LTTP Quantum Break (Game Pass ftw!)

[WizdogC]

Just finished Quantum Break this past week for the first time thanks to Gamepass. Wasn't sure if I should make a new thread or not but figured for a post this long I might as well.

Holy shit, what an amazing game!! The Series X is my first Xbox ever so I had only heard of a bunch of these Xbox exclusive games but never had the ability to try them out till now. Everything I cursorily remember about the reviews for Quantum Break was that reviewers thought it was just okay and nothing incredible, but wow do I disagree!

I thoroughly loved my time with the game and agree with others from older threads that it might be one of my favorite time travel related stories from any medium. Every reveal felt really satisfying and from that high level, fun, action perspective the general bones of the time travel logic make sense and work well.

The gameplay isn't amazing and super novel but it's still a lot of fun. Love the time powers and how they make you feel incredibly powerful and chaining them together against a group of enemies felt so rewarding. I was genuinely impressed by the graphical fidelity of the game, especially because it's over 6 years old at this point and the acting by all involved is top notch. Crazy to see them get so many great actors together for this title (Aidan Gillan, Lance Reddick, Shawn Ashmore, and Dominic Monaghan just off the top of my head).

And I guess to bring up the ugly duckling of the game, the tv episodes. They definitely have their weaknesses, mainly the budget cause oooph could you tell that they had almost no money left over after the game development to throw at the live action cause it was roooough. But at the end of the day, I appreciate that Remedy went outside the box and tried something different. And I think the fact that the episodes center on the antagonists and give us a peak into what they've been up to while we've been playing was a really clever idea and worked pretty well.

Overall I'm so glad I jumped in on this game and was able to experience it. Incredible job by Remedy and praise Game Pass because without it there are a ton of hidden gems I wouldn't have experienced.

 

[CubeApple76]

I enjoyed Quantum Break quite a bit, if you play Control after you can see a lot of the same systems get carried over. TV episodes were interesting but I wasn't a huge fan of them in the end. Still really fun game, and I played it back around when it came out on the old XBone

 

[Sydle]

I had a lot of fun with it, but recall not liking the live action bits. I have a super short attention span and some of those scenes ran for twenty minutes!

 

[zedox]

#SaveBeth

 

[ThereAreFourNaan]

I liked it, but there wasn't enough gameplay. Between the TV and the in-game cutscenes, the game would just keep taking control away from the player. I found myself wishing there was just more to it, or perhaps some kind of Monarch Training Score Attack mode or something just to really get more time in the combat.

Something I noticed in Quantum Break that carried through to Control was how flat some of the performances are. The actors involved generally know what they're doing, so I suspect they were being directed to be pretty low key / naturalistic a lot of the time.

 

[Rosebud]

I have this game for a long time, but the TV show puts me off. I don't even have time to watch the shows I want to.

 

[nogoodnamesleft]

It's not bad huh but I enjoyed control substantially more personally

 

[Elija2]

I only played it for a couple hours and while I was interested in where the story was going, the gameplay just didn't do much for me. I didn't find the shooting satisfying at all and the powers weren't fun enough to save it. I dropped Control for pretty much the same reasons, although I think I liked Quantum Break a bit more.

 

[The Lord of Cereal]

It's an incredible game to be sure, I really found the level design and abilities to be really intuitive and fun.

I think the biggest stain on this game is its length. I skipped the TV episodes sure, but I beat the game in 8 hours, just as it was starting to really get good. Granted I feel like much of that is because of the cliffhanger and that it hasn't gotten a sequel and unfortunately probably won't get one.

That being said, the story was absolutely incredible. Top tier performances and an extremely clear story that's relatively simple but also very complex without being insane

 

[nihilence]

Under rated, over hated.

I enjoyed it. The TV bits were a little rough.

 

[cgpartlow]

I honestly think the game is great, although it probably would have been better without the TV show. I think because of the Xbox situation at launch and the small number of exclusives reviewers were overly critical of most of Xboxes exclusive line up. It has a great story, and if you don't try and play it like a cover shooter it is pretty fun.

 

[Blaaaarrggghhh]

I really liked it. Did they ever release Series X enhancements for the game?

 

[Windu]

Yeah I liked it. Enjoyed the story.

 

[Bishop89]

It's very disappointing it runs at only 30fps.
It's quite jarring after playing an abundance of 60fps games over the past couple of years

 

[Hexer]

Absolutely had a blast with it. I even liked the TV show stuff unlike most lol. Game was a solid 8.5 or 9/10 for me. I wanted it to have just a bit more action, and that final boss was one of the worst I've ever encountered 😂. But other than that, the world building and the characters and story and gameplay were all top notch. Reading every email and note was actually interesting and all gave more backstory to what was going on. So sad we'll never get to Save Beth, but oh well. Glad you were able to enjoy it! 😄
Quantum Break > Control for me. Don't attack me please! 😨

 

[Urðr]

It was a meh game, especially compared to Alan Wake or Control. You receive all powers way too early, which is good to avoid boredom at the beginning, but then it simply kills the experience about halfway through, despite being very short. There was some great audiovisual stuff, but the Xbox One couldn't really handle it and, at least in that console, it was full of ugly effects/artifacts. This was worsened by the aesthetic of the TV show, which was basically the opposite of the game since it had no colors, and it felt extra cheap as they didn't port the faces of many of the characters into the game. And then there's "platforming" and the non-stop use of voice over every 20 seconds of gameplay. 10/10 idea, 5/10 execution.

