- Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
- Release Date: Apr 5, 2016
- Also On: PC
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Apr 4, 2016With this time-spanning opus, Remedy Entertainment hoped to unite narrative gaming and linear television for its Xbox One title. But neither comes out of the experiment well.
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Apr 2, 2016What may seem like an ambitious project is in the fact the combination of a standard third-person shooter and the kind of cheap sci-fi drama you might find in the darkest corners of Sky TV. Visually tepid and filled with abortive gunfights and platforming, Quantum Break also struggles to contain its plot, while at the same time underselling its characters. Remedy's previous games have been characterised by a distinctive tone and knowing humour. By comparison Quantum Break is a glossy, charmless, wholly moderate outing.
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Apr 1, 2016With great power should come interesting opposition, but in Quantum Break opponents are familiar busywork. First come the clueless bad guys with pop guns, then the smarter ones with high-powered rifles and grenades. Eventually the armored heavies lumber on set schlepping monster machine guns, followed by the spooky special forces with diet versions of your own abilities. Mix and match with scenarios where there’s a device that saps your powers, or the mini-boss has a weak spot on its back, or there’s a Braid-like puzzle you have to solve by slowing an object to open the way forward. It’s all perfectly competent and boringly idiomatic.
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Apr 1, 2016There are a lot of sound ideas in the middle of Quantum Break and, hey, if you're a sucker for goofy time travel hijinks this game has that going for it, too. But those ideas are the only things holding this project together. The moment you look past that heady connective tissue, every single one of Quantum Break's individual elements fall flat.
| This publication does not provide a score for their reviews. | |
| This publication has not posted a final review score yet. | |
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Apr 1, 2016Quantum Break’s story and visual prowess are reason enough to recommend this game to anyone looking for a rote shooter with a more-than-usual focus on compelling narrative. The best I can say about the action sequences is that they’re tolerable en route to uncovering the game’s core of science-fueled existential crises. So while I feel comfortable recommending this ultimately uneven adventure, in a gaming world where we’ve already played so many super-charged, inFamous-styled action games, I feel pretty disappointed by “just good enough" for QB's action portions.
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May 5, 2016Quantum Break is a game I was constantly trying to fall in love with, but it just didn't allow me to take the full plunge. I don't know if I want to experience another hybrid form of entertainment like this again, but I also don't want games to play it safe.
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Oct 19, 2016Despite how pedestrian some aspects of the game may be, I concluded Quantum Break feeling like something new had happened. Something special had happened that more than compensated for some of the flatness of the story and the mostly rote gunplay. A game simply never worked like this before, nor has a TV show. Because of that, what might have otherwise been ordinary feels extraordinary.
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Apr 1, 2016The idea of having a feature-length live action mini-movie peppered throughout is undeniably ambitious. Yet the game frequently struggles to stand out; it doesn't stick the landing on its most ambitious pieces. Outside of the fantastic, time-bending visuals, the story and combat are merely fine, and the live action elements are nothing short of a chore to get through. It's a shame, as these sort of game releases are a rarity, with safer, more familiar sequels becoming the order of the day.
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Apr 1, 2016Remedy’s latest is the sum of its parts—a decent third-person shooter paired with a fair-to-middling television series—but it wants to be something greater than both. That’s not a bad thing, necessarily. It’s very possible that Quantum Break is the highest evolution of this hybrid form. The problem, I suspect, is with the approach itself. As Jack and Paul learn, some things sound great in theory, but just aren’t meant to be.
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Apr 1, 2016What saves this radical concept from total disaster is the fact that the live-action segments are well-acted and tightly paced. They look and feel exactly like… well, like a mid-season replacement on the USA Network, if we’re being honest. But the action is just intriguing enough that you won’t mind being asked to watch a 20-minute cut scene before beginning the next level...Once you get over the novelty, Quantum Break shakes out as a mediocre shooter with a lavish budget. It will be remembered for blending game and live-action in a formula that actually kinda worked, not for its gameplay, which feels unambitious, half-baked.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 1,505 out of 2253
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Mixed: 298 out of 2253
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Negative: 450 out of 2253
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Apr 5, 2016
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Apr 6, 2016
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Apr 5, 2016