Broken Age: Act 1

 PC
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

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  1. skogsgurka
    Nov 1, 2014
    7
    Pretty. Short. Interesting storytelling. Nice puzzle design. Easy to average difficulty level. I recommend it to those interested in story driven games with unique art styles and logical problem solving.

    As for my reflections about the game; The interesting thing about the main characters, Vella and Shay (played by Elijah Wood), is the situation they are in, rather than their    Pretty. Short. Interesting storytelling. Nice puzzle design. Easy to average difficulty level. I recommend it to those interested in story driven games with unique art styles and logical problem solving.

    As for my reflections about the game; The interesting thing about the main characters, Vella and Shay (played by Elijah Wood), is the situation they are in, rather than their personalities and personas. During the game, switching between the two characters gives you two separate game experiences. Playing as Vella, is a laidback, funny and calming game-experience in a quirky adventure-setting. Whereas playing as Shay is more of a contemplative, philosophical experience on the topic of taking control of your own life. This gives the game the diversity of serious questions contra quirky adventuring. One of the strongest features of the story is that it sometimes twists in unexpected ways, which functions almost as a sort of reward for solving the puzzles of the game.    … Expand
  2. lolmetacritic
    Feb 3, 2014
    5
    Buyer beware: There are a lot of fanbois on this forum and giving positive scores here. The game is really not very good. Don't trust the countless 10s here.
  3. mrpinsky
    Jan 28, 2014
    7
    Tim Schafer's first adventure game after many years is finally here, and it looks and sounds fantastic! The art style is unusual, but charming and the animations are all very well done. The music and voice acting is spectacular, too, both on a level that we haven't see before on adventure games. I also enjoyed the storytelling and the characters, although some of them are rather flat andTim Schafer's first adventure game after many years is finally here, and it looks and sounds fantastic! The art style is unusual, but charming and the animations are all very well done. The music and voice acting is spectacular, too, both on a level that we haven't see before on adventure games. I also enjoyed the storytelling and the characters, although some of them are rather flat and one-dimensional (as often in Shafer's games). The one that stands out as extraordinarily well done is the enigmatic "wolf", Marek. The world and locations overall are fairly interesting, although some of it seems rather randomly packed together (e.g. the lumberjack, who is funny, but doesn't appear to fit into the story at all).

    The one point where the game fails to deliver is the puzzles. They are simply way too easy. I didn't even get stuck once in the entire first act and basically played it through in one go. It felt more like a click-through animated story than an adventure games at times, there was really no challenge at all. Even the somewhat more difficult ones were all run-off-the-mill adventure game puzzles (e.g. combining two items in the inventory, the star map pattern matching). This is regrettable as the makers should have known that their core audience (the KS backers) are seasoned adventure gamers. What made it worse is that the game was repeatedly telling me what to do before I even had a chance to explore and think about the puzzles myself. In that way, it robbed me of the sense accomplishment of finding the solution by myself. Maybe a choice of difficulty at the start (enable/disable hints) could have improved the experience for me.

