Breakdown: So-so game, in the end?

[Derrik Draven]

April's edition of OXM went ga-ga over the story of this game but, Gamespot doesn't seem to think it's all that. For anyone interested in the game, like myself, check out this review:

 

Breakdown review

[Camp]

Playing the demo I got sick to death of looking at the player's fingernails. Does he have to look at every ammo clip as if he's never seen one before? (yes, I know you can speed up the animation but it's still annoying).

[Romier S]

I'll have it tommorrow so I'll be able to log some play time after I get home from work (around 11:30pm or so). I thought the demo was pretty decent and I look forward to trying the full game (along with my free copy of Dead to Rights).

 

I'll try and get some quick impressions up later in the evening/morning.

[Romier S]

Gamespot has thier review up:

 

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox/action/breakdown/index.html

 

7.6 but the review is quite a bit more negative than that number. (The video review all but trashes it making the number score they gave it a bit odd.)

 

IGN posted thiers as well:

 

http://xbox.ign.com/articles/499/499289p3.html

 

6.7. Think maybe Gamespot got thier number reversed?

[adamsappel]

Originally posted by FutureVoid@Mar 17 2004, 12:12 AM

[The Gamespot] review is quite a bit more negative than that number. (The video review all but trashes it making the number score they gave it a bit odd.)

I have heard (for what it's worth) that Gamespot makes a point of scoring their games either above or below their competition to create a "buzz" about their review. "Why did Gamespot score it so high/low?" They might not assign a number before knowing what IGN et al are saying, so the already-written review can be inconsistent with the score.

[bickle]

OXM overrates everything, so this should be expected, shouldn't it?

[Derrik Draven]

The rest of the game (which should take you about seven hours to complete) follows Derrick's journey to discovery as he tries to save the world from the mutant menace known as the T'Lan

 

Seven hours....$#!)@(*!!! Yet ANOTHER stinkin' short-ass game. :bang:

 

Yeah, I know the old response about having a great 7 hours of gameplay as opposed to a long, boring game...yadda yadda. Okay, how about a great, long game?!!? Half Life???? Thief???? Halo????

 

Sorry, I can't support the idea of spending $50 for what amounts to a 1 afternoon rental... :evil:

[Cofn]

Picked up my pre-order of Breakdown today.

 

Initial impressions.

 

 

Cool concept, but a little hard on the head. Slightly nauseating, and a little headache inducing. Great in small doses, but beyond that, pretty damn cool. (Maybe the problem is playing on a 113 inch screen)

 

The main complaints people seem to have is the textures, or lack thereof. Personally I do not see what the big problem is. The coolness factor far out weighs some of the graphic short comings. And the shortcomings really aren't that bad. Game play is easy to get used to, you can jump in and be playing decent in no time, buuuutttttt. damn is fighting difficult. Not frustrating difficult, but the fun kind. I haven't had to go hand to hand too much yet, but when you reach a certain point, the opposition starts to rip you a new one real fast.

 

Overall story so far has me very interested. Not sure what is going on yet, have some theories that I will not disclose here, but even with it's few flaws, the story will make this title worth while in my opinion. From what I have seen thus far the AI is no where as bad as IGN has indicated. Enemies run and hide around corners, jump out of the way of shots, ect. Sure it is not to the standard that say Halo has achieved, but it is by no means that bad either.

 

I would definately recomend giving it a try if you want something a little out of the norm, and you love good sci-fi.

[Dan B.]

Has anyone else picked this up? Romier, did you get a chance to play it yet?

 

I just tried the demo yesterday & kinda liked it...what I could tell within the demo time limits anyway, but it seemed tough. The enemies didn't go down too easily & they can really gang up on you fast.

[Romier S]

Romier, did you get a chance to play it yet?

 

Yep but Ive gotten sidetracked with Splinter Cell and UT2004. I plan to play the game some more this weekend since I have two days off coming. What I played of the game I enjoyed. The first level is slanted very much towards gun play (which kind of sucks to be honest). Once you get passed that though you and start getting into hand to hand combat things get much bettter.

[Derrik Draven]

I'm getting close to the end of this game. There are some VERY frustrating moments in the game. The hand to hand stuff is NOT easy when you're dealing with more than 1 opponent at a time.

 

Try starting a fist fight in real life, with a couple of guys a bit tougher than yourself and, before the fight starts, put on blinders so that you can't see from side to side at all.

 

that's fps hand to hand in breakdown.

