From Max Payne's stylish noir action to the Stephen King-meets-David Lynch spookiness of Alan Wake, the games of Remedy Entertainment have always explored the intersection of games and film. But Quantum Break, the Finnish company's ambitious next project, might take that concept to its breaking point. Time isn't the only thing that's fractured in this sci-fi disaster tale. Along with delivering the excellent shootouts the developer is known for, the game regularly weaves full-length live-action episodes of an original TV series throughout the action. I got to check out the recently announced PC version of the upcoming game/show hybrid, and it is coming to the Xbox One, as well.
TV Killed the Video Game Star
In Quantum Break, a botched time travel experiment grants time-based superpowers to hero Jack Joyce (X-Men's Shawn Ashmore) and his former friend, now nemesis Paul Serene (Games of Thrones' Aidan Gillen). As time starts to become undone, Jack uses his powers to try to prevent the catastrophe while avoiding Serene's sinister Monarch private security firm.
The story is incredibly prominent, and not just in the cutscenes featuring impressive digital recreations of recognizable actors such as Lance Reddick(!) and Dominic Monaghan. While you play most of the game as Jack, at the end of the first act I briefly took control of Serene at a "junction point," a crucial split in the story. I was presented with two divergent options of how to handle a security breach: a violent "Hardline" strategy or a crafty "PR" strategy. Serene's clairvoyance shows the consequences of each choice, and after I decided my path the game stopped and the TV show began.
I then put down the controller and watched a full-length live-action TV show with the same actors continuing the story of the game. Remedy has dabbled with live-action shorts in the past, but never to this extent. I later replayed this segment after making the opposite choice and sure enough the situation was mildly different in both the show and game. A dead character was now alive. At the end the episode even transitions into a playable version of a scenario you just watched. And of course, everyone has Surfaces and Windows Phones in this Microsoft published-game.
This hybrid model is Quantum Break's big hook, and it is distinct. Not even games with great use of FMV like Her Story can boast of having hours of original, professionally made programming. It's hard to judge the overall quality of the show based on the one episode I saw during my demo, the production value is at least a little higher than tie-in Web series other games opt for, but am I concerned that the substantial length of the show is being used to pad out an otherwise short campaign. Also, having the TV show focus on the bad guys while players guide the hero is a novel narrative choice, but the result was somewhat disjointed. Differences between video game and TV show production schedules meant each part was handled by largely separate teams. I'm afraid the two halves will simply exist alongside each other instead of truly complementing each other. But if nothing else, I appreciate the weirdness. It gives the game character. On Xbox One you can download these large video files to your console, but on PC they can only be streamed, so you need a constant Internet connection.
Bullet Time
Fortunately, Quantum Break isn't just a slick, occasionally corny sci-fi show, it's also an excellent third-person shooter from a developer that knows a thing or two about the genre. The basic act of shooting light and armored foes with pistols and shotguns and assault rifles feels great on its own. But Jack's time-based superpowers add more flair to the combat. The Time Shield slows down and deflects incoming bullets. Time Stop freezes enemies in place and can be charged into an even deadlier Time Grenade. There's an evasive Time Dodge move, and Jack can get a better read of his surroundings with Time Vision. Those are the abilities I messed around with during my demo, but the full game will feature an upgrade tree with more powers to unlock.
Outside of combat, time powers also solve environmental puzzles such as rewinding a collapsed platform to sneak into an industrial building.The time effects are the highlight of the game's visuals. Time distortions are represented as crackling triangles. As you move throughout frozen time, suspended objects react to your touch. You can even use the broken time conceit to explain away what are most likely technical glitches. Did the game stutter? The graphics got blurry? Is the buffering and compression of the streaming video kind of bad? What did you expect? Time is broken!
Quantum of Solace
After my demo I spoke to Remedy's creative director (and face of Max Payne) Sam Lake. He explained how Quantum Break's combination of gameplay and video was planned from the start, and was originally developed for an Alan Wake sequel. But what was most illuminating was the game's role in the Xbox One's original vision of delivering all kinds of media, from games to sports to television, through a single set-top box. That vision has been mostly abandoned as the console struggles on the market and returns to games-centric roots, but it was almost nostalgic to see this peculiar game embody that spirit.
Quantum Break launches April 5, 2016 on the PC and Xbox One.
This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.