Hazelight’s newest co-operative romp, Break up Fiction, is the studio at its greatest.
Having clearly constructed upon its non secular predecessors (A Approach Out and sport of the 12 months 2021, It Takes Two) — whereas concurrently striving to have a good time inventive media, the tip result’s a sport that feels magical, weighty, and one that you just received’t wish to put down. You’ll spend a lot of the sport, proper from the very starting, gasping. Your jaw large open. You will gawp on the locales you’re whisked away to, at simply how stunning they’re, and what they encourage. And do not get me began on the mechanics and the gimmicks.
Let’s begin with our protagonists. You’ll be taking part in as sci-fi writer Mio and/or fantasy writer Zoe. These two writers, who’re each striving to be revealed in an ever-competitive and merciless world, discover themselves participating in an experiment for Rader Publishing, who vows to interrupt them out of obscurity and get their writing in entrance of an adoring public. Although, that is an experiment that sees them hopping into dystopian bubble-shaped machines that can extract their concepts instantly from their mind. Doesn’t sound fishy in any respect, does it?
Nicely, Mio clearly has her suspicions about Rader’s plot goes. As she tries voice her considerations concerning the experiment, she winds up falling into Zoe’s cosmic, idea-extracting bubble. And that’s the place their unconventional friendship — and our co-op journey — begins; the pair have to discover their concepts, and attempt to discover a solution to escape with them intact.
The top result’s considered one of Hazelight’s most bold video games but, and probably the most bold co-op video games in years. A quick-paced romp by worlds harking back to a mix of cult-classic media, from literature to motion pictures to video video games. One second, you’re flying by a futuristic world harking back to properties like Star Wars, Tron, 2001: A House Odyssey, and Terminator, and the following, you’re thrown right into a fantastical setting that’ll rapidly remind you of Fable, Prince of Persia, Limbo, and The Legend of Zelda.
That is simply the tip of the iceberg with regards to Break up Fiction’s references to wider popular culture, and at no level does it really feel tacky or distasteful; it seems like an actual celebration of the media-at-large and the entire iconic tales informed earlier than Zoe and Mio’s. It’s an amalgamation of all of the tales which have knowledgeable these two writer’s writing – and now, our gameplay expertise.
And what gameplay that’s. Break up Fiction elevates the co-op expertise to a brand new degree. At instances, it feels such as you’re taking part in 10 video games in a single, seamlessly. It’s like I’ve slipped an R4 card into my Steam library someplace, and I’m flipping between every sport on the pace of sunshine. One second, you’re a space-faring ninja with an electrical whip. Subsequent, you’re a pig who can fly utilizing their very own farts. Earlier than lengthy, you might be fairly actually a hotdog who has to prepare dinner itself. It will get bizarre, okay.
Later, you’re a wizard, a gorilla, a fairy, a dragon-tamer, or a potion vendor. At one level, you even get to compete in a snowboarding showdown akin to SSX, and later, a lot to my pleasure, you may develop into a pinball machine. You are going to be higher at a few of these sections than you might be others, and this will likely lead to you having one very pissed off accomplice (I’m sorry for launching you to your loss of life consistently, and I’ll little doubt do it once more).
The sport really shines because it deftly tabs from gimmick to gimmick, all while showcasing aspect tales that you may really get misplaced in. Throughout many of those distractions, myself and my accomplice discovered ourselves exploring for ages as a result of there’s merely a lot to work together with and do, and properly… there’s additionally loads of hidden achievements to unintentionally uncover, too. And none of this seems like time wasted!
All in all, Break up Fiction typically seems like an older brother to It Takes Two — and it’s an outstanding feat in itself to greatest an award-winning sport. Break up Fiction has extra meat on its bones, a mess of gameplay types that pay homage to these earlier than it (and maintain you in your toes), and affords extra of a problem to gamers. Boss fights are higher than ever, providing loads of surprises. In some cases, issues get relatively darkish — the Birthday Cake degree that has you re-enacting a dentist-fearing youngster’s worst nightmares can attest to that.
As degree design and boss fights have advanced in Break up Fiction, Hazelight’s storytelling has too. It feels extra mature right here, and regardless of fairly actually not being grounded in actuality by any means given all of the space-faring and wizardry, the over-arching narrative feels extremely lucid. Hazelight has been capable of tread the road between goofy shenanigans and critical storytelling splendidly prior to now, and this solely will get higher in Break up Fiction, offering a sport that could be a becoming allegory for the politics of AI and the theft of human creativity, whereas – importantly – not placing a damper on the entire expertise.
In the end, we not solely get an perception into these writer’s concepts, however their fears and insecurities as they attempt to develop into revealed, identified writers. The trauma that’s informing their concepts, lurking deep of their unconscious, manifests delicately and intriguingly as we enterprise additional into their psyche. These are absolutely fleshed out characters that, very similar to It Takes Two’s Cody and Might, you’ll undertaking your self onto and develop into hooked up to.
Break up Fiction, similar to Hazelight’s initiatives earlier than it, won’t solely have you ever belly-laughing all through the expertise, reminiscing about video games, motion pictures and literature the sport recurrently reminds you of, nevertheless it’ll additionally tug at your heartstrings and have you ever wiping tears out of your eyes. The sport’s largest victory is that it reminds you that endeavours as fantastic as Break up Fiction (and those who it pays homage to) had been created by the fervour, devotion, and genuine experiences of people resembling Zoe and Mio, and the crew over at Hazelight — not idea-extracting machines skilled solely for revenue off the human ingenuity that is so rawly on the beating coronary heart of Break up Fiction.
Break up Fiction was reviewed on PC with a code supplied by way of the writer.
