Written by: PlayDevil.com Staff

 

 

 

"Quantum Theory" could easily be a game that you are not aware of. It is a PS3 exclusive coming from Tecmo that takes the very American Gears of War (GoW), and reskins it in a distinctly Japanese style