Breakdown

"Is a game worth the price of replacing a controller?"

Breakdown receives more people asking "Is this game any good?" than any other dated game in recent memory. Those that have played it either liked it or hated it. Those that did finish this gaming gauntlet will never soon forget the experience they had in doing so.

Gameplay:

We'll start here with Breakdown's gameplay as the game is chock full of challenges and variety.

Breakdown starts off as a first person shooter (with a lock on feature if you so choose to use it) but shortly becomes a first person run-awayer (think survival horror) and then finally settles on a first person beat'em-up.

Consisting of rolls, flips, round-house kicks, sliding uppercuts, punching combos, and so much more, Breakdown never "breaks" its first person perspective for anything not even at the very start when the gamer is forced to watch our hero throw up into a toilet. All this can be at first disorienting or even headache inducing but soon becomes a pleasant choice from developer Namco and second nature to the player.

The game provides a decent introductory tutorial built into the world to ease the player into the unique gameplay found in Breakdown and serves its purpose nicely.

Breakdown is by no means an easy game, in fact the game is very challenging throughout. Someone once asked me what was the hardest game I had ever played. I reflected upon Ninja Gaiden and every other game but my answer came quickly, Breakdown. It still holds true to this day.

Namco does a good job of making challenging and varied opponents in which the gamer must use different tactics and techniques to overcome. The game also provides lots of platforming to transverse its imaginative world. The major downfall to Breakdown is that at times it can be quite frustrating missing a jump, not being able to overcome the tough odds, or just figuring out how to defeat a certain boss. None-the-less, Breakdown is more rewarding that aggravating thankfully so.

Controls in Breakdown at first seem daunting but soon become clockwork to the gamer. The game does a good job of adding new moves and abilities to keep the gamer interested and learning during the span of the adventure. By the end of the game, gamers will truly feel powerful and a master of their domain. Breakdown excels marvelously in this regard. On the contrary though, Breakdown suffers from some annoying platform segments at times in which the controls just don't feel intuitive to the player, but mostly the controls are adequate enough.

Story:

You awaken in a strange hospital like room with no memory of who you are or why you're here and then boom! A ninja-like woman appears out of thin air and then jumps into the void and vanishes, strange alien creatures out to take over what is seemingly your normal world, oh and your hand just turned metallic... what to make of all this? Well hold on tight because Breakdown is gonna take you for one hell of a strange and captivating ride through its roughly 12 hour long story.

Breakdown starts off fairly slow and a lot of confusing. Gamers are wondering just who they are playing as, why they are in this weird place and why the army is seemingly out to get them. As the game progresses, Breakdown fills in piece by piece and yet enlarges the board even more. More questions than answers until the satisfying twist near the end that changes not only your perspective on the game but the gameplay itself.

Breakdown is one of a few games that truly knows how to go out with a bang,
giving gamers a satisfying ride from start to the very ending.

Audio:

Breakdown's audio may be its weakest point. Voice acting is solid but merely average. Sound effects are fitting but non-memorable such as a game like Zelda or Final Fantasy, and the music is almost non-existent.

The sound of hitting a T'lan warrior in the face however is most satisfying but otherwise it's in this department that Breakdown suffers the most.

Video:

Through much of the game, players will be traveling inside the same repetitive corridors. Luckily the gameplay and story keep the gamer pushing through. Breakdown does have its moments visually though. Some very beautiful and lush outdoor environments save the game from drabness and the overall game engine provides solid graphical capabilities considering its age.

Fire and explosion effects are nice to behold as well and artistically, Breakdown is very pleasing.

The first person perspective combined with solid artistic work go a long way to save Breakdown visually from its limiting repetitive textures. There are a few rooms/areas in particular that are quite varied and just a sight to behold, however, and that furthers the gamer's interest into filling out the pieces of the story's puzzles.

Conclusion:

What can I say about a game with what I consider the two most memorable and badass moments in any video game ever? There's no better feeling than finally being able to destroy the very thing that you've been running from like a small school girl being chased by a huge rabid animal and Breakdown provides such an experience.

A wonderful and original story filled with questions and, surprisingly unlike most games, with the answers, a solid and challenging experience that will test your gaming ability and provide an incredible feeling of achievement marred by drab textures and sometimes too frustrating controls/segments. Well that's Breakdown and you'll only learn this much if you can cope and deal with a first person viewpoint that could cause some people to get ill.

On the whole Breakdown is worthy of the price of admission, worthy of your time to finish it, learn just who you are and what is going on, and also worthy of buying another controller you may have broken during the process, probably from the now infamous "white room." Action and sci-fi fans should definitely pick this gem up.

Score: 8.2/10 (Based on technical achievements)

Bias: 9.3/10 (Based on personal preferences)
+Story-driven game fan
+Sense of accomplishment fan
+Unique game-type attempted

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/20/06, Updated 04/24/06