Game Reviews

Game designers have described the process of designing game flow as “30 seconds of excitement repeated over and over again for 4 – 6 hours”. If this is true then Quantum Theory is 30 seconds of wasted time repeated over and over again. If you are interested in the theory behind bad game design Quantum Theory is a real world example of how things can go wrong.

Quantum Theory takes place in a world ravaged by war. As the rough and tough soldier Syd the player is tasked with taking down “towers” placed throughout the ruined earth. The preceding sentence contains more plot information than the opening hour and a half of Quantum Theory. If you want to grasp this game’s story keeping the manual handy is a must. Even with it in hand full understanding of the plot is never guaranteed. Quantum Theory is a third person action title centered around cover based combat. Within seconds of the opening tutorial you can’t help but think of Gears of War, a much better cover based shooter. Like his COG counterparts Syd is able to hold up to three weapons during his battle with the enemy hordes. In order to move on from one area to the next you must obliterate all the enemies in your path using the standard arsenal of weapons including shotguns, pistols and heavy bolter weapons. Oddly in a world filled with hostile forces grenades do not seem to exist. They would have helped clear out the hordes of generic repeating enemies. Clunky cover and shooting mechanics aren’t the only problems plaguing Quantum Theories gameplay. During your travels through the ruined cities of Quantum Theory you will come across invisible walls in front of piles of debris that could have made serviceable obstacles to keep Syd within bounds. Other odd environment behaviors include barricades such as fences that will not open until the rest of the game environment has loaded. As a final nail in the coffin to the gameplay department this game includes several cheap deaths from enemies positioned behind your cover and questionable weapon placements such as giving Syd a shotgun during what is essentially a long range firefight.