Broken Age Act 1 — Double Fine Productions — PC/MAC Steam — $24.99 — 01.28.2014
Photo – Shay and The Wolf
Describing the feeling that “Broken Age Act 1” created for me in words is near to impossible without going on a 7-page rant that involves profanity and crying. Mostly crying to tell you the truth. The game that raised 3.3 million dollars via Kickstarter, is available to the public via Steam; and I’m telling you people of the internet, it does not disappoint.
The game is as close to a classic point-and-click experience as you are going to get in this day of new fangled graphics and shiny explosions, while giving you the beautiful HD world and experience that modern gaming offers. The game mechanics are pretty simple. You find items through out the world by exploration and interacting with parts of the story, and then figure out how to utilize those objects to advance your characters motives.
Gameplay this simple can only be driven by an incredible story mixed with the tongue-in-cheek humor that Double Fine is known for. Leading Vella and Shay through their seemingly incongruent worlds was intense when it needed to be and light-hearted as expected. Shay (voiced by Elijah Wood) is a young man on a space ship being watched over by his overly protective digital mother. You begin his story by going on “missions” which generally involve being hugged by cute yarn creatures or gorging yourself on ice cream that has your cute counterparts “trapped and near death.” During these adventures you rebel and meet a wolf that will teach you, “how to become a man.” Needless to say this is when things get interesting.
Photo – The Maidens Feast is ready
Vella, is a young girl from Sugar Bunting. This delicious town of pastry chefs holds a feast to appease the great monster Mog Chothra by dressing their young ladies up as their finest delicacies and offering them in sacrifice. Vella is one the chosen maidens and seemingly the only one that sees an issue with serving young women to monsters as cupcakes.
The game will take you through various worlds with incredibly interesting characters voiced by some incredible talent. The most notable voices are of course Elijah Wood and Jack Black, but the rest of the cast shines in their roles. (My personal favorite is Curtis the lumberjack, who has stopped making things out of wood because the trees are screaming.
“Beware the trees!”
The beautifully orchestrated soundtrack guides you through the odd world created by Tim Schaffer and team, while not imposing too heavily into the environment. And while the game is enthralling, with the hints given throughout out your first go at Act 1 should take you roughly 3 hours. This is definitely a game worth playing twice as you will notice a lot of finely placed details tying the stories together much more than expected. The downside is after solving the puzzles on your first attempt the second run will only take you 45 minutes to an hour, provided you remember how to do everything. It is also worth noting that you do not have to do each puzzle in a specific order and can finish different parts of each level in any way you see fit provided you have the pieces needed.
The game is $24.99 on Steam and Act 2 will automatically download via an update if you purchase the title. If you are new to the point-and-click genre and haven’t played anything similar like “Day of the Tentacle”, “Full Throttle”, or “The Curse of Monkey Island”, this game is a perfect introduction It only took 20 minutes for “Broken Age” to jump quickly into my top games list, and I’m certain it will for you as well. Don’t miss this gem, if money is an issue stash some away and pray that it hits the summer sale.