History VideoGame / Breakdown

''Breakdown'' is a slightly obscure first-person brawler for the UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}}, released in 2004 by Namco. While it sold poorly and received mixed reviews, it's notable to genre fans and game historians for its high emphasis on using its perspective for storytelling potential. It's also unusual in that it's a first-person shooter made by a Japanese team for the original Xbox, which makes it a complete statistical anomaly. Interestingly, it was included in backward compatibility for both the UsefulNotes/Xbox360 and the UsefulNotes/XboxOne.

* FakeDifficulty: Aside from the waves of tough enemies, the jumping puzzles, especially near the end, get progressively more difficult, not just from the environment, but because of CameraScrew, and [[SomeDexterityRequired sluggish and complicated controls]].

Slowly, both Derrick and the player learn that the entire situation was set into motion by the discovery of a mysterious alien civilization under Japan, code-named Site Zero. Derrick is the lone survivor of an experiment [[spoiler:with T'langen, a substance recovered from Site Zero,]] which gives him superhuman strength and speed. Now you're punching out aliens and fighting to prevent an alien takeover of humanity.

* YouNoTakeCandle: During the rare scenes where Solus speaks, it is always in broken English. This is justified by the fact that Solus is the "avatar" of a completely alien existence, and it's a wonder that he can speak at all.

** There's also the Jump Kick that is acquired after [[spoiler: acquiring the first unpurified dose of the T'langen Accelerator injection given by Glen.]] It can be [[ChargedAttack charged for more power]] but, much like the high kick, it leaves Derrick wide open for an enemy to attack him while it's being charged. It can be [[UpToEleven charged to be even more powerful]] after [[spoiler: acquiring the completely purified T'langen Accelerator injection in the [[BadFuture future when Derrick wakes up]], making it possible to nearly OneHitKill even the Juggernaut-type T'lan troops, which is '''immensely helpful''' during the last phase of enduring the miniature hell that is the white room. It consumes T'langen for charging though, so careful use must be taken into consideration. Both can be blocked though, so again, waiting for openings is key.]]

''Breakdown'' is a landmark game in creating what's now generally referred to as "immersion." You never leave your character's perspective, even when eating, drinking, fist-fighting, or ''throwing up''. Later games such as ''[[VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon FEAR]]'' make frequent use of narrative techniques that first appeared in ''Breakdown'', with the ''[[VideoGame/CondemnedCriminalOrigins Condemned]]'' games in particular feeling vaguely like an unofficial spiritual sequel.

* FakeDifficulty: Aside from the waves of tough enemies, the jumping puzzles, especially near the end, get progressively more difficult, not just from the environment, but because of CameraScrew, and [[SomeDexterityRequired Sluggish and complicated controls]].

* GunsAreUseless: Guns are actually reasonably effective against human opponents, although Derrick has some kind of religious objection to carrying spare clips. The real issue is that T'lan have a natural bioelectric field that repels bullets, [[spoiler:which Derrick can breach with his bare hands thanks to the T'langen injections]].
** Grenades, building-demolishing C4 explosions, high-speed automobile crashes, and even ''nuclear weapons'' are all apparently completely and equally ineffective against T'lan shields [[spoiler:until after Nexus is destroyed and you can just drive through them like they're made of paper mache]]. Apparently the only weapons of any effectiveness at all are the Anti-T'lan lasers Gianni deLucca's men carry. [[spoiler:Even the laser does almost nothing against Solus.]]

** There's also the Jump Kick that is acquired after [[spoiler: acquiring the first unpurified dose of the T'langen Accelerator injection given by Glen.]] It can be [[ChargedAttack charged for more power]] but, much like the high kick, it leaves Derrick wide open for an enemy to attack him while it's being charged. It can be [[UpToEleven charged to be even more powerful]] after [[spoiler: acquiring the completely purified T'langen Accelerator injection in the [[BadFuture future when Derrick wakes up]], making it possible to nearly OneHitKill even the Juggernaut-type T'lan troops, which is '''immensely helpful''' during the last phase of enduring the miniature hell that is the white room when. It consumes T'langen for charging though, so careful use must be taken into consideration. Both can be blocked though, so again, waiting for openings is key.]]

* TiredOfRunning: After three encounters of evading the deadly attack chopper nicknamed "Devil-80" (due to having no effective means of ccunter-attacking it) Derrick '''finally''' gets the chance to [[TheHunterBecomesTheHunted bring down the annoying flying asshat]] as he has gained a rocket launcher at this point, with homing rockets to boot, thus making an originally one-sided affair of evading said chopper, to finally hearing the pilots' panic once they realize he's no longer helpless against them. These two lines sum it up oh-so-'''very nicely'''.

* HyperactiveMetabolism: To restore health, grab and eat hamburgers and candy bars, and guzzle cans of soda.