 

There were a couple of spot where I had to redo it, over and over and over....GGRRRRR!!!!.

 

Maybe I just suck?

 

Other than that, I'm somewhat surprised that, after reading the review, I've ended up liking this game.

 

It's not quite as short as the gamespot review made it out to be, unless of course, I really do suck, compared to those guys, and games just take me longer!

 

The facility you go through is quite large. Not quite "Black Mesa" large but, of decent size.

 

Speaking of Black Mesa and Half Life, there are some really obvious Half Life "homages". And, there is one elevator ride that is damn near a total ripoff. It's quite obvious that Valve's baby was a serious source of inspiration for the developers. Not that that's a bad thing.

 

I'm not quite done so, I really don't understand completely what the hell is going on. I still don't know who the girl is and what her past connection with me is. The blond haired dude in the game; the epitome of the word tough, is still a mystery to me as well.

 

I do like that as you go further into the game, your powers slowly increase and, you gain new abilities 'till you reach the point where you have a decent little set of combos and moves you can bust out on your enemies asses. Some enemies that I thought were pretty damn tough in the beginning would get their asses handed to them if they bumped into me now.

 

Graphics wise, you defintely get the entire feel for the game in the demo. It doesn't ever get any better and, the gamespot review is right on when they talk about one drab-ass grey hallway after another...until you're at where I'm at.

 

And, also like the review states, you can go for some ways without EVER running into ANYONE. No friends, no enemies...nothing....just doors and hallways. In most games that would be a serious drawback and make the game seem empty and boring but here....I'm not so sure. I kind of think that the developers were trying to give the facility some atmosphere by making you feel how empty it can be at times. I suppose it lends to the feeling of isolation and having no one but yourself to depend on. It's kind of cool. To each their own.

 

Personally, the auto targeting thing doesn't bother me as much as it did the reviewers. I leave it off, through the setup menu, and when I need some extra help in aiming, I just hit the aim/lockon button and, viola! I'm aiming correctly. You can jump your lock on to other enemies, kind of like an "enemy select" button or, you can just de-select it and "shoot-n-pray".

 

Also, as stated in gamespot's review, the immersion is spot on. You never leave the fps perspective and, after awhile, you start to feel as if you're Derrick. Hey...I already know what that feels like, personally! Never before, in any game I've played, has getting really slugged by some enemy felt so real. The visual perspective is gut wrenching as you see what you'd see if someone just clobbered you on the side of your face. Get REALLY whacked and, you get thrown backwards...all from the correct 1st person viewpoint. It really drives home the point of how hard a hit you just took.

 

But, as I stated about the hand-to-hand fighting with more than 1 person, it can be a real bitch. These enemies DO NOT wait to take their turn to bust your ass. While one of them is punching you in the head, his buddy is ready to stomp your face as soon as he gets a shot. This can lead to times where all you see is floor/ceiling/floor/ceiling/wall/floor/ceiling...game over screen. The disorientation from getting your ass kicked from all sides at one time, can be overwhelming. You then lose the fight, not because you're a puss, but because you can't see "WHERE THE HELL EVERYONE IS"!!!!!! You finally get spun around to where you get your bearings back and then WHAM!!!! Someone cranks you in the back of your head and it's like, "oh...there's the floor again."

 

Been there, done that, several times in this game. On the plus side, I can't recall a game of recent memory where there was such an actual fear of face to face time with the games enemies.

 

It gets better as you go and you become alot tougher. I'm presently fighting guys ALOT bigger/tougher than the ones in the beginning but, it's not so bad now that I've grown in my strengths.

 

The beginning of the game can be rough. It was for me anyhow.

 

Hope this helps.

[Dan B.]

Thanks for your impressions, Derrik. I thought the graphics were servicable in the demo, no big detriment IMO. The thing I was worried about was that the gun in the demo was almost worthless & the hand-to-hand stuff wasn't quite as effective as it could have been. Maybe I don't know what the combos are or maybe they don't exist at that point in the demo? Anywho, I may end up giving this a rental before plopping down full price for it just to be safe. That demo time limit is so...limiting.

[Derrik Draven]

In the demo, you have very little power since, the hand to hand in it is at the beginning of your journey...almost.

 

You'll get ALOT stronger.

 

The submachine gun, and to a lesser degree, the handgun, seem to be kind of underpowered. Although, the guards are wearing body armor which, seeing as how that's supposed to be an MP5 submachine gun, will withstand some decent hits from a 9mm gun, in real life.

