Breakdown (video game)

Breakdown
File:Breakdownbox.JPG
Developer(s)	Namco
Publisher(s)	Namco, Electronic arts
Designer(s)	Masataka Shimono
Engine	N/A
Platform(s)	Xbox
Release	01/29/04 (Japan) 03/16/04 (US) 06/18/04 (Europe)
Genre(s)	First person shoter, Action Adventure
Mode(s)	single player

Breakdown (working title: Project Breakdown) is a first-person shooting/fighting game released by Namco in 2004 for the Microsoft Xbox console. Views on the game are mixed, as it sold unspectacularly, and was criticized for the flawed gameplay mechanics. Despite the shortcomings, it received critical acclaim for using the first-person perspective to achieve a higher level of emergence and a deeper method of storytelling than most games.

Gameplay

Breakdown is unique in that it’s technically categorized as a first-person shooter, but integrates the experiences of a fighting game (Considering Namco is famous for titles such as Tekken, this is quite feasible) into the experience as well as using auto-lock-on for shooting at enemies. The viewpoint never leaves the perspective of the player, and interaction with objects, reloading of guns, and the impact of hitting the floor are all done sans a third-person perspective. Unlike as in other first-person shooters interaction with objects is also all done in a realistic manner in Breakdown, ammunition is picked up by actually looking down and grabbing it with the arm, instead of automatically collecting it by walking over it, similarly doors are opened by grabbing the handle, key cards used by wiping them over a scanner, ladders by using the arms for climbing and so on. When looking down one can actually see the characters feet, which is something that is missing in many other first-person games.

Plot

The game places the player in the perspective of Derrick Cole, a man who wakes up in a research facility with no memory of who he is or why he is there. Derrick soon finds himself involved in a deadly mystery that could mean the end of humankind at the hands of a race of hostile beings known as the T-Lan.

It begins with Derrick waking up in a hospital-type research lab observed by a scientist, who explains to him he has been asleep for some time. After putting the player through some physical tests, the scientist feeds Derrick a drugged burger, which causes him to lose focus and fall almost unconscious. Then, a band of soldiers breaks into the lab, shooting the scientist before targeting the weakened Derrick. However, a young woman, Alex, jumps down from roof panels and quickly dispatches the soldiers. She's perplexed when Derrick doesn't recognize her, but soon waves that aside in favour of teaming up into escaping from the Research Centre. The two fight their way through numerous marine-filled hallways and trigger-happy helicopters. One particular hallway however offers a heart-stopping sight: dead marines, marines neither of them have killed.

They round a few more corners and encounter several marines firing madly at a towering, bald, pale and shirtless man. His eyes are lifeless and white, his torso and arms huge with muscles, and his legs and waist are covered in a strange black substance. Perhaps most frightening of all is the fact that every bullet being fired at him is incinerated by a yellow honeycomb-shaped energy shield. He is the first of many T'lan warriors to come. Deciding it would be a futile fight, Alex yells for Derrick to run. They run down the next set of hallways, encountering more of the creatures in an overturned room. Alex pushes Derrick through a barricaded door, staying behind to distract the monsters. Derrick decides to follow her earlier advice and just run right past all he encounters, eventually coming to an out-of-commission elevator. He escapes the many T'lan below by climbing up the service ladder. Derrick is now alone and lost.

Never staying put, Derrick makes his way across several floors and window ledges. He overhears on his stolen radio the marines reporting on the situations, and one in particular is of interest. Someone named Solus is of great concern to the soldiers, who have destroyed an entire section of a building to "kill" him. Not long afterwards Derrick's right arm begins to glow with a yellow light eminating from his veins. Incidentally, he runs into one T'lan he couldn't escape and not wanting to go down with out a fight, he unleashes a fury of punches and kicks, soon sending the creature to the floor, lifeless, where it vanishes in a cloud of energy. With this new ability Derrick sees no need to run from anyone.

Making his way to the destroyed section of the building, whose entire 17th floor is on fire, Derrick runs straight into Alex, who wastes no time in hiding the two underneath an upturned desk and cabinet. A moment later, the wall of the room blows apart, followed by the body of a dead researcher and a T'lan similar to the others, only different. He has shoulder length white hair, most of his body is covered in the strange black substance and his black eyes have life in them, yet they are cold and undeniably brutal. He leaves the room after passing within mere feet of Derrick and Alex. This is clearly the Solus whom the soldiers thought dead. Derrick asks why they didn't fight him, but is reprimanded by Alex for "not knowing anything."

