Quantum Break
Developer : Remedy Entertainment
Publisher: Microsoft Studios
Release Date: April 5, 2016
Platforms: Xbox One (reviewed), PC
Have you ever played a game of freeze tag? Quantum Break is exactly like freeze tag and Jack Joyce is it. Thanks to a botched science experiment (I hate it when that happens!), he can manipulate time itself and run around when everyone else is frozen. But instead of chasing his friends around the park, Jack sneaks up behind his enemies and shoots them in the spine with a shotgun.
Okay. The jig is up. Quantum Break is nothing like freeze tag. Still, it’s outrageously fun and an innovative iteration on the third-person action adventure genre.
Time is an egg
There’s no use dancing around it with fancy metaphors: Quantum Break is awesome.
But I was frustrated by the first few combat sequences and I think you might be to. You see, Quantum Break is ostensibly a cover-based third-person shooter. So for the first few shooting sequences, I was a bit frustrated because the game doesn’t have a “cover” button. Similarly to how Link auto-jumps at the edge of a cliff in Twilight Princess or Ocarina of Time, Jack will automatically duck into cover when he approaches a wall or counter. It’s not as turnkey as Gears of War, for example, and leaving this sort of thing to chance certainly isn’t the greatest way to hide from incoming gunfire. Luckily, my frustration turned to appreciation as I changed my approach. You shouldn’t play Quantum Break like other cover-based shooters because, quite simply, Jack Joyce kicks ass. Instead of popping in and out of cover, I broke out of old gaming habits and started using Jack’s new abilities like Time Dodge to get an edge in combat. Using time “as a weapon” feels fresh and powerful and now it’s all I want to do.
As I became more confident – as if I were Jack, learning to control his powers – I began to string abilities together. Each power has its own cool-down so you can use Time Shield to deflect sniper fire, detonate a grenade-like explosion and take care of a couple encroaching soldiers with Time Blast, freeze the shotgun-wielding tough-guy in place using Time Stop, pop a pesky sniper with an Assault Rifle, then treat Shotgun McShotgunner with a few well-placed bullets to the face. It looks and feels as cool as it sounds and you’ll be shouting “Xbox record that!” to capture all your highlight-reel kill streaks.
One of the most rewarding powers is called Time Rush. Jack can freeze the action and run up to an unsuspecting soldier for an insta-death take-down. It’s insanely satisfying to Superman-punch these baddies in the face like a final blow in the Arkham games. Unfortunately, a few of the animations don’t match up precisely and sometimes Jack comes off looking feeble and uncoordinated.
An upgrade tree allows for a few marginal enhancements for each ability and though it’s fairly basic, I never felt like it was lacking. You’ll never feel over or under-powered either, Quantum Break achieves that delicate balance nicely and maintains a steady challenge throughout the campaign.
The variety in enemies and environments keeps the combat interesting. At times, a couple headshots with the Heavy Pistol will be all you need to take out a pair of the more basic soldiers. But more often than not, the mix of Monarch henchmen will require a more skilful approach and careful balance of rifles and time manipulation. This makes the combat feel more like an action-oriented puzzle than your typical third-person shooter.
We return to our regularly scheduled programming, already in progress.
Quantum Break opens with Jack Joyce (played by Shawn Ashmore – X-Men) returning home to meet an old friend, Paul Serene (played by Aidan Gillen – Game of Thrones). Paul’s been working on something big. Something top secret. If you’ll humor him, Paul will sit you down for a quick marketing spiel and explain how rotating black holes <science> <science> <science> equals time travel. But there’s a snag in the project and Paul can only trust Jack for what’s next.
It’s no wonder Remedy Entertainment opted to tell this story across gameplay, in-game cutscenes, and live-action sequences. Quantum Break tells a complex (but comprehensible) time travel story and stars disparate groups of characters who all contribute to the central plot and deserve to have their arcs fleshed out over the course of the 10-hour campaign.
Each of the five 90-minute-ish gameplay Acts is capped by a quick Junction, prompting a this-or-that decision that will directly impacts the subsequent 30-minute live-action Episode. This format allows for plenty mic-drop moments that’ll leave you anxious to play “just one more episode.” Playing through Quantum Break feels like binge-watching a season of House of Cards on Netflix – only in game form. Every section features an engrossing opening, build-up, discovery, and climax – all masterfully paced and executed to keep you glued to the TV, with new content delivery the whole way along.
Though mostly terrific, the translation of the game world to real life suffers from a few dips in quality here and there. It’s style, production, and sometimes melodramatic action combined with lines like “there’s no time” and a protagonist named Jack, the episodic series is reminiscent of the first season of 24. A few laughable lines of dialogue, an extremely questionable hospital scene, and one or two homemade-looking sets keep this series from being more than a made-for-a-video-game-movie.
If it’s not on the page, it’s not on the stage
Preventing the unstoppable, the criminal misplacement of universal power, fundamental breakdown of one’s impervious resolve – these profound themes are brought to life through excellent interactions among a wonderful ensemble cast. Three-dimensional characters with realistic arcs travel through the story with relatable motives and actions. I particularly enjoyed Paul Serene as a sympathetic villain who’s gone through hell and is laser-focused on achieving his goal.
Martin Hatch (played by Lance Reddick; Lost) fills the archetypal evil businessman role. As uninspired as that sounds, he completely won me over with his demonic demeanor. There’s a moment when Reddick delivers a single line with such villainy and unabashed superiority that I felt genuine distress during the entire scene. Yeesh! Chills. Lance Reddick, if you ask me, is the unsung hero of the entire cast. He’s gleefully unsettling, ominous, and relentless.
This is the moment Lance Reddick lets you know he isn’t mailing this thing in.
Shawn Ashmore delivers a solid performance as Jack Joyce. He wouldn’t have been my first choice as the lead character but he’s a surprisingly perfect fit to play the just-an-ordinary-guy-doing-extraordinary-things. Plus, he effortlessly catalyzes genuine chemistry with his brother William (played by Dominic Monaghan; Lost). The brothers have an unconditional love for each other despite a somewhat bumpy relationship growing up – and it all comes through in the performances. Jack develops other touching relationships throughout the campaign and at the risk of spoiling anything, I’ll just say that one of the best parts of the story – the thing that has me most excited at the prospect of a sequel – is best left unmentioned.
Final Verdict
It’s not shy, modest, or humble. Quantum Break has plenty to say about the God Complex, cause and effect, and fighting for your world in the face of foretold failure. It’s about regret and permanence; coulda-woulda-shoulda’s and damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don’t – but you will.
Quantum Break is a visually stunning game. The manipulation of time – as if anyone could ever imagine how to “draw” that – is gorgeous. Refracted light shines through translucent shards of space-time. Flying debris caught in a stutter are technically motionless yet somehow appear to contain every ounce of kinetic energy that flung it astray.
As I write this, all I can think about is going back for another playthrough of Quantum Break. I want to combine Time powers in new ways and make even more highlight-reel kill streaks. I want to learn how the Episodes play out when I choose the alternative options at each Junction. I want to catch all the foreshadowing as it’s introduced. I want to meet the entire cast all over again. I want to experience every moment for the first time, all over again. It’s almost like I can hop in a time machine and do it all over again, now with the knowledge and experience of seeing how it all ends.
Random notes:
The digital copy occupies an enormous 121 gigabytes. Now that I see it written, that looks oddly close to 1.21 gigawatts…
Starting a New Game means you can’t go back to previously completed Acts to find any missing narrative objects, Chronon Sources, etc.
Playing the shit out of this game this weekend