Broken Age: Act 1

 PC
Metascore
82

Generally favorable reviews - based on 64 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 54 out of 64
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 64
  3. Negative: 0 out of 64
  1. 4P.de
    Jan 24, 2014
    72
    A charming first act that gives you an outlook into interesting storylines. But since puzzles are too easy and it is rather short all the hopes lie on the conclusion.
  2. Hyper Magazine
    Mar 9, 2014
    70
    Well written and charming but Broken Age plays it too safe to be particularly memorable. [Apr 2014, p.67]
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  3. Level7.nu
    Feb 16, 2014
    70
    Broken Age is in many ways an amazing adventure. It offers a unique style and has dialogues which in most cases are of very high class. Unfortunately, the story fails to engage to the point that you have to play on, which is a problem considering that this is only the first of two parts. In combination with a gameplay mechanic suffering from lack of new ideas, the game fails to climb higher on the rating scale. But for the genre buff, there is no reason to keep the pennies.
  5. Metro GameCentral
    Jan 23, 2014
    70
    Clever, funny, and thought-provoking, but even without the weight of expectations this is a surprisingly insubstantial and ephemeral experience.
  6. GameFront
    Jan 22, 2014
    70
    Perhaps when Broken Age is complete, it’ll feel like a stronger offering — it was never meant to be divided in half anyway, and the forced split feels like it comes just as the game finally hits a comfortable stride. But for a game about young people striking out on their own, made by a developer that set out to gain the financial freedom to do exactly what it wanted, Broken Age feels like it plays it safe; a cushy adventure game with some heart, but absent any sharp edges.
  7. Gameplanet
    Jan 21, 2014
    70
    Beautiful art style, well rounded characters, familiar humour, and heart. At first glance, Broken Age is a visually stunning, polished homage to the adventure games of the past. But it’s over all too quickly, without enough challenges to satisfy, or enough innovations to drive the genre forward.
  8. God is a Geek
    Jan 21, 2014
    70
    Broken Age does a fine job of creating an outlandish world populated by interesting characters, but is let-down somewhat by its core gameplay.
  9. Eurogamer
    Jan 16, 2014
    70
    Pleasant but undemanding, gorgeous but lacking in depth - fans will be forgiven for expecting something a little more chewy, a little more experimental, from a developer who made his name by turning adventure games upside down. Here's hoping Act 2 builds some gameplay muscle to go with the supermodel looks.
  10. Eurogamer Italy
    Jan 16, 2014
    70
    The narration is excellent and the presentation very charming, but the puzzles are not even moderately challenging. A good adventure, just not the masterpiece everyone was waiting for.
  11. GameSpot
    Jan 15, 2014
    70
    Broken Age's world may be fun to explore, but don't get too comfortable. Just as you fall into a steady groove with its story and puzzles, the game ends. Thankfully, the ending provides some resolution while also leaving you excited for the second act.

Awards & Rankings

49
#49 Best PC Game of 2014
69
#69 Most Discussed PC Game of 2014

User Reviews

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User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 361 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 261 out of 361
  2. Mixed: 48 out of 361
  3. Negative: 52 out of 361
  1. Snordix
    Jan 29, 2014
    0
    God, I need to vent this. Broken Age is a REALLY bad game; bland as hell. Basically they **** up everything. Not only is it a bad, boring andGod, I need to vent this. Broken Age is a REALLY bad game; bland as hell. Basically they **** up everything. Not only is it a bad, boring and shallow game, but it becomes glaringly obvious that it is a big step back from LucasArts games.

    There's no look/take/use/etc. Only left click and everything will be conveniently solved for you. The problem with this is that the game lacks the descriptions you would get by looking at stuff in the backgrounds; plus there hardly is anything to interact with. This sadly means that a big part of the charm - listening to humorous or moody phrases or one liners is absolutely gone.

    But the worst part is not the controls, or the easy as **** puzzles.

    As Ron Gilbert recently said in an interview with Tim Schafer, adventure games are really an excuse to look at pretty sceneries and listen/read good writing. Well, the game **** fails to deliver any of these.

    It's so goddamn bland and uninspired that you can almost taste the unmotivated design team.

    The sceneries are devoid of any real detail. Yes, they look pretty, in a gay-as-hell-21st-century-progressive-fairytale sort of way. There just isn't anything of interest to look at. Forget the interiors and computer huds from Full Throttle.
    Also, the characters don't show any **** emotion. The voice acting is the typical sedated crap you get nowadays. It's almost like the developers tell the actors to not put themselves into the characters, but instead make them all sound the same. Plus, as the expressions from the characters' faces change pretty much NOTHING, the game doesn't really put a definite emotion through.

    The game world is simply not interesting. Other thing that bugged me was when they zoomed the characters' faces in the dialogues; you can see the poor quality of the backgrounds up close: blurry, not very defined; you can pretty much tell they were made with photoshop in a hurry. I'm certain that if they had pixelated everything in the game it would all look sharper, and well, better.

    Music was pretty off too. At times it felt pointless and irrelevant. At others, strangely out of mood.

    And the writing is as bland as everything else. Not funny, not moody. This guy **** lost it. Forget the "nerd" 1990's-Simpsons humor you would find in DotT, you'll find none of that.

    What else can I say, I did not expect too much when I saw the first screens they released way back, expecting a sort of snuggle-feel-good game, but hell this was really mediocre. What the **** did they do all this time? Were did all the money go, to voice actors?    … Full Review »
  2. prmcoelho
    Jan 28, 2014
    10
    From the art style to the music to the voice acting, Broken Age proves to be a solid game with a lot of personality on its own. The fine humorFrom the art style to the music to the voice acting, Broken Age proves to be a solid game with a lot of personality on its own. The fine humor on the dialogues make for an unique experience, from start to finish.

    Puzzles are logical, so an experienced adventure gamer won't be stuck so easily. Some people will find it too easy, some people will get stuck on one or two of them, but will quickly find the answer, for sure.

    The interface is simple yet elegant. Based on a touch screen UX, it does not do any favor to PC gamers. Dragging and dropping items is not exactly the best solution for mouse support, but it is not a deal breaker at all.

    At some point later on the game you will realize that you are looking to a classic point and click, witch a beautiful landscape, some backtrack action and amazing character personalities. I played this game with a smile on my face from the beginning to the end (4 hours long), and one cannot ignore this.

    It is not Tim Schafer's masterpiece (yet), but its characters and the story makes this one of the best out there.    … Full Review »
  3. sparriskrigaren
    Jan 30, 2014
    4
    This is the most disappointing game in like 20 years, no kidding. I backed this game with $100, believing it was going to be old-school ..This is the most disappointing game in like 20 years, no kidding. I backed this game with $100, believing it was going to be old-school .. well .. it's not. It's very modern and it's for modern gamers who don't like to get stuck or having to use their brains. Just clickety-click and it's over, no challenge, no thinking - super easy. Uninspired and uninteresting story, horrible art-style (I know, it's a matter of taste), short. I know it's only act 1, but it's still A LOT shorter than just about any adventure game I've played. There are like two commands and you just use one mouse button.. seriously? I'm not going to give this a 0 though, since it's not THAT bad, it's just very mediocre and nothing special at all. I really regret backing this and I would never pay money for this game, had I known this is what it's like. I feel so ripped of, they used $3.4 million dollars for THIS? Bland, bland bland. The music is very forgettable, and there's just so little to do and interact with!… Full Review »
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