Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
A Highly Original Yet Misunderstood Game, 9 Jul 2004
I believe that Breakdown is one of the best games that I have played this year. It has a fantastic story (equal to that of KOTOR and Max Payne 2), wonderful first person fighting (the only time I have successfully seen it used), great character immersion and even good platforming. In fact the only pour point about the game is the gun control.
The story in Breakdown is basically your standard sci fi adventure, but it is written and paced it such away that you are drawn into the action. Namco have clearly developed the game around the story instead of hanging a story around a few random levels, as most games seem to do. The game is completely in first person, with no level changes or end of missions, which gives the effect of one 20-hour mission and seeing as Derrick has to physically pick everything up and open every door, fantastic immersion. The result is you feel like Derrick, care for the NPCs and want to know what happens next.
Melee in most FPS is awful, but in Breakdown it is your main source of attack and is brilliantly executed. There are loads of combos and the triggers acting as each hand feels great, with easy one-twos etc. The only problem is with multiple enemies because while you attack one the others will floor you, this can be frustrating until you realise that you need to isolate each opponent one on one.
I have always believed that platforming and FPS did not mix (witness to awful Mace Griffin), but in Breakdown it works brilliantly, and is dare I say it fun.
As I said the one pour point of Breakdown is the gunplay. The guns themselves are useless; even with a machine gun it takes a whole clip to down the easiest of enemy, plus the auto aim is to strong. (You can't hit a barn down without it). The thing is that the guns are not very important in Breakdown; the main enemies have to be downed with your fists anyway and there are large parts of the game when you're not killing anything. Breakdown is about the story, the characters and the fighting not the shooting.
Breakdown is a highly original game, with great ideas that are mostly implemented well. It does through have one major flaw (the guns) get past that and a fantastic adventure awaits you.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
Original and inventive..but floored, 13 Sep 2004
By A Customer
Breakdown. This game uses an excellent 1st person hand to hand combat mode for most of your encounters with the enemy and the twisting plot is completely immersive. The (occaisionally trippy) visuals are well executed, and although the levels are pretty bland early on they become much more interesting as you progress through to the later stages of the game. I couldn't put this one down once I'd gotten used to the controls (took me 20 mins-gettin old) and the satisfaction gained in hammering countless foes with crunching combos is truly rewarding.The sound is pretty good and the character models are quite impressive close up.
The overall feel of this game is like being the main character in one of those great manga movies (akira etc)and this game is well worth splashing out on -. Replay value is limited though, and the first third of the game is a bit of a slog through similar looking areas. The revelations about your character and exactly what is going on in the (game)world really do surprise, and you can expect different endings depending on what you do in the final scene...
JonnyJay
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Why not build your own 
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