Broken Age: Act 1 Reviews
Broken Age reminds me why I fell in love with adventure games in the first place.
I haven't felt this surge of nostalgia and excitement about a game in a long time, and I truly think Broken Age will be looked back fondly as one of the greats. That being said, the first Act is only a few short hours and ended on a nail-biting cliffhanger with no word on how long we'll be waiting for the rest of the game. In some ways I feel cheated, but in the end it's the heart of the game that matters - and that certainly isn't broken.
The point and click renascence has arrived
Broken Age is charming, attractive, funny, and all-around entertaining. For fans of adventure games, it leaves little to be desired short of its second act. If that meets the standard set by the currently playable bit, Double Fine looks to have dropped a classic in its wake. Regardless, the experience of Act 1 is enough to recommend outright — don't hesitate to add this title to your library.
Broken Age is silky smooth, deliciously humorous, visually stunning and completely delightful.
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.
[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.
A game that will resonate with you and make you nostalgic for something that you might not even remember forgetting.
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.
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.
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.
The Broken Age will win you over in minutes, and what it lacks in length or difficulty it makes up for in pure personality. From talking Spoons to a guru who makes people remove vowels from their names in order to attain true lighten-ness, it's a weird world, and you'll feel part of it in way we haven't seen since the lost age of adventure games.
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.
It's simply amazing that Double Fine was able to turn something so inherently ridiculous into something incredibly serious with just a click of the mouse. It's just as amazing that Double Fine was able to transport me back to the late 80s and early 90s, reminding me just how much I loved these type of games in the late 80s and early 90s. I cannot wait for the [free!] update that will bring on Act 2. I also cannot wait to see if Broken Age ushers in a new era of the point-and-click genre.
A great start for an adventure proud to have graduated from one of gaming's finest old schools.
With imaginative puzzles and wondrous settings, Broken Age is a delightful game for fans of adventure
Indie studio's massive crowd-funding campaign results in a very enjoyable – if perhaps overly easy – point-and-click adventure game
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.
Broken Age Act One is short and far too easy, and the worst part is, after smacking us with a 'bloody hell, didn't see that one coming' ending, we now have to wait for Act Two to stroll along before we can finally finish the game. If you hate cliffhangers you may even wish to wait until the second half is available. However, the fact that we still massively enjoyed our time with Act One, and can't wait to pick up the story's finale, proves that Mr Schafer has once again produced a stunning little gem.
Broken Age is both a huge success and a cautionary tale for Kickstarter backers. While the game absolutely delivers on great gameplay, story, and production value rarely seen in the genre, its short length and the fact that you'll have to wait months for the second half of the game are worrying.