Point-and-click finale lives up to its creator’s name
Double Fine’s decision to split Broken Age into two parts caused a bit of a kerfuffle among the kind of noisy wallies who really shouldn’t be allowed to arm themselves with a Twitter account. It wasn’t what was originally promised, sure, but the exquisite production values of Act 1 more than justified the Kickstarter fund outlay, and when the money ran out the studio went ahead and funded Act 2 from its own, presumably double-lined, pockets. And, you’ll be pleased to hear that it’s a fine conclusion to the first new Tim Schafer-penned point-and-click adventure for the best part of 17 years.
It’s also significantly bigger than the opening, which should assuage fears raised after the release of Act 1 that the game could be too slight. In fact, it’s roughly twice the size, taking in a plethora of new non-linear puzzles and a surprisingly complicated endgame that will have your head and mouse lead in knots (and hey, if you’re doing it right, you will have dug out that slightly yellowed, wired mouse from the back of the understairs cupboard). But there are other options if you can’t quite bring yourself to touch it, or are convinced that the family pet has eaten the missing roller ball, thanks to the game’s arrival on consoles and tablets. Bad hamster.
PS4 and Vita both get a look in, as do Android and iOS devices… and even Ouya (that’s the small silver cube you saw sitting next to your Pog collection while retrieving your old mouse). The format specific controls work well, and you can now play the PC version in tablet mode, or with an Xbox controller. But more exciting is the effect of compressing the game’s already gorgeous visuals down on to a Vita or phone-sized screen: everything looks smoother and colours seem more saturated, and even the extreme close-ups (which could occasionally look a little rough on PC as a result of the same resolution background being used for every level of zoom) are elevated.
But whichever format you end up playing it on, know that Act 2’s head scratchers are considerably tougher than the ones encountered in the previous episode. While Broken Age was released in two parts, it was conceived as a single game, and so Act 2 sees a natural steepening of the difficulty curve. The ever-popular structure of triumvirate puzzles that can be tackled in any order has been retained, and you can still switch between Vella and Shay at any time to give you still more options. But there are now also puzzles that can only be solved by using knowledge obtained in the other character’s story.
All of this plays out in the same areas you explored in Act 1, however, with only a handful of new scenes thrown in. Everything’s changed as a result of your previous actions, but it’s hard not to be a little disappointed that your journey doesn’t lead you further afield. Taken as whole, however – which is exactly how Broken Age should be played – it remains an unfailingly charming adventure game with a plot and cast of characters that can easily go toe-to-toe with the classics. We only hope there’s more where this came from.