We do a special kind of review on gamelust called a ‘rolling review’ where we play the game and share our opinions on a daily basis as we progress through the game. This gives you an in depth look at whether or not we are enjoying the game, as well as a dynamic score through out the experience from beginning to [hopefully] end, updated daily. If you would like to watch us play the game throughout the duration of this review, check out our channel on twitch. We will be online playing between 6pm and 10pm US Central.

4/5 – xsuicidesn0wmanx

From the very moment the Xbox One was announced, Quantum Break has been one of the most desired titles revealed for the platform, and definitely sat at the very top of my wish list. I picked up the game during my lunch break so that I could begin the installation process early and start playing the game as soon as my shift was over. Similar to recent trends with the other Xbox One games I have purchased the install time was relatively short compared to some in the past, taking roughly 30 minutes to install and update. I would be ready to go as soon as I got out of work.

The game started off pretty slow, setting up the foundation for the story by establishing the the main character, Jack Joyce, and his soon to be enemy, Paul Serene, as best friends reunited. Paul needs Jack to help him test out an experimental time machine against the advice of its’ creator, Jacks brother William Joyce. As predicted, the outcome is a catastrophe that literally breaks time itself.

The one thing I noticed about the story early on is that it did just enough explaining to make the outcome believable, while being vague enough that the intentional plot holes didn’t leave me confused. Game play wise the controls felt a bit sloppy, and I was immediately forced to go into the options and tone down the sensitivity from 80 to 50. After making this change the game was a little easier to control, though it was not as precise as I would have liked. Platforming is also a bit sloppy, while using time powers to manipulate objects near by is a neat idea, it doesn’t work quite perfectly.

Regardless, the game is really fun, and that is what I value the most. So far this feels like it should be a 90, but the little nagging issues will most likely hold it back.

4/6 – xsuicidesn0wmanx

So far I really like the pacing of the game. I’ve been taking it kind of slow, hunting down all of the hidden items and reading a lot of the extra material available in the game, which adds a lot of context for the TV show. The show has been a nice little break every couple of chapters. I don’t really feel any pressure to get to the end of the game, and the show is entertaining enough by itself. Whether you watch it in game or not, I do recommend watching at least one version of the episodes at some point. I have not yet tried out an alternate path, but I am eager to see the differences for myself once I have finished the game.

I’ve gotten more used to the controls, but the overall feel remains. They’re sloppy, movements are slow and cumbersome, and gun play is like you’re on ice. The game is a cover shooter, but you can’t actually use the cover, though I do not think that is necessarily bad. Enemies will flank you and can hurt quite a bit if you remain stationary. The key to success is staying active. Moving around a lot while mixing in your time powers so that you’re never  a sitting duck, waiting for your abilities to refresh.

After two sessions, so far so good. I’m torn between giving this an 85 and a 90 right now, but I really like the experience so far.

4/7 – xsuicidesn0wmanx

The game was slightly shorter than I had hoped. I planned on finishing this over the course of 4 days, instead it only took 3. Though I will admit I ended up playing an extra 2 hours each of the first two nights because I couldn’t put the controller down. I really enjoyed both the game and the TV show, and both are quite competent on their own. But I did not feel either part helped, nor hurt the other.

What really nailed it for me was the story. The combined narrative, TV show, and hidden messages found throughout the game built a fantastic tale that weaves itself in and out of time, yet does not fall victim to the typical snags that tend to unravel so many other time-travel based stories. Events at the beginning of the game were small enough that you didn’t pay them that much attention. As you progressed through the game, various parts of the story that were out of sync with the current timeline would be drip fed to you in doses that do nothing more than raise an eyebrow here and there. While the final chapters in the game leads to many ‘ah hah’ moments. Minor events expose themselves as key to the success of the overall plot, while most of the missing puzzle pieces simply fall into place. And while most of the game will be wrapped up by the time the credits roll, there is still at least one big puzzle piece that will leave you wanting to know more, yet not the kind that would leave you upset if the questions are not answered.

One thing I have yet to talk about so far is the graphics, I never really felt that I had experienced enough of the game to comment on them. Even though the product on screen was beautiful at times, it was bland at others. For the most part I didn’t really feel the need to stand back and take in the scenery, as all the beauty came during the action. But there were plenty of times where I was thinking, this looks ok… and other times where I was blown away. I don’t think anyone who plays the game will walk away disappointed in how it looks, in fact I think most will really love it. But it certainly is not pure eye candy from start to finish.

I’ve enjoyed the game during my play through, but I’m not quite settled on the final score, it’s still wavering between 85 and 90.

4/10 – xsuicidesn0wmanx

It occurred to me that there was one aspect of the game I forgot to touch base on entirely, so I decided to go back and give it a try. On my first run through the game I went with all of the popular decisions, mostly those that would be less offensive, at each of the 4 junction points. But I never really gave it a second thought, until now. So I went back to the first junction point and decided to choose the other option this time, and ohhhhh man does it change things right away. I didn’t play the game much past this, but it made me want to run through the game from beginning to end at least one more time just to see how much it changes overall. Which really gives the game a boost as far as replay-ability. I like that.

After all is said and done, I really want to give this game a 90. But I think there are drawbacks in enough areas that I cannot confidently say this title is deserving it. Except it’s not an 85 either, the story is great, the action is plentiful, and the graphics can be absolutely jaw dropping at times. I’m going to take a few days to consider my full review, but I’m fairly certain my final score will fall just short at 88 or 89.

Did you play the game yet? How was your experience playing Quantum Break compared to ours? Let us know in the comments below, and be sure to add your own personal review to our site. We want every game to have more than one opinion so that our gamers will be able to make the most informed decision possible.