Overhearing on a phone that a helicopter is leaving the building via the roof, Alex and Derrick follow suit. They haven't gotten far before turning into a room occupied solely by Solus who calmly sends both to their knees within seconds; before suddenly leaving without doing away with either. Bruised but not unfazed the duo continue their route to the roof, and once arriving there, are greeted by a grounded and burning helicopter, the bodies of half a dozen scientists and a whole platoon of soldiers. Taking no chances the two attach themselves to a grappling hook and leap over the 20 storey building, landing on the botanical garden roof of Terminal Four, a place of interest to Alex. After a brief chase with an attack helicopter the two are riding the elevator down to Terminal Four and to a man, according to Alex, with answers: the lead scientist, Dr. Glen Ogawa.

Many storeys below the ground, Alex and Derrick come across numerous scenes of intrigue and mystery. The first being several new breeds of T'lan, including a stealthy invisible kind, a laser shooting kind and an upgraded all black version of the weaker, paler ones seen before. The next being a huge skeletal arm retrieved from somewhere further underground. Another scene being half a dozen children kept in a playpen behind glass, one of them looking remarkably like a younger Alex, who in turn knew one of the children as Earnest. The next strange thing came as more of a revelation. The children were part of something called the Beta Project, the successor of the failed Alpha Project, of which Derrick is the only survivor. These projects revolved around injecting the patients with a mysterious substance known as T'langen, the lifeblood and fuel of the T'lan warrior's energy and power.

After battling their way through countless T'lan and marines, and maneuvering through a series of security systems, Alex and Derrick finally make their way into the heart of Terminal Four where they come across a middle-aged Eastern European woman called Dr. Stefania Wojinski. In a hurry, and barely acknowledging the two, she introduces herself and reveals her position in the Research Centre. She had been working on a device called the Memscan when the government cut her funding. In an act of revenge, she is stealing all the top-secret classified information out of the database. Excusing herself, she wishes Derrick well and the two resume their journey to find Glen Ogawa.

They soon find him, standing above the graves of the Alpha Project patients. He instructs the two to follow him to his lab, but on the way, Derrick lapses out of reality, finding himself in the body of another researcher. While running to catch up with the man ahead of him he overhears Ogawa's voice speaking to him, informing him of a "time-lapse," telling him he would return to his own time, even though he had passed himself and Alex walking alongside Ogawa. The vision ends with a bunch of researchers cheering him on before vanishing into the nothingness. Walking through a door he finds himself only several steps behind Alex and Ogawa surveying a huge computer screen. Ogawa tells the two of Site Zero, a huge underground lair beneath the city, the true reason the Research Centre was built. It is monitored and run by a mysterious entity called "Nexus." The Site was presumably built by Aliens, possibly millions of years earlier. Its lower half, code-named the "Sanctuary," appears as a preserved utopia with grassy plains surrounded by rocky cliffs, an artificial sky and sea. It lacks any weather and houses several types of vegetation, all controlled by Nexus which resides in the artificial sun high on the ceiling. The second level is code-named the "Silos," a huge and expansive complex of tunnels and caverns located above the Sanctuary, which act as both the barracks and factory of the T'lan warriors. These feed to the countless, huge, blue-coloured crystal-like rockets, whose purpose is for the most part unknown.

After accepting the mission to destroy Nexus, (which by that time is starting to make its move against the Earth) Derrick is lead to Ogawa's main research platform, where he is injected with an untested, concentrated shot of T'langen, which trigger's Derricks "Acceleration", doubling Derrick's powers. After an attack by a small group of T'lan whom Derrick easily destroys, he and Alex make their way to the main elevator which would lead them straight down to Site Zero's entrance. However the elevator stalls shortly after they start the descent, and Derrick and Alex are separated once more. On the long trip down, Derrick encounters a group of elite marines armed with a new, yet rare anti-T'lan laser, and befriends the leader, Lt. Gianni. Unlike all the other marines, he has no order to kill Derrick, and allows him to be on his way. During this journey, Derrick is forced to return to the surface after a freak encounter with the one person he least wants to see: Solus. The white-haired demon appears behind him from seemingly out of thin air, and proceeds to chase Derrick through a series of interconnecting irrigation locks. Like before, Solus appears to let Derrick go, as at any time he could have killed him. However, Derrick escapes him, as well as a following one on one encounter with an attack helicopter. Shortly afterwards, he rescues Alex from a group of marines and the two are able to make their towards to the service lift to Site Zero. After a ride throughout the underground tram system, the two make it to the monster doors.

