Breakpoint - Switch Review (Quick)
Breakpoint’s neon sign shoots out after a quick axe to the shin, revealing a minimalistic rogue-lite with oodles of charm and polish. Imagine the feeling of booting up Space Invaders brought to a modern handheld device, fresh off the production line just like it was back in those old arcades, calling back to simpler times and gaming’s roots.
Good
Where you’d normally expect a space-y vibrant simplistic point-grabber to be bound up in the world of gun-ho shooters, with a ship front and centre firing off lasers at every cylinder, taking down hordes of foes, Breakpoint opts to deliver something different. Instead, it gives you a good selection of melee weapons which is ultimately what helps it stand out from the crowd; that and the opting of ditching generic UFOs for a nifty mouse cursor. The beginning weapon is by and large a wonderful choice, tearing through opponents with no trouble, so you can stick to it and avoid the roulette of RNG but where’s the fun in that? That’s what, like many other rogue-lites, makes Breakpoint so ridiculously attractive.
There’s a wealth of weapons on offer which can be nabbed by taking down those sparkly mouse cursors coming to click you to death, whether that’s the pointy sword or the long spear, but my pick went for the more cumbersome and deadly hammer with its larger radius that allowed for multi-kills galore. There’s plenty of different playstyles catered to in Breakpoint’s arsenal which only adds to the replay value that it bears in spades.
So, they knocked it out of the park when it comes to what matters, the gameplay, with its life-based system that lets you take out your enemies with a well-timed death, but whilst racking up a score slaughtering an endless barrage of foes is always a fun time, Breakpoint’s biggest draw is its shiny, crisp visuals. To put it simply, it’s a beautiful game, with simple outlined polygons and shapes that are brought to life through the wealth of effects, both sound and visual, toppled with the phenomenal lighting system and slick UI. From the get-go, you know you’re in for an experience helmed by developers who care and aimed high for perfection. That shows all the way to how it handles on the Switch which is to say that there are next-to-no problems on handheld or docked, with the graphics remaining sharp and the FPS drops minimal (and often clouded by the slow motion).
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Bad
A twin stick melee rogue-lite isn’t just a fun turn of phrase but it’s also one hell of a concept, but the fun burns out as quickly as the swinging of the sword as, unfortunately, it gets a little repetitive. The visuals are a gorgeous treat but there’s not a lot of variety given that the backdrop is a selection of black hexagons and the limited selection of foes, whilst incredibly interesting in their design, aren’t varied enough to keep momentum going. It’s a good time if you want that classic arcade experience but it’s like a starter, not a main meal.
Final Score: 78%
What you see is what you get, as Breakpoint never really delves further beyond its surface. Nonetheless, if you’re after a twin-stick call-back to simpler times with a fun spin in its unique melee system, then Breakpoint will absolutely scratch that itch.
Thank you for checking out our Breakpoint Switch Review (Quick), thank you to The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild for providing the review code and thank you to our $5 and up Patreon Backers for their ongoing support:
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