After the initial weak line-up of titles for the Xbox One’s launch, the onus is now on games like Quantum Break to stand out in the coming months. Remedy Studios is hoping to take another novel approach with the action adventure title. Along with having a TV show run parallel to the game, it will feature different “junction points” where you switch over from the heroes Jack and Beth and play the game from the perspective of Paul Serene, the villain according to writer and creative director Sam Lake.
Speaking to Game Informer, Lake explained the dynamic involved. “Think about Die Hard. The bad guy (Alan Rickman) comes close to stealing the show. This is our interactive dynamic way of doing these scenes where in the action movie you see the bad guy planning and making his moves. You get to play Paul Serene during the junction moments and make these choices.
“We want to make even the bad guy a deep, complex character that you will see different sides of. You will understand why he’s doing what he’s doing. It really amounts to dynamic, player-created cliffhangers at the end of every act of the game.”
This approach is actually quite important when it comes to the TV series as well. “He has this time power that gives him the ability to see glimpses of different timelines and different futures. At the end of each act of the game, you actually get to play him during these junction moments. You get to explore and discover these glimpses of different futures, and you get to make the choice. Which of these two futures that are presented will come to pass?
“This leads into the next episode of the show. Immediately the first scene of the show is affected by the choice you made. It’s very much alternate content depending on the choice you made. The idea is that it will feel relevant to the plot of the show. You’ll learn important things that you’ll need for the game.
“At the same time, the junction moment is just one gameplay scene, and the glimpses you see can be approached in two different ways. They are fragments. You are learning about certain things, but all options have both positive and negative from the bad guy’s perspective, but also from the heroes’ perspective.”
Along with being able to “affect the tone of what will follow,” the junction points also unlock different content and give you different choices that will have an impact throughout the game. A release date for Quantum Break is still pending but it is expected to be out by late 2014.