My love for the works of Sam Lake and Remedy Entertainment began with Alan Wake, a game which (for me) felt like playing a Stephen King novel. It was wonderful, so naturally I had high hopes for Quantum Break and it most certainly lived up to them. The game is part video game, part live action TV show, which is a really unique experience in itself. Actions in the game (as well as discoveries) will influence what you see in both the story and the TV show. It could be considered rather risky using both of these formats for in conjunction, but Remedy pulls it off beautifully. The show is action packed and well acted, while the game itself is so stunning to look at that at certain points, through little lighting nuances, it is impossible to distinguish between the real actors and their digital counterparts. The story is equally compelling; Time is ending and it is up to Jack Joyce (Shawn Ashmore in a compelling and brilliantly performed role) and his few allies to save the universe. Despite dealing with time travel and advanced quantum physics, the story is not too complex to follow. Jack Joyce makes it quite clear that he is no quantum physicist, much like the majority of people playing the game, and the story takes this into account. There are plenty of twists and little moments where you remember something from earlier in the story that seemed irrelevant at the time, but nothing too strenuous to follow. Gameplay wise, it is well crafted. Joyce moves with ease, his developing "time" powers are easily accessible, simple to upgrade and suitably potent in their effects (without being "godslayer" powerful) which is precisely what one would expect from manipulation of time itself. The visual effects throughout the game regarding Jack's powers and time itself are equally mesmerising and well animated. Gun play and combat is also suitably frantic, with intelligent enemies who will use team tactics (such as suppress and flank) to take you down. My only minor qualm with gun play is the camera. It's fine most of the time and easy to aim, but it has an awful habit of swapping shoulders after taking cover. It's easily fixed with a click of the stick so it is negligible in the grand scheme. I would also like to note that collectibles and intel' items are relatively easy to locate, which is fine, but reaching them can sometimes be a puzzle, which is also fine in terms of providing a challenge. For anyone with an Xbox One and a love of action games with a deep story, this is a must and I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone. 10 out of 10, nice work Remedy!