 

[oni-link]

The linear story driven 3rd person shooter is kind of a rare genre now so playing this in 2022 (or 2021, like I did) kind of makes the game feel fresher than it probably did back at launch

It's a really fun game anyway, I had a good time with it, even if it's probably not right at the top of its genre

 

[dskzero]

I loved the game to be honest, it was a lot of fun and the gameplay was solid. I think it suffers a lot from a very slow beginning, until things go haywire is somewhat meh and that rubbed off people the wrong way.

I also remember wondering why the main character never actually shows up in the live action episodes lol

 

[Gero]

found it much more fun than control 🤷‍♂️

 

[Sonix]

Agree, really liked it as well. Wasn't super convinced by the TV shows either, but eh, they worked well enough for me (I only watched them half, they were a good time to check up with the internet between sessions).
Really liked the story, the setup and most of the gameplay. Yes, some things like jumping are just a little janky, but otherwise super solid, super nice presentation, cool story, cool characters.

 

[Rumenapp]

Loved the story and performances from the actors but the powers and gunplay felt pretty weak.

 

[Bulby]

I liked it. It just all felt a little too soft and spongy in the controls and gunplay for my liking.

 

[THANKS]

This game really scratched an itch for me. I loved the lo-fi time travel concept and the whole thing felt like a 2008 era weekly TV show (Heroes/Lost) - and I mean that as a compliment.

For the time too, the presentation of the cameras and the flashy set pieces were really impressive. I know the game was not for everyone and the actual gunplay wasn't amazing but as a package for 10-15 hours it rocked.

 

[MJForum Poster]

The story is really great and you can see how some of the gameplay systems in Control evolved out of it. I really wish we would get a follow-up one day or some way to tie it into the larger Remedy universe.

 

[erlim]

The game is amazing, I just wish there was MORE game in there.

 

[Deleted member 87246]

It still baffles me to this day that in an era of 7 and 70 billion Microsoft acquisitions that they never spent the $100-200 million for Remedy to be their visually stunning, narrative driven Naughty Dog like studio.

I absolutely loved Quantum Break (and Alan Wake) Control less so but still a great game considering it's $20 million budget.

 

[Dead Man Typing]

I'm doing a replay of Remedy games.
Really looking forward to going through Quantum Break again.

It's a pretty unique time travel story and I went into the TV sections with low expectations. They ended up better than I expected.

I don't think it's for everyone but I also think reviews were a little harsh.

 

[Ringten]

I want to play it but it's on the back-burner for now, hoping for a 60fps patch

 

[Tak(●´ϖ`●)]

Yeah it's better than Control.

 

[ArchLector]

The linear story driven 3rd person shooter is kind of a rare genre now so playing this in 2022 (or 2021, like I did) kind of makes the game feel fresher than it probably did back at launch

It's a really fun game anyway, I had a good time with it, even if it's probably not right at the top of its genre

Click to shrink...

It's not just rare, pretty sure this genre is just dead except for a few legacy series. Even Remedy explicitly decided to move away from it for Control since they saw such games were just not selling.

 

[digitalrelic]

I just played through it too! I actually enjoyed it more than Control. The time control stuff was so fun in combat.

The live actions scenes were god awful though and brought the whole game down.

Still, it was a great experience and I'm sad they didn't make another one.

 

[Raide]

Actually preferred it to Control.

Loved the story and twists of QB. Still wish it got a full modern update but that is never happening. Shame.

 

[ShadowGP]

First time XBOX (series X) owner also working my way into the must XBOX titles...
First played Sunset Overdrive (amazing), then Gears, just finished Ryse and i have already downloaded QB.
Question: Do i need to watch the show?

 

[c bweezie]

I also liked the game better than most. The context it came out in gave the game almost no shot at widespread success.

 

[Hoggle]

Way too much input lag for me. I'd play it again if it was 60FPS and with no lag, but I'd probably find it nearly unplayable nowadays.

 

[Androidsleeps]

CONTROL is the better realization of the concepts found here but I still thought Quantum Break was great, even underrated.

I went in with caution cause I heard about the "TV show" and was worried it'd have awful pacing, thankfully that wasn't the case. I really enjoyed the story and characters and how "unique" the whole experience was.

 

[Crumrin]

The controls are a bit janky IMO, the gunplay and time-bending powers feel undercooked and the enemy encounters are so uninspired and telegraphed that you rarely feel compelled to experiment beyond the basics. Also, the final boss is incredibly poorly designed, it feels like something Remedy slipped into the game at the last minute.

But I enjoyed the game despite its flaws, the graphics are very good (too bad the environments don't have much variety, 90% of the game is warehouses and office spaces), and the story about time travel is one of the best I can remember in a game.

