During a recent Xbox event in San Fransisco, I was afforded the opportunity to sit down and talk with Greg Louden, the senior narrative designer behind Quantum Break. Intrigued by the way Remedy Entertainment plans on releasing chunks of the game’s narrative through an entirely different medium, I asked just how much of the game would be occupied by episodic television.
GR: How long are the live-action episodes in Quantum Break and how do they tie into the game?
GR: So it works similarly to the little special features bubble that pops up when watching a Blu-Ray disc?
“And, another thing, as well as having the junctions that change things, we also have quantum ripples – which essentially unlock deleted scenes. So, if you really investigate the world and you trigger these particular moments, you’ll see this little icon pop up on the screen, and then when you’re watching the show you’ll see it again and we’ll have kind of this bonus scene for you. Like a deleted scene. So, once again, it gets bigger and bigger.”
As a result of this news, it sounds like there will be an ample amount of replayability packaged with the title at launch, which is a great thing for something as story-driven as Quantum appears to be. Of course, with over 40 different show variations, it’s evident that a number of main choices will be made through the campaign that alter the path of protagonist Jack Joyce.
Just what those choices end up being remains to be seen, but it’ll be interesting to see how the final product that Louden and the rest of Remedy have been hard at work on pans out. Admittedly, following the interview, I went hands-on with Quantum Break and immediately became heavily intrigued by the gameplay, the visuals, and the narrative. So all seems promising for the time being.
Quantum Break arrives exclusively for PC and Xbox One on April 5, 2016.
