Quantum Break

Have you ever watched a movie or TV series and just really wanted to grab a gamepad and control the action for a bit? That's what this game tries to do, and it's a very impressive attempt. But it's hard to say if, even at its best, this mixing of media is such a good idea.

And not everything is at its best here. The gameplay sections are just OK—really quite mediocre. FPS fans will not be too impressed by the combat. Controls are janky and limited (the "auto-crouch" is awful), and weapon choice doesn't seem important. The game gets more and more difficult, of course, but this is done simply by adding enemies. But it's all basically the same. Levels give the illusion of being open, but you can't go to most of the cool places you see. You're only allowed to jump on things that were designed to be jumped upon. It makes sense for a movie-based game to be linear but, then, what's the point of playing through such sequences? The game often feels like a "walking simulator" despite the "choices matter" pretense.

Mediocre doesn't mean bad. If you keep your expectations for gameplay low and focus on the movie—which is fairly decent, despite plot holes, cheesy clichés, and a rushed ending—then the whole package works well. And some elements are especially good.

For example, 3D graphic design is stunning, with a meticulous attention to detail that makes the switch between GPU-rendered and live-action video as smooth as can be with today's technology. It's really some of the best design I've seen in a video game! It's just unfortunate that as you move through this gorgeous 3D environment you can only stick to the story's path. A more open world would have made this game so much better and done justice to the design.

That said, some design aspects felt a bit indulgent. For example, the special effects are super cool, but are overused and get in the way of experiencing the world. Likewise, the lighting, though pretty, is sometimes too intense and you can get blinded during combat or just while fake-exploring an area. It could have benefited from some editorial toning down.

Finally, the "choices matter" aspect felt more annoying to me than cool. It just meant that I could not experience all the content in a single playthrough. I didn't care enough about the characters to make the choices feel meaningful (as in the Walking Dead games). Instead I picked whatever I thought would lead to better content later on.

All in all, it's a fairly enjoyable movie/game hybrid. If you're more interested in the movie aspect and don't have patience for mediocre gameplay, then I recommend playing it on "easy" mode, I played it on normal and found some combat scenes to be challenging (but not especially fun), so be warned.