Video Review - Broken Age
Written Review - Broken Age
Double Fine, the studio behind the successful kick-starter game Broken age was recently released to backers of the kick-starter . However the general public which included myself only got are grubby hands on this beautiful point and click game this week.
The game is currently split in to two acts, the first act being available now and the second act being released later this year as a free download.
Is this kick-starter game which caused masses of kick-starter campaigns to begin actually any good, or did the developers go astray from their initiation proposal for this project to their backers?
Story
The story of broken age is told through the perspective of two children, Shay & Vella. The game will follow them in this coming of age story while they tackle two situations that will change their lives forever.
You can choose to play as either of the two main characters right from the get go and you're not restricted to finish one of the stories before the other.
Shay's story begins with him living on a space ship that has been custom built to look after him and keep him out of danger. He is being treated like a child and seeks to escape his prison like life.
Vella story begins with her village offering young sacrificial maidens and herself to the Mog Cogra - a creature that comes every 14 years to feed on them. If they don't do this the creature will destroy their village.
Vella wishes to escape this fate and wants to kill the Mog Cogra like her ancestors did before.
Both these tales are engaging and you will come to feel for both these characters who are trying to escape their bounds that have tide them to their fates. The story is also told through the many different characters you'll be interacting with, reinforcing these two worlds you'll be exploring..
When you finally do get to the end the reveal is quite spectacular and you will be wanting to know what happen next.
Design & Game play
The story of broken age is told through the game play of a classic point & click adventure game, similar to the lines of "The Secret of Monkey Island", "Simon the Sorcerer" & "Day of the Tentacle"
You will guide the characters through the environment while you try and solve puzzles or task that block your way from progressing. You'll do this by grabbing any item that isn't screwed down to the scenery which will let you progress further.
Like other games in this genre you got to think either logically or the most illogical answer to questions.
Out of the two stories Shay's is much shorter and is a lot more simpler however this doesn't detract from his story since your able to see it at a good pace. While Vellas is spread across a much wider area and the puzzles use strange item combinations that make no sense half the time.
This put me off her story even though it had the most promise since I was walking back and forth trying to understand the logic of some of the puzzles, I shamefully had to check online a few times to get the solutions. In her chapter it's advised to try and combine every item with the other if you get stumped by a road block. This does cheaper the experience though since you don't feel like you've actually solved it but by dumb luck.
They are conversational windows with other character where if you choose the incorrect answer you won't be given an item you need to progress further. This can be a burden having to re listen to the same conversation time and again till you choose the right one.
Thankfully the developers have included a skip button to bypass conversations you've already taken and the characters you control also move around the environments very quickly with fast travel if you double click on an exit within the area.
The game however has less interaction with the beautifully designed environment than in other point & click adventure games. You can't look, touch, pickup, use or anything of the sort. This type of stuff that is common place in other games generally bring this world to life.
I have the feeling the design choose behind this was more than likely to consider the porting of the game to IOS & Android devices in the future, to not make it overly complicated with a touch interface.
This is not going to put most people off if they get invested with the story like I did, but if the story doesn't grab your attention you may be disappointed with its overly simple controls & puzzles.
Presentations
The one thing the game has got going for itself, is it's presentations. The art design for this game is wonderful. Each of the areas are beautifully detailed and bring each environment to life. Vellas in patcuilar has you explore a wide range of environments. While even though Shay's is stuck to the space ship art pallet, the designers have done a great job of bringing each part of the ship to life.
Each of the characters are well designed and give off what type of personality they are even before you've spoken to them. It also helps that each of the characters are well scripted and voiced by the likes of Jack Black, Will Weaton, Ellijah Wood & Jennifer Hale
Music is also charming and suits each of the environments you'll be exploring.
Conclusion
Broken age is a great achievement by Double fine and not being restrained by a publisher has really let the company be more creative than they normally could be in the past. This game could of easily of gone astray but and the kick-starter backer should be proud of what their money has achieved.
The game cost £18.99 in the UK, around 23 Euro in Europe and around 30 Dollars in the US. It bit pricey since you're only getting access to half the game that will take around 3-4 hours to beat. You will however get the second half free later this year.
If you're looking for a more charming point & click adventure game than the recent take on the genre by telltale's the walking dead & the wolf among us, then look no further than broken age. The game story & visuals alone is well worth the early investment in this Stella game and a great way to relax.