hen you hear the words brawler and FPS, you usually don’t expect them to be in the same sentence, let alone the game. Well, today I got a chance to sit down with a preview build of Namco’s upcoming game Breakdown, an ambitious game that melds the world of the first person shooter with that of a fighting game. There’s more to the gimmick than just that, but out of all the hype that has surrounded the game since its initial E3 announcement and playable demo at TGS, much talk has been focused on that little feature. Well, while the talk is true (the game does feature a unique meld of FPS gameplay and hand-to-hand fighting), Breakdown offers far more than simply being classified as a new type of genre. Behind the shiny exterior is an incredibly deep and engrossing storyline as well as some truly impressive gameplay.

While I can’t divulge too much information regarding the story of Breakdown (and trust us, it gets pretty wild), I can say that the story opens up with Derrick Cole waking up in a strange testing lab, his memories seemingly wiped clean from his brain. With little clue as to who he is or how he got himself into his current predicament, Derrick is quickly swept up in a bizarre and twisted tale of ancient ruins, genetic soldiers, and even some clues into who he is and why he’s lost his memory. Needless to say, the story has so many twists and turns you’ll need to be wearing a seat belt to avoid getting whiplash. The tasks before Derrick are daunting, but he does get some help in the form of Alex, a mysterious woman who seems to have known Derrick before his brain went to mush. She’ll accompany you through key points in the game and offers up clues and information that prove to be invaluable.

Well, like I mentioned before, much has been said about the game’s combat. At first, I was pretty apprehensive. How could a first-person game be combined with hand-to-hand combat?  Would the fighting be any deeper than can be found in any other FPS? Well, reservations aside, and after spending some considerable time with the game, I have to admit that Namco has converted me. It seems that our pal Derrick, besides have lost his memory also has a few problems with his own body, namely his fists. Derrick possesses, for reasons that are disclosed later on, the ability to utilize special powers that seem to emanate from his oddly glowing fists. Aside from having one heck of a right hook, he’ll also learn a host of new abilities that are pretty deadly as well as visually impressive such as being able to use a thrusting jump kick and even throwing a large blue ball of energy that forms in his right hand. But, at the beginning of the game, Derrick is capable of only a few different moves. Besides a small right, left punch combo, he can also throw a few punches and round those off with a vicious kick. You can also bust out some other impressive combos depending on how quickly you attack or what direction you hold on the analog stick.

While the hand-to-hand combat was impressive, including Derrick’s abilities that he learns later on, I did run into a few problems. Since the game is in first-person, you’re basically limited to what can be in your field of vision at any given time. If the game had been third-person, you’d always have a clear view of your surroundings and wouldn’t have to resort to moving your character 360 degrees to take a look around. This little premise causes a few problems in the fighting system. Taking on one enemy is no problem as they can usually be dispatched with repeated punches and kicks. Facing two enemies, particular the bullet-impervious T’lan soldiers (more on them later), changes things entirely. Enemies like the T’lan are quick to react to your presence and will give chase if you decide to try and high tail it out of harm’s way and even surround you. When this happens, combat becomes quite frustrating, as you’re only able to usually see one enemy at time. Getting hit in the back of the head over and over again while trying to focus on a brute in front of you becomes highly annoying and I found myself having to simply run away and take pot shots at each enemy when I had a chance. This wouldn’t have been so bad if each one didn’t take about 10 hits to kill. Later on, I do have to admit, the combat gets some more balance, but when you first start off, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a few gamers simply get sick of duking it out and getting their butts kicked.

Outside of the hand-to-hand combat, Derrick can also pick up a variety of weapons that he finds lying around, either randomly or from soldiers that he’s defeated. In my time with the game I didn’t run into anything all that spectacular. Actually, outside of the standard handgun I ran across, the only other two weapons I found were a machine gun and a rocket launcher. While each was impressive, it was pretty obvious that Namco is really trying to draw attention the hand-to-hand aspect of the game. This is more evident in the fact that while the guns are pretty deadly in the hands of a skilled marksman, they’re not all that effective in the hands of Derrick. At close range he can put down a soldier or three with the handgun or machine gun, but at even medium range most of his shots fall woefully off-target. At first, I was a bit put-off by this. After all, how can Derrick, who is essentially a walking mass of destruction, not be handy with the guns? But, the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Instead of simply allowing you to blow through the game with gun’s blazing, the game actually makes you learn which situations are more suited for a bit of the old fisticuffs or for your boomsticks. It’s an interesting approach to combat and should satisfy both fighting and FPS fans.

Outside of the realm of combat, Breakdown sports some pretty impressive visuals. Even in the preview build that I played, the graphics were crisp and detailed. Character models seem to have gotten the majority of attention and each consists of quite a high number of polygons to give them a more life-like look. Alex, in particular, features some nice face mapping and her outfit reveals some nice details like wrinkles. Also, Derrick himself looks pretty good, although the majority of the time you’ll only be seeing his feet or hands. Animations in the game are also clever and along with fighting and exploring from a first-person viewpoint, you’ll also be opening doors, pushing switches, eating food, drinking juice, and even throwing up. Twice. Yep, this is perhaps the first video game in the history of mankind to feature first-person puke. Jokes aside, though, little details like that help to really create a sense that the person you’re controlling is a living, breathing person.

Being able to react with the environment and objects to the degree that you can also helps to create a more viable world around you. Granted, you can’t interact with everything around you, like furniture, potted plants, or other debris lying around. But, what you do interact with makes sense and each fits a specific purpose. For example, you can pop coins into a vending machine and drink the can of juice that pops out for a health refill. Also, you can interact with lots of machines and other technical gizmos, such as switches, buttons, computers, and even a large, ominous looking laser-like gun. It’s a neat feature, and one that seems better than simply having everything around you able to be messed around with. In my opinion, it’s nice to see a game that focuses on function over form.

Aside from graphics, Breakdown also has a heavy emphasis on sound. While the music sounds nice so far, with some nice samplings of frantic and suspenseful tunes, sound plays a greater role in the actual gameplay itself. Keep in mind, most of the game takes place in some pretty tight and claustrophobic areas and in doing so the environments react accordingly when it comes to noise. Walking down a hallway, you may hear a man further down who’s trapped behind a door and calling for help. Other times, you’ll hear soldiers fighting off T’lan and calling out to their squad-mates for backup. In fact, it seems that pretty much everyone in the game has something to say whether it be a helpful scientist or soldier whose skulled you just crushed. And, in regards to the first-person viewpoint, it can also alert you to enemies who may be sneaking up behind you.

While I’m not able to divulge much regarding Breakdown’s truly unique story, I hope that doesn’t prevent you from checking out the game once it’s released. With its unique combat system and one of the more realistic worlds to explore that I’ve seen in a console game in quite some time, Namco should be confident that their title will find a nice market here in the US. Aside from a few of the combat problems that I had, my time with Breakdown was both interesting and tormenting. After all, now I have to wait like everyone else to get my hands on the game.

Breakdown is currently slated to ship exclusively for the Xbox in mid-March of 2004.