Breakers World

If you fired up Breakers World and thought, "hey, this feels like a student portfolio game," you'd be exactly right. The title was created at Full Sail University by a few eager students ready to showcase their AAA game skills over 9-months. But instead of keeping it confined to a closed audience, they released the game to the world to see what the public has to say about their open-world sci-fi RPG.

Breakers World looks surprisingly well-adjusted on the outside, with the modeling and visuals of some of the more high-end games. However, this is a student game. We're sure to encounter a few bugs, questionable design choices, and ragged mechanics here and there. Regardless, we're intrigued and excited to give Breakers World a whirl.

A Homage to the Enslaved

A lot of thought goes into Breakers World, and the ambition levels are that of a starry-eyed student. However, working with a small team of students is bound to bring some disjointedness. Play the game, and you'll notice it quickly. But let's set the scene of the title before we rush into any criticism because, as we said, it's already relatively impressive for a student project.

Breakers World puts players as an enslaved class of humans fighting for survival against an oppressive interplanetary corporate overlord. You'll take the role of Jax, who'll begin to round up his ragtag group of workers to fight against the system, build the means to battle, and flee the planet to live happily ever after. That combines the mechanics of survival, RPG, and base-building.

Players will spend their days fighting enemies for resources, enhancing abilities, and building a base to house the rocket that'll take everyone to freedom. Does it work? No, not really. Breakers World is rife with bugs preventing players from adequately engaging in combat. The gathering mechanics are rudimentary at best. It's got the vibe of having some great ideas but remains unfinished.

Yes, it's a student game and applause for trying here. There's a bright future for the devs involved in this project. But the main peeve behind the title is why these students charge for it when it's a mess. Indeed they'd want to gauge feedback or offer a free alpha to respect those interested in playing. Sadly, someone has gone for the cash grab here, despite delivering a completely elementary game without any disclaimer.

Alpha Dog

Let's round off with some positives; the voice acting is fantastic, the soundtrack is good, and the premise is decent. But there's so much work to be done; Breakers World shouldn't have been published on a popular games platform yet, let alone charging money for it. Even sci-fi launch disasters like Mass Effect: Andromeda had some intriguing parts to the game that could justify taking your cash.

Round-Up - Pros & Cons

Pros:

• Surprising effort for a student game
• Ambitious mechanics
• Great premise adopted in a AAA game style

Cons:

• The game is unfinished.
• Mechanics and gameplay are broken in almost every regard
• The game world feels mostly empty