Broken Age: Act 1 Reviews
Broken Age: Act 1 is all about the slow build. Slow isn't boring, however, and a wonderful job is done of carefully constructing the pace while keeping the audience amused. It's a strong start that concludes in a way that makes me desperate for more.
Broken Age is silky smooth, deliciously humorous, visually stunning and completely delightful.
Still, a big part of me wishes I'd waited for Act II and played Broken Age in its uninterrupted entirety. It's smart to always leave the audience wanting more, but when a book is snapped shut in the middle of a story, there's a danger of the reader getting his fingers pinched. And mine, frankly, feel a little bit sore.
[W]e wholeheartedly recommend that fans of any form of fantasy storytelling, especially those who are fans of Pendleton Ward's style (who actually is part of the cast), must play Broken Age: Act 1. We have a good feeling that if Double Fine held off for just another year, the full version of Broken Age would have easily been a nominee for game of the year.
Beautiful art style, well rounded characters, familiar humour, and heart. At first glance, Broken Age is a visually stunning, polished homage to the adventure games of the past. But it's over all too quickly, without enough challenges to satisfy, or enough innovations to drive the genre forward.
Broken Age: Act 1 may be overly traditional, but it possesses plenty of artistry and charm that players will love.
Broken Age: Act I is a two-pronged success: it's a vintage Schafer adventure with a meta layer that comments on the game's crowdfunded roots.
Broken Age is a unique game. It's made directly for and on the demand of a very specific audience, rather than for any publisher. In some ways it's surprising that - despite being traditional - it doesn't feel like a Lucasarts game. That's likely what backers wanted, and whilst those elements are there, this is a Double Fine game to the final letter. It's gentle, loving, and fun; not a Grim Fandango rehash, but the gaming equivalent of a petting a kitten. If your eyes are not welling up with sheer joy at such a thought, then perhaps Broken Age is not for you. For everyone else, it's probably already in your Steam library anyway.
For any fan of classic adventure games, playing Broken Age will be like wrapping yourself in a big, comfy blanket made of pointing, clicking, and a whole lot of laughs.
If you originally donated to the Kickstarter to fund it, feel safe in knowing that your money went towards making a beautiful game that is truly a product of love.
A game that will resonate with you and make you nostalgic for something that you might not even remember forgetting.
Broken Age has delivered what it promised, quite wonderfully. This initial offering of the first half, and the promise of a conclusion to come at no extra cost, is enough to earn it attention for its beauty. The second half, and its subsequent review, will bear the weight of the example its opening gave, and will decide whether this game is worth the score I give it.
Broken Age works. Its story is compelling and captivating, giving you questions and clues all the way, and the absolutely stunning ending will leave you desperate to continue. The worlds created are fascinating and diverse, tied together perfectly with incredible artwork and music.
Joking aside, there's a valuable comparison to be made between Broken Age and Broken Sword: The Serpent's Curse. Both are throwbacks to the golden age of point and click adventures made by creators who helped define that era.
Despite its lack of challenge, Broken Age is absolutely worth playing in order to explore its world, meet its wonderful characters and become hooked by the mystery presented by its story. I might even suggest playing Part 1 now and being forced to wait for the second half of the game to come out in the spring. It gives us time to ponder the mystery, come up with theories, discuss them with fellow fans, and get excited over the kind of mystery that's rare in this day of Let's Plays and Internet FAQs. It may not be the perfect game, but Broken Age is something special that any gamer with a taste for the fantastic won't want to miss.
Broken Age can't quite overcome the problem that's plagued the adventure genre for decades: obscure puzzle solutions that force players to use every item in their inventory in as many ways as they can think of.
The point and click renascence has arrived
This is only Act 1, of course, as an agonising cliffhanger reminds us, and as such this can only be regarded as a very promising start. Whether or not the concluding part offers the increased breadth and complexity many will be clamouring for as the credits roll is unclear. But it's hard to see anyone reaching the middle point of Vella and Shay's story and not wanting to stay tuned to see where they end up.
Apart from the ending of course, which I'm thinking about a lot. Broken Age: Act 1 is a wonderful piece of work, well worth the time and money put into it, an excellent piece of videogame fiction, but it just needs some work being an actual videogame. Let's hope Act 2 maintains the quality but ups the difficulty.
There may not be much actual "game" in Broken Age Act 1, but as a window into two interesting and charming adventures it easily fulfills the Kickstarter promise. The presentation is beautiful and unique, as are the settings and characters. The puzzles are the weakest parts, with a stripped-back interface that offers little beyond combining things and using them on people and specific spots.