What happens when Iceman (X-Men), Meriadoc Brandybuck (The Lord of the Rings) and Petyr Baelish (Game of Thrones) get together? You get Quantum Break, a video game published by Microsoft Studios and developed by Remedy Entertainment. Yes, the game features live-action from Shawn Ashmore, Dominic Monaghan and Aidan Gillen. And to take the phrase adrenaline rush to a new level, four 22-minute episodes have been included to give the game a feel of TV viewing.

Here’s what to expect from Quantum Break.

The gameplay

Jack Joyce (Shawn Ashmore) — that’s your character — is in the midst of a time travel experiment. His best friend Paul Serene (Aidan Gillen) explains the possibilities of time travel standing next to a machine before asking Jack to hit the switch. And he turns the machine on without paying heed to his wunderkind brother’s (Will, played by Dominic Monaghan) advice. Obviously, things go wrong and Paul is bumped up a few years while Jack acquires superpowers. It’s up to you to find and implement the counter-measure — The Lifeboat Protocol. But hang on, to do so Jack has to dodge Paul, who returns from the future as the maniac chief of Monarch Solutions.

The USP

What’s new about Quantum Break? First, the storyline is cool. Second, this is not just a game but also a TV-like show. “These are more high-octane set-pieces that really get the heart pumping! Then on the other side of the spectrum — to balance things out a bit — we have some calmer, quieter moments where the player can really explore and take in the amazing artwork and optional story content the team has created; we even threw in some puzzles for good measure,” Kyle Rowley, lead game designer, has told The Daily Telegraph.

The game blurs the line between gaming and TV show with four 22-minute episodes thrown in. Your actions and choices decide — to a degree — how the episodes play out. These are live-action and follow the employees of Monarch Solutions. While the gameplay is about the good guys, the episodes present the story from the antagonists’ perspective, balancing out the good-bad play. That means there is a lot of Game of Thrones man Aidan Gillen (Petyr Baelish).

Your superpowers

Bullets obviously fly thick. Evade tactics involve Time Dodge, which lets you strafe at super speeds; Time Rush lets you run while time freezes; Time Stop freezes time in a focussed area; Time Vision is ideal when you are in the middle of a firefight and want to know where your enemies are; the emergency Time Shield that stops bullets in their tracks while you continue to go bang-bang.

Record breaker

Launched on April 5, the action-adventure game has been announced as Microsoft Studios’ “biggest-selling new IP this generation”.

Quantum Break rocks because....
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