Inside they're forced to drive right over many T'lan and find Gianni and his team down there. He gives them startling news. The military is going to nuke Site Zero once they retrieve the data Dr. Wojinski is carrying, who is also down there as well. In a race against time, Alex and Derrick set off to find Wojinksi before the military does. But once again, they're separated when they attempt to jump over a downed bridge. Derrick makes it, but Alex isn't so lucky, as she apparently falls to her death. A minute later however, Derrick runs upon Solus, an unconscious Alex slung over him.. He jumps upon the shoulder of a gargantuan skeleton missing his right arm. After a brief dialogue Solus bounds away, destroying the skeleton in the process. Derrick proceeds alone throughout the rest of the Sanctuary, until he finally comes across the massive lift leading to the above Silo area. Unable to reach the platform however, Derrick listens as the soldiers confront Wojinksi, take the data tapes off her and send her falling to her death at Derrick's feet.

Knowing he must reach the Silo area, Derrick finds an alternate route by way of the makeshift stairways and railings lining the outer wall of Site Zero. It then becomes a matter of continuous climbing and jumping throughout the Silos until he finally comes out into the open air. The high roof above him looks like red water, rippling and waving as if seen from the seafloor. Rounding the silo he just climbed from, Derrick finds a dying Gianni, remorseful that the T'lan beat him and destroyed their jamming equipment, thus preventing them from stopping Nexus from launching the T'lan filled rockets. This is exactly what happens. Derrick continues to make for Alex and Nexus, but hears over his radio the marines yelling and screaming in dismay as the rockets spread out all over the globe, breaking apart and killing all they encounter. Not long after he hears this, Derrick reaches the main chamber, with Alex kept in a crucified-like position in a cage at the other end. He frees her, but as she drops to the grounds and looks up, she tells Derrick to run. Derrick looks behind them, and there, standing in the middle of the chamber, is Solus, ready for a fight.

Ultimately, Derrick is "defeated", however the story doesn't end there. Alex jumps in the way of Solus, but is easily beaten to a bloody pulp, falling down at Derrick's feet, begging him to save them all, then she collapses upon his chest, dead, just as Solus pronounces his expected victory. Throughout the last several minutes however, the voice of what must be a man in high authority orders the pilot of Dragon 1-5 to "commence Operation No-Return." (The opening prelude) The pilot reluctantly agrees and launches a nuclear missile straight into Site Zero, not 5 meters from Derrick's feet. The combined energy of the nuclear explosion filtering through Solus' power creates a rift in space and time and blasts Derrick 15 years into the future.

Soon after that, Derrick finds himself going through a vortex and then wakes up inside an unusual, egg-shaped machine with scientists clapping and happy that he is awake. They explain that he has been asleep in Dr. Wojinski's failed brainchild, the Memscan. He has been reliving the last hours of his time in the past in order for the scientists to study the same events. Before he can come to terms with everything, a group of T'lan break into the room and kill the scientists. Making his way through the decaying Terminal Four of the Science Centre, Derrick stumbles upon a set of tapes, seemingly recorded only hours before. The voice of Glen Ogawa enlightens Derrick on recent events. He explains that after the nuclear explosion, the T'lan rockets spread out all over the world, with humanity unable to stop them. The T'lan conquered Earth and the survivors live in hiding from "a world dominated by the T'lan."

Derrick sets off to find Ogawa, but not before stumbling across a weeping Alex, in distress over the body of a dead comrade. She recognizes him only as that guy the scientists have been talking about. Derrick, though confused at her for not knowing him, convinces her to help him find Ogawa. They soon do, dying in a lab with a syringe gun in his hand. He injects Derrick with it, and his powers triple. Immediately afterwards, Derrick begins to rise from the grounds with a glowing aura about him. Ogawa explains to him the "Pendulum Effect," in which a person who has been sent to another time can only stay briefly before being sucked back to their own. He warns Alex not to follow, that she will be killed by Solus in the past, but she persists and jumps into the aura after Derrick.

During the journey back, the two are separated, thus revealing Alex's sudden appearance early in the game. Derrick meanwhile manifests in Site Zero, just after Alex was taken prisoner by Solus. Once again, Derrick finds Dr. Wojinski confronted by the soldiers, but this time is able to rescue her before the soldiers kill her. His trip to the Silos his shortened now that he is able to reach the elevator. And once again, Derrick makes his way through the Silo's caverns, only now, with his new powers he is able to rescue Gianni's team before they're wiped out. This time the jamming equipment is saved and they're able to destroy the T'lan rockets before they launch, however they quickly grow back (albeit killing all the T'lan inside). The only way to stop them for good is to destroy Nexus.

Once again, Derrick battles Solus. It's a lengthy fight, Solus seemingly getting stronger after each round. Derrick's new powers eventually triumph however, and right before vanishing into a cloud of white T'langen, Solus reveals to Derrick that he (Solus) is but Nexus' avatar. Alex then awakes, and Derrick steps into the elevator in the centre of the chamber which will lead him to Nexus. Alex however is blocked by an energy field and Derrick must once again go it alone.

