is auto-targeting, but it really isn't that helpful.
A different set of problems accompanies combat with the T'Lan. Chief among these problems is the issue of depth perception. It is often difficult to tell just how far away from a particular T'Lan warrior you are, so you may attack, thinking you're close enough, only to whiff and get nailed. And if you do get nailed, you fall on your ass and the perspective shakes from side to side to emulate what you'd see if you fell down in a similar manner in real life. The end result is annoyance and frustration.
Obtaining items is equally annoying and only compounds the problems. In order to pick up an item you have to press X. The thing is, if that's all you do your character, whose name is Derrick Cole, will simply hold the object and examine it. So, you press X to pick up a can of cola. Then, you press X again to drink said can of cola. There's a long animation of Derrick drinking the soda too, and it can't be skipping. That's not so bad when nothing is going on, but if you've just dispatched a group of enemies and need to gain some life in a hurry - maybe because more enemies are on the way, the prolonged process of drinking the soda could get you killed. Oh, and you can't keep any health item - be it rations, cola, or burgers - in your inventory for later use, which is really ridiculous.
The same goes for ammunition and grenade collecting. Derrick will simply examine the ammunition and grenades unless you press X a second time to add them to your inventory. If you're going to use a 3D first-person engine that's first-person in every conceivable way, the gameplay engine needs to be streamlined to facilitate that, or else the whole thing just doesn't work. Such is the case with Breakdown.
Last, but certainly not least, is the alternately horribly inept and infuriatingly difficult AI. Your AI helper, a woman named Alex Hendrickson, is really, really dumb. In one instance while I was playing a grenade was thrown at her by an enemy soldier. The grenade detonated, and the resulting explosion knocked her down. Upon getting up she exclaims, "Look out, grenade!" That pretty much speaks for itself. She will also tell you periodically to stay back, and that she'll handle things.
Well, guess what? She doesn't handle things. She'll stand there for a while, shoot a few shots, do some flips, and repeat. She takes forever to kill just one enemy, and will frequently stand and do nothing while your character Derrick gets shot by multiple soldiers. If anything she's a hindrance. Oh, and the soldiers can kill you in about three to five shots, whereas you have to shoot them about twice as many times.
They also are usually positioned in such a way that when you go into a room they can start shooting you before you realize where they're at. By then, more often than not, it's too late. You can't simply open a door without going into the adjoining room other, which would have been nice. You also can't hug a corner and pop out to fire, ala Metal Gear Solid 2. That's a feature Breakdown would have significantly benefited from.
Funfactor:
The game's story, which is a convoluted mess, is one of the few mildly entertaining parts of the game. Your character, Derrick Cole, begins the game in a research lab. The lab is apparently a joint project between the United States and Japanese governments. As the game progresses bits and pieces of the story are revealed, but they're so bizarre and far fetched at times that you'll probably be wondering what's going on most of the time. Clipboards are strewn everywhere, and they too contain morsels of information that fill in some of the gaps in the story.
Beyond the story though there just isn't much that's entertaining. It's fun fighting enemies at first, but the broken gameplay engine ruins that in a hurry. The game is fairly fast paced too, and there isn't too much dialogue to wade through, which is good considering the type of game that Breakdown is and what its subject matter is. Nevertheless, since playing this game in virtually every way is a chore, the funfactor is understandably low.
Overview:
Breakdown is another classic case of innovation gone awry. It tried something somewhat new, which is cool, but its support structure - the gameplay - fails miserably. And without a solid foundation, the structure can't stand. Perhaps, should Namco decide to make a sequel, they can address the first game's abundance of flaws and produce a really great first-person shooter/adventure game. The potential is clearly there, but significant changes will have to be made. Those looking for a first-person game, be it a shooter or adventure title, should definitely look elsewhere. Breakdown might be a good buy at ten or maybe twenty bucks, but it most assuredly isn't worth full price. A definite try before you buy title.
| Visuals: | 4.5 |
| Audio: | 4.0 |
| Gameplay: | 2.0 |
| Funfactor: | 2.5 |
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| Overall: | 2.75 |
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