Breached (2016)

Breached feels like a demo version rather than a full-fledged game.

The controls are really slick, with the feeling of isolation very much apparent. But, the pace of the game accompanied with its limitations do weigh heavy on Breached.

Breached is good and pretty. There's just simply not much of it, and it never convinced me it was worth the grind to unlock all of its secrets.

For its price tag we’d recommend you to better choose a movie ticket for a good (or even a mediocre) sci-fi movie. It’s not a good sign when you feel the repetition of levels in the first playthrough of a game that lasts one hour at most.

Breached has a spark, but it ultimately fades before catching fire.

Breached is a game that tries to make its story cryptic enough to keep the player interested in replaying it, but its gameplay is too shallow and dull to make replaying seem worthwhile.

Breached is a difficult game to classify. It would be easy to peg it as a “survival game”, but the atmosphere and mechanical simplicity disqualify that somewhat. At the same time, it isn’t just an atmosphere/walking simulator, because of the urgency the mechanics have. What it does offer, however, is impressive visuals, a brooding tone, and some good writing. For 7 US$, that might be enough.

Breached is a fun little game that derives a good portion of its charm from its minimalist and mysterious story.

There are some good elements in the game, as always, but they’re bogged down by uninspiring gameplay.

The story is well-written and the exploration sequences compelling, but Breached is too short for either to get the development and depth that they deserve.

Breached is strong in how it uses the first-person perspective for storytelling, how it builds identification between player and protagonist by blurring the lines between them in a minimalist way. But the actual game systems struggle to keep up with the atmosphere and presentation. The weakness of its mechanical systems and the simplicity of its scavenger hunt undercut the experience a lot, especially on multiple playthroughs — even though multiple playthroughs is an intended feature of the game.

Quotation forthcoming.

An interesting adventure and gameplay, an experience targeted for a very specific kind of user.

Breached is ultimately a very short experience, and we expect most gamers will be able to complete it in under 2 hours. In this short window, gamers will have seen and done most of what the game has to offer, with the only replay value coming through hidden journal entries.

Breached melds together a plethora of mechanics and systems to build a unique experience. The more I played it, that impressive effect was not as astounding as was first introduced but it’s still there.