In short, QB is a pretty mediocre game but still enjoyable, it feels like a test tube of sorts for the superior game that is Control.

 

[Deleted member 91227]

Loved it as well when I played it on Xbox One at launch. Gameplay was solid and I liked the story and characters. Especially enjoyed the story being told through multiple methods including the TV show episodes, regular cut scenes, dialogue during gameplay, audio logs, e-mails etc. I love exploring around in games and finding story tid bits to add details and lore so it was right up my alley.

 

[JustJavi]

This is the thread I needed to commit to play the game. I've had it for years, but have always been put off from playing it after seeing some of the comments here on Era.

 

[WizdogC]

First time XBOX (series X) owner also working my way into the must XBOX titles...
First played Sunset Overdrive (amazing), then Gears, just finished Ryse and i have already downloaded QB.
Question: Do i need to watch the show?

Click to shrink...

The show provides additional context into the antagonists motives. It wouldn't make sense for us to play as the main character and then watch a 22 min episode that we could have just played through. So instead the episodes focus on the villains and show us what they were doing while we were playing through the previous sections.

This unique angle helped justify the episodes to me. They're definitely low budget and can be kinda cringe at some parts but overall I'm more glad that they exist. They tried something different and I commend them for that.

 

[WizdogC]

#SaveBeth

Click to shrink...

Reading this a week later and damn, hit me in the feels all over again. That one was rough for sure!

 

[WizdogC]

I have this game for a long time, but the TV show puts me off. I don't even have time to watch the shows I want to.

Click to shrink...

lol. Fair point.

 

[WizdogC]

It's not bad huh but I enjoyed control substantially more personally

Click to shrink...

Control is most definitely the more refined game compared to this. You can tell they applied what they learned from Quantum Break for it. I loved the story being told in Quantum Break more but Control was fantastic as well.

 

[WizdogC]

It's an incredible game to be sure, I really found the level design and abilities to be really intuitive and fun.

I think the biggest stain on this game is its length. I skipped the TV episodes sure, but I beat the game in 8 hours, just as it was starting to really get good. Granted I feel like much of that is because of the cliffhanger and that it hasn't gotten a sequel and unfortunately probably won't get one.

That being said, the story was absolutely incredible. Top tier performances and an extremely clear story that's relatively simple but also very complex without being insane

Click to shrink...

I probably would have judged it similarly if I had bought the game. But through GamePass the monetary investment is relatively low so I didn't mind the length of the game. In some ways I loved that it didn't overstay it's welcome and left me wanting more.

 

[WizdogC]

Absolutely had a blast with it. I even liked the TV show stuff unlike most lol. Game was a solid 8.5 or 9/10 for me. I wanted it to have just a bit more action, and that final boss was one of the worst I've ever encountered 😂. But other than that, the world building and the characters and story and gameplay were all top notch. Reading every email and note was actually interesting and all gave more backstory to what was going on. So sad we'll never get to Save Beth, but oh well. Glad you were able to enjoy it! 😄
Quantum Break > Control for me. Don't attack me please! 😨

Click to shrink...

Damn. Are we the same person?? Hahaha. Glad to know I'm not alone and most of the responses in this thread show that as well!

 

[derFeef]

Really liked it, it gets too much flak because of the show part. Just ignore that.
Nick is hilarious, make sure you also get the bits with him.

This is the thread I needed to commit to play the game. I've had it for years, but have always been put off from playing it after seeing some of the comments here on Era.

Click to shrink...

Do it. It's fun. If you can't stomach the show part, just ignore them, it's fine.

 

[WizdogC]

I loved the game to be honest, it was a lot of fun and the gameplay was solid. I think it suffers a lot from a very slow beginning, until things go haywire is somewhat meh and that rubbed off people the wrong way.

I also remember wondering why the main character never actually shows up in the live action episodes lol

Click to shrink...

The way I took it, the episodes are meant to show what the villains are doing while we're running around playing through the game. If the main character were in the episodes we'd rightfully be thinking why we don't just get to play the episode part of the story as well.

 

[FarSight XR-20]

I loved Quantum Break so much !

The cast was amazing.

I'm bitter that it will never get a sequel.

Especially because

Spoiler

it was strongly hinted that Lance Reddick would have played a major role. And #SaveBeth obviously...

 

[WizdogC]

Loved it as well when I played it on Xbox One at launch. Gameplay was solid and I liked the story and characters. Especially enjoyed the story being told through multiple methods including the TV show episodes, regular cut scenes, dialogue during gameplay, audio logs, e-mails etc. I love exploring around in games and finding story tid bits to add details and lore so it was right up my alley.

Click to shrink...

Yup, 100% to what you're saying with finding story tidbits everywhere through different methods.

 

[dskzero]

The way I took it, the episodes are meant to show what the villains are doing while we're running around playing through the game. If the main character were in the episodes we'd rightfully be thinking why we don't just get to play the episode part of the story as well.

Click to shrink...

Call me slow but I never figured that one out.