Breakdown

[Despair]

Well, I do agree that the game is not pretty , especially being on Xbox. Control scheme is also not very user friendly (or at least blocking option on Left Analog? WTF?

Combat was somewhat fun though, and the story interesting. But I definately not going to praise it as many here do. I might someday comeback to finish it.

[MechDeus]

Is this beatable in a rental period?

Sure, clocks in at under 15 hours.

Terrible graphics--ridiculously ugly textures with PSone polygon counts.

It has neither, I'm not sure what you were looking at.

Combat looks okay from what I've seen (though I've seen some really frustrating areas of the game) though I don't see how it benefits from being first person, other than standing out as different.

The whole point of the game is immersion.

I mean, I want to find out for myself if it's good, but at this point I've seen enough to convince myself that it can't possibly be.

What did your co-worker think of it?

It's like playing as the main character to an action movie, and by "playing as" I mean they try to take the you-as-a-person to a level higher then most games try to instead of making it a typical action game. All the added animations, movements, views, and so on are done not for the standard game experience but to help draw you in. If you've already convinced yourself it's bad you'll probably hate the actual game because it takes a while to get used to and feels really clunky in the beginning. The expanded powers, knocking people down hallways, and story execution are all great, again, it's designed to be an experience more then a standard videogame.

You'll probably hate playing it (which I figured you had already had, considering your comment earlier in the thread). Just pass.

[elfneedsfood]

Seriously, from what I've seen of the game it is horrendous--yet you guys are giving it a good amount of praise. And I know TNL has overrated plenty of games, but this one still has me baffled. I'd like it if someone could tell me something that would make me want to actually try playing it. I mean, I want to find out for myself if it's good, but at this point I've seen enough to convince myself that it can't possibly be.

The main draws to the game are probably the first person hand to hand combat and the story. If you don't like these two things, you're probably not going to like the game. The game also pulls some neat tricks that help with the immersion factor.

[Despair]

Well, I did like both, but the akward controls and ugly graphics were what put me off from enjoying this

[MarkRyan]

It has neither, I'm not sure what you were looking at.

It has both, hard-core. I saw all sorts of different parts of the game, and every single one was ugly as hell. Low-res, ugly, flat, boring, repetitive textures and levels that SERIOUSLY looked worse than some PSone games. It looks like all the effort went into character models, and afterwards they forgot about everything else.

The whole point of the game is immersion. What did your co-worker think of it?

How does Breakdown pull off immersion better than, say, Metroid Prime or Half-Life? If it were the first FPV game ever then I'd see reason to play it just for the POV. But it's just the FPV with a bit of a twist.

And this is what my co-worker thought of it.

[dyomides]

Unlike most of you I had no problems with the controls, blocking with the left thumbstick felt just fine since this wasn't a game of Street fighter 2 where you need lightning quick button presses and what not.

The only problem area I've had so far is near the very end with the respawning enemies. That's where I'm at. Love the game, when it all comes together it's a beautiful thing. And nothing makes you feel more powerful then each time you see your character grow in power. It makes the player feel awesome.

D

[MechDeus]

It has both, hard-core. I saw all sorts of different parts of the game, and every single one was ugly as hell. Low-res, ugly, flat, boring, repetitive textures and levels that SERIOUSLY looked worse than some PSone games.

I'd recommend actually playing some PSOne games before saying that. You want to claim lack of style, sure, and I'll agree on repetitive textures but this game hardly looks like crap.

How does Breakdown pull off immersion better than, say, Metroid Prime or Half-Life?

The interaction with objects and looking around is done as though your character actually has limbs and is not a floating camera box, the viewpoint changes like it should when climbing over objects or flipping around or getting hit, you can switch between a good melee fighting system and ranged combat, and there is an actual story and it unfolds naturally as the game goes on. Probably something else I'm forgetting right now but that's the bulk of it.

[edit] Oh yes, and character interaction that's leagues better then either of those games and a support character that doesn't get killed indiscriminately and can actually kick ass in a number of areas.

And this is what my co-worker thought of it.

Okay, pretty much what I expect from most people regarding this game.

[MarkRyan]

I just came off a weekend of playing Crash Team Racing, Colin McRae 2.0, and Soul Reaver. I've played PSone games recently.

I guess ultimately, here's my question: Is Breakdown a hands-down classic, or a game that takes effort to love?

[MechDeus]

I just came off a weekend of playing Crash Team Racing, Colin McRae 2.0, and Soul Reaver. I've played PSone games recently.

Even on DC Soul Reaver's getting damned ugly these days, those boss textures especially were amazingly hideous last time I played. I question the quality of the TV you're playing on if CTR and SR compare to Breakdown (haven't played Colin McRae so I can't comment, but I doubt any 3D PS graphical prowess these days).

I guess ultimately, here's my question: Is Breakdown a hands-down classic, or a game that takes effort to love?

I'll have to go with the latter. If it was a hands-down classic I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to just anyone. However, while it may be awesome to me I also don't feel that it will appeal to most people because of the odd sense of play-style and the controls. It's different, and for a lot of people probably not in a good way.

Oh yes, and in regards to immersiveness the surround sound is also beautiful 99% of the time. I'm not sure if Half-Life supports that as well, and Breakdown does have the slight problem of a couple voice clips from important conversations that only use the front speakers no matter what direction you're facing. Those screwups are very rare though, that only happens like twice in the whole game.

[EightBit]

I'll have to go with the latter. If it was a hands-down classic I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to just anyone. However, while it may be awesome to me I also don't feel that it will appeal to most people because of the odd sense of play-style and the controls. It's different, and for a lot of people probably not in a good way.

And here's my question for ya. If I liked Maken X a great deal(and I do), will I enjoy this game? I noticed in the IGN review the complaints about cheap hits, and Im curious if there is anyway to remedy this. One of my big problems with Ninja gaiden was the cheap hits I was getting all the time and I couldnt figure out a combo, or tactic to keep that from happening.

I'm also wondering if this game is worth full price or if I should just wait for price drops or used copies.