In Retro: "Breakdown" Review (Xbox)

Reaching into my extensive backlog of written video game reviews, here was my take on "Breakthrough" at the time I originally played it. Bear in mind, this game shipped pre-"Butcher Bay," and I snatched it up new, so what has become familiar in gaming now (mainly the whole first-person brawler aspect) was, at the time, very innovative and unique.

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Give "Breakdown" the credit it deserves. It's a genre-defying first person action game with shooter elements, but an emphasis on hand-to-hand combat. That sounds strange, and it IS strange, but it actually works, if you can believe that! Add to the mix the most immersive 3D game mechanics I've yet seen, and you've got yourself a game that comes recommended despite its disappointments.

The setup is strikingly similar to "Half-Life," with a few twists here and there. You're Derrick Cole, and you come to in a glossy research facility that is being overrun by genetic freaks from another dimension. In fact, you're a bit of a genetic freak yourself, which makes you the only one capable of saving the day. It also means that you'll have to keep an eye out for armed soldiers who would like nothing more than to put a bullet in you. In all truth, the story doesn't make a lot of sense, but the game is so good at inserting you into its nonsensical setting that it becomes sufficiently compelling.

Initially, "Breakdown" feels like a first-person shooter. You must escape the facility, and firearms are in good supply to help you do just that. Things change, though, when you come face-to-face with your first mutant, as they are completely immune to gunfire. Avoidance is the only policy at first (and the game lays on the tension nice and thick), until at last you begin to morph into a being that is physically capable of taking on mutants in hand-to-hand combat. Because the shooter elements are so basic (you have a severely limited arsenal and targeting can be a chore), things start to get really interesting at this point, because, to my continuing disbelief, this form of combat works so well - provided you're not juggling several opponents at once. Sometimes the game forces you to take on a handful of powerful opponents, and it just becomes frustrating. Fortunately, in most cases it's a simple matter to lure your stupid enemies from their positions and beat them to death one-by-one. Later in the game this is less of an option, since you're hurled into rooms you can't escape until you've pummeled all the mutants it throws your way. Getting hit in the back and watching a ten second animation of you dropping to the ground is less than amusing.

The early stages of the game are immensely well done, and are complete with some staggeringly cool set pieces. One, which introduces you to the game's appropriately scary villain, a half-man called Solus, is better than just about any scripted moment I've ever seen in a game of this type. There are several moments early on that are worth playing repeatedly, and take cinematic gaming to a whole new level. In particular, Derrick's hallucinations as he mutates are imaginative and eerie. Unfortunately, all of these moments are frontloaded, and there are few such bits as you near the finale.

Speaking of the finale, here's where a great games settles with just being good. It's as though the designers got tired of all the work it must have taken to make the first half of the game so brilliant, and just cobbled together the remaining portion. What's more, you have to go through one large area twice! Nothing changes, it's essentially just the same as it was the first time you experienced it. It's every bit as disappointing as it sounds, and will probably threaten to break the will of many players. It doesn't help that it's the worst part of the game in the first place, as the alien dimension stages are visually unappealing, repetitive, and downright frustrating. The game tries to transform itself into a first-person platformer here, and it's ill-advised.

I've been an avid gamer for over ten years, and I've never seen a game with such potential fall short of greatness by a mere hand's breadth, but that's exactly what "Breakdown" does. The initial game is brilliantly executed, and promises an experience that is not delivered when it's all said and done. Even so, there's nothing out there quite like "Breakdown," and I recommend it highly despite its shortcomings. After all, those shortcomings are only as disappointing as they are because the game is otherwise such a joy to experience. Don't overlook this one.

FINAL SCORE: 7.8 (Good)