 

I found that if I'm closer than I normally would be and, if I use the MP5 in short, controllable bursts, it works much better.

[Dan B.]

Now that this game is down to $20 already at Target, I think I'm gonna pick it up...unless somebody wants to talk me out of it. 8)

 

Resistance to $20 games...weak.

[Derrik Draven]

Dan B., - just picked this game up and started trying to finish it. After Splinter Cell came out, I all but abandoned it, even though I was getting near the end. (As it turns out, I wasn't all that close. This game isn't all that short)

 

Anyhoo...it is definitely worth $20. The story IS really good. The hand to hand fighting is better than any of the weapons based fighting since the main jist, or "gimmick", is the hand to hand.

 

It is NOT easy, though.

 

One on one, there isn't a single enemy that can withstand me. I just beat Solos; one of the main baddies, without too much trouble.

 

The difficulty goes up exponentially when there is more than 1 enemy for you to fight. Get's stooooopid hard sometimes.

 

Seriously, pick up this title. At the least, you'll get a really cool adventure and story to experience.

[tiac]

Now I'm pissed that I spent $50 on this game. I beat it in a week and traded the damn thing in. It's already down to $20. Man I should have waited.

 

I loved the story, and the end battle was worth it (the one-on-one fights are better that the 12 at one time)

[FLYING SE7EN]

Picked this up today at Target for $19.99. Too good of a deal to pass up apparently, as I got the last copy they had.

 

Thanks to Allen for the heads up.

 

J.

[Dan B.]

Got my copy too...

[Derrik Draven]

TIAC - how the HELL did you ever get past "the gauntlet"?!!? It's that RIDCULOUSLY difficult fight in that white room with the pillars. Lots of enemies...lots of wanting to smash the controller.

 

I've given up, for now, and I'm playing Manhunt. I'm just too damn frustrated at the point I'm at in Breakdown... :bang:

[Dan B.]

I'm having troubles already at the part where you fall into the burning floor level & you have to fight two T'Lan dudes. Maybe I'll start the game over on EASY. :roll:

[FLYING SE7EN]

I'm having troubles already at the part where you fall into the burning floor level & you have to fight two T'Lan dudes. Maybe I'll start the game over on EASY.

 

I had a hard time there as well. The key is getting to the first guy and knocking him backward with a combo, then quickly hit the A button to target the other guy and send him flying. Rinse and repeat till they're toast.

 

This game definitely has its frustrating moments. I've gotten stuck in about 4 or 5 places so far and I'm only a third of the way into the game!

 

So far the story and the immersion into the character are this game's saving grace.

 

I'll post more thoughts later.

 

J.

[Dan B.]

I hadn't even tried to use the targetting button to switch between targets...other than when using the guns. That's my biggest difficulty really...the way your viewpoint changes when you get smacked in the head is very disorienting at first.

 

Thanks for the tip, I have a feeling that this is one of those games where I will need a lot of tips before I'm through.

[Derrik Draven]

I remember the 2 T'Lan's in the burning building. That was way back there. Lots more to go, guys!!! :tu:

 

If ya wanna idea of how the difficulty ramps up, consider this: I'm stuck in a place right now where I'm fighting wave after wave of up to FIVE T'lan warriors at once.

 

...and NOT those very lame ass, bald headed, shirtless ones in the burning area. These guys I'm at are MUCH MUCH tougher than those earlier ones. I'd give anything to have these guys, those earlier wimps.

 

On the plus side, you get quite a bit stronger as you go, and you gain some seriously powerful abilities.

 

Either of you meet Solos yet?

[Dan B.]

I'm starting to get the hang of it now. I'm at the rooftop right now...

 

Either of you meet Solos yet?

Yeah...he ran away like a scared little kitty cat. (After smacking me upside the head & knocking me out.) :green:

 

These guys I'm at are MUCH MUCH tougher than those earlier ones.

Bring it on! (of course I'll be whining about it too when I get that far )

 

EDIT: That was a cool way to leave the rooftop.

[Dan B.]

OK, I'm back to whine about the difficulty of this game... (and I can't believe it's been over a year already!)

 

I've come back to it during my current attempt to catch up on unfinished games. Maybe I just need to get back into the groove of the game, but I'm in the sewer fighting pairs of stealth T'Lans & I can't make it through this level. It doesn't sound like this is a particularly hard part either, compared to fighting groups of five at once...I can't imagine that.

 

I am very tempted to give up on the game now. :bh