It’s about time I made a contribution to this site, and so it is with great pleasure that I finally shoved a bomb down the throat of Breakdown. Although this could have easily qualified as a Secret Satan game thanks to some excruciating design issues, the story (with no fewer than 3 major jaw-dropping twists) is well the worth the time spent.

Andy Dufresne tries to fend off Boggs and The Sisters

For the uninitiated, Breakdown’s biggest gimmick is the entirely first-person viewpoint through which the game plays out. You experience the whole game through the eyes of Derrick Cole and see what he sees. Do a backflip and the screen flips with you. Get dropkicked by a Brute and you’ll be staring up at the ceiling trying to shake it off. Although there are a few guns in the game, the majority of gameplay is hand-to-hand fighting using a fairly robust combo system comparable to the moves list for 1 or 2 fighters in any given fighting game.

I’m sure it looked like a great idea on paper but the designers failed to execute it well. For starters, without the peripheral vision that you get in a typical 3rd-person beat-em-up, it is nearly impossible to defend against multiple attackers at once. If I’m supposed to be the savior of the world, why is it so easy for one guy to ring my bell so that his 3 buddies can circle around and stomp the shit out of me? Busting a sweet combo on a single attcker feels magnificent, but facing 2 at a time forces the use of hit and run tactics that feel like an underutilization of what’s there. Additionally, the pacing just doesn’t feel right with too many empty (and I mean empty…textures are often uninspired at best) corridors and a staggered placement of enemy encounters that left me wanting.

HOWEVER…the story is fantastic and kept me playing despite control frustrations. While it definitely pulls elements from an assortment of movies and anime (none of which I’ll mention…no spoilers here) it still manages to feel original and entertain immensely with the aforementioned twists and revelations about events that take place. In this respect, the 1st-person view really helps immerse you into what’s happening and gives it a more visceral impact.

Overall, I’d say that if you’re a fan of good sci-fi, anime, or watched the Shawshank Redemption and thought, “I wonder what that would feel like”, give Breakdown a try. The game can be played through in as little as a day or 2, although it went about 15 hours for me. Just don’t plunk down money since replay value is nil and I’d be more than happy to lend it out.