Underneath the main chamber, Derrick is forced to jump from platform to platform, all floating in a vast and endless whiteness. He travels from room to room like this, often finding the occasional dead scientist here and there. After coming face to face with about half a dozen of each kind of T'lan warrior, Derrick enters another, smaller lift and descends into blackness. In front of him is a floating and glowing sphere, the size of a human fist: This is Nexus, the heart and brain of the T'lan warriors. It's radiating a blue and purple light. Derrick tries to strike it, but instead is overcoming with a choking sensation and blacks out.

He awakes back in the bed in the main Research facility, the one Alex rescued him from. The lighting is all wrong and the disembodied voices he hears are all distorted. Several soldiers appear literally out of then air and turn to shoot. Just in time does Derrick realize he's been robbed of his power, though he doesn't need them to kill the soldiers, who all burn up in a puff of smoke when he kills them. As he leaves the room, Derrick comes across numerous dead bodies, all being held on their feet as if by invisible string. As he gets near them, they let out a death rattle and fall to the ground before disintegrating. The voice of the scientist who led him through his physical tests again leads him through them, only this time as a corpse pressed up against the glass. Derrick is led through a series of highly disturbing tests, including visions of Alex, Gianni and Glenn Ogawa dying. Eventually, a small ethereal ball drops Ogawa's Acceleration gun, and Derrick regains his powers. Using his ability to slow down time, Derrick's able to catch Nexus, which has been floating behind the whole time, implanting this vision in his head. With that, Derrick wakes up and is able to destroy the real Nexus. The floor beneath him gives way and Derrick falls to the floor of the Sanctuary, with Alex running towards him urging him to escape Site Zero before the whole thing collapses upon them.

They jump into a nearby jeep and pass many T'lan warriors, frozen in place and puffing out of existance as Derrick and Alex drive by. The two are able to make it out the main entrance, but freeze in horror as they realize the bridge has been knocked out, and the remaining section is becoming increasingly steep.. Just then, a helicopter appears from above, with Lt. Gianni and Dr. Wojinski. Derrick and Alex manage to climb aboard just at the rest of the platform gives way and the helicopter lifts out of the hole in the ceiling. Rising high above the Science Centre, Glenn Ogawa's voice can be heard from another helicopter, thanking Derrick for saving mankind, but expressing his disappointment that all those years of research have been lost. At that, Dr. Wojinksi quietly murmurs, "That's what he thinks," while slipping the stolen data tapes into her pockets. From there, the Pendulum Effect takes hold on Alex, as she is sent back to her own timeline. Depending on the player's choice, Derrick can either go back and help save Alex's timeline or remain on the helicopter.

Main characters

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• Derrick Cole:He awakens in a strange research facility with no memories of his past and learns his name from a researcher working at the lab. It appears that he volunteered to the experiments and is likely an ex-marine. Derrick has super-human abilities that enable him to break through the T'lan Warriors' shields.

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• Alex Hendrickson:A mysterious woman who seems to know Derrick. She has amazing physical capabilities and can fight with guns and knives, one knife which allows her to break through the T'lan's shields. A very strong willed woman, she never gives up easily.

• Glen Ogawa:A Japanese-American professor of medicine. He was conducting biological research in Australia but was banished from the medical community because he created a human clone. He is now involved in a highly classified project.

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• Stefania Wojinski:A visiting professor from Poland who is a specialist in human memory mechanisms. She has not given up on her years of research although her recent project was cancelled, apparently titled 'Project Breakdown'.

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• First Lieutenant Gianni de Luca:An Italian-American United States Marine. He leads an elite unit of soldiers that specialize in top secret missions. Gianni has a foul mouth, but is a good person with a passionate personality that keeps his cool at critical moments.

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Trivia

• Being an Namco game, drawing citations from other franchises were perhaps inescapable. Derrick's fighting repertoire includes various moves form Tekken, such as the Fisher Man's Buster (Bryan Fury), and the Flash punch combo (Kazuya Mishima).

• The game gives a deep emphasis on the concept of reality, at multiple times bending it. Nexus seems to be the one behind these altering effects, although sometimes fans doubt. The opening scene gives a phrase that points out the game's element: "What Is Reality?"

• Project Breakdown is the name given to the production of the game. A logo of a cat and the banner appears in the opening credits but also on Dr. Wojinski's egg-shaped machine's glass. The cat is probably the one in the first "dreamworld" that Derrick "awakens" from.

• The cemetery where the player finds Glen Ogawa for the first time is where the deceased T'langen Guinea pigs are buried. The last one, which Glen was standing next to, was probably meant for Derrick, but should be empty.

• The actual Breakdown theme (and the song: Take It All by the now-defunct Trust Company) is only played upon the 'good' ending, and is not accessible through the jukebox in the game options.

External links

• Breakdown at MobyGames