    The game also lacked some depth. The first act felt short (partially because it was too easy) and had few rooms, few items, and too little dialog. It felt like too much effort was spent on art, animation, music and voice acting, and too little on actual game play and creating a rich and deep world.    … Expand
  4. Lambo442
    Jan 28, 2014
    5
    I've been playing point and clicks since the early days and love Tim Schafer's work but I was a bit disappointed with this. It's trying so damn hard to be original and quirky that it ends up just being all over the place. The puzzles are too easy and I would prefer there to be multiple ways of acting with objects, rather than just click once and sit back and watch. I think they should haveI've been playing point and clicks since the early days and love Tim Schafer's work but I was a bit disappointed with this. It's trying so damn hard to be original and quirky that it ends up just being all over the place. The puzzles are too easy and I would prefer there to be multiple ways of acting with objects, rather than just click once and sit back and watch. I think they should have made something a bit more down to earth, something we could identify with a bit. This is just silly really. The art work is gorgeous though.… Expand
  5. JoshMouch
    Apr 25, 2014
    5
    This game is very enjoyable to play. It is MUCH simpler than most adventure games, but in a good way. You don't really solve many difficult riddles, but there is enjoyment in the very rough, simplistic, yet very creative and unique art work. The environment and story are enough to keep you engaged. Voice acting and story are great. I also like that I was able to play this on myThis game is very enjoyable to play. It is MUCH simpler than most adventure games, but in a good way. You don't really solve many difficult riddles, but there is enjoyment in the very rough, simplistic, yet very creative and unique art work. The environment and story are enough to keep you engaged. Voice acting and story are great. I also like that I was able to play this on my tablet. If it were a complete game, I would probably give it 8/10. However, only after paying $25 for it and "finishing" it, did I find out it was only half finished, and the rest would only be developed if Act 1 made enough money. Well, it did make more than enough money, but that's not the point. The principle of only delivering half a game is not one I can stand behind.… Expand
  6. Dunge
    Jan 31, 2014
    7
    Very nice point and click adventure game, but it's not living up to the hype. There's about 10 others adventures games released this year who are as good and much less known (principally from Daedalic Entertainment).
  7. Dragz
    Feb 3, 2014
    7
    This game is pretty good. I love the art style, the game itself is pretty easy, BUT the story is just great. I think this is one of the best story game I ever played. The voice actors are really good and you have two main character which I both really like.
  8. kimdba
    Feb 4, 2014
    5
    I love the art, story and music and how it entertains me. The length of the game was little bit surprising though.. evil marketing strategy I guess. The story break up is little bit insane... guess they had to do it to steal money from gamers... big minus!
  9. gentlegiant03
    Apr 11, 2014
    7
    I had been watching the development with the backer posts and my excitement was nearly palpable. Upon release I fired it up as quick as I could and felt engulfed in a spectacularly detailed game. The level of detail spent on this game feels so rare (which is likely a result of publisher deadlines), the voice acting, the environment, the art... I was sad to have completed it so quickly.I had been watching the development with the backer posts and my excitement was nearly palpable. Upon release I fired it up as quick as I could and felt engulfed in a spectacularly detailed game. The level of detail spent on this game feels so rare (which is likely a result of publisher deadlines), the voice acting, the environment, the art... I was sad to have completed it so quickly.

    I won't pine about how 'syntax guessing' adventure games are no more, Broken Age won't revive that style for you. Say what you will but this game received far more exposure to a wider demographic as a result, and I'm okay with that.

    My major gripe comes down to puzzles... Broken Age never gave me an "Aha!" moment. In the documentary Schafer even stated, in some fashion, that you need those moments in adventure games. You could argue that the aforementioned 'demographic reach' was the reason for this as well, but learning curves exist in most every video game. I'm hopeful that Act 2 cranks up in difficulty to reward at least one moment of Eureka!.

    In the end - you owe it to yourself to pick this game up. It's an adventure game for a modern time when you can feel a developer pour hard work, time, and love of their craft into every tiny detail.    … Expand
  10. doublen3gative
    Jan 30, 2014
    7
    I backed this from the outset and tracked its development throughout, and while there were parts I thought made me question what would happen when it released, but it is infinitely charming in its execution.
  11. iseeall
    Apr 8, 2014
    7
    Great art, excellent music, interesting story. Overall, it's a great adventure game, well on par with Machinarium, Botanicula and other similar games. The only downside is, like many such games, it has no gameplay apart from applying random objects from the inventory to interactable portions of the screen (because most of the puzzle solutions wouldn't make sense anyway). Overall, this gameGreat art, excellent music, interesting story. Overall, it's a great adventure game, well on par with Machinarium, Botanicula and other similar games. The only downside is, like many such games, it has no gameplay apart from applying random objects from the inventory to interactable portions of the screen (because most of the puzzle solutions wouldn't make sense anyway). Overall, this game feels more like an animated movie or a cartoon, yet a good one. It's fun for a few hours. The girl's story is more interesting than the boy's one.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

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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. RPG Fan
    Apr 14, 2014
    90
    A game that will resonate with you and make you nostalgic for something that you might not even remember forgetting.
    Read full review
  2. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Apr 7, 2014
    80
    We expected Tim Schafer to deliver the unique and we weren't wrong. Broken Age stands on the threshold of a classic adventure and a tablet game while retaining a lot of soul. [Issue #239]
  3. 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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