Prior to Gamescom Remedy had been keeping very quiet when it came to Quantum Break, but as the event took off Microsoft and Remedy showed us the next chapter towards Quantum Break, and what its story and gameplay will hold in store for players next year. Behind the scenes we got an in-depth by Remedy members Sam Lake and Thomas Puha themselves, who taught us quite a bit when it came to the ins and outs of Quantum Break.
Quantum Break is the story of Jack Joyce (voiced by Shawn Ashmore), who gains the ability to manipulate time after a disastrous accident with a time machine. As time starts to break down Jack must find his brother, who may be the only person in existence that can fix the flow of time and stop the time/space continuum from collapsing on itself.
We were then briefly shown the conference demo and the main trailer to refresh our memories to their contents, but this was followed by an extended demo that showcased many time-based gameplay features. Our character finds himself at a dock, an area now called Ground Zero by Monarch, the villainous corporation within the game’s narrative. Jack receives a phone call from Serene (funny enough with an Alan Wake ringtone on his phone.) The exchange ends unpleasantly as Jack goes further onto the docks. Serene and co arrive on sight with a helicopter, but as Jack tries to make his way towards them it seems he might not be the only one with powers at this point.
But traversal isn’t the only power you’ll have, and in combat you’ll be just as effective. Your powers consist of; Time Blast (damage enemies or objects in an area), Time Shield (a protective bubble to stop bullets for example), Time Stop (freezes time and everything within it at a certain spot), Time Rush (used to run through frozen time), Time Dash (used to move out of harms way in a quick fashion) and Time Dodge, which can be used to push enemies away from the player. Each power can be used effectively in traversal and combat, though each power has a meter that is drained when used, resulting in a cool-down moment for each individual power. The best comparison I would be able to name looking at the gameplay would be a linear-driven version of inFamous: Second Son, looking at the movement and use of powers (which I would mean as a compliment in that regard.)
The team notes that there is a specific dynamic between the cutscenes in-game and the episodes throughout, where the theme of the game itself is heroes, whilst the show bases itself around villains. We were shown an example of the effects of decision-making as we were met with short clips of the alternate outcomes of an episode; where for example a character may live or die depending on your decisions in-game. This is also to add to the replayability factor, so players can choose to go back and see what happens had they done things differently the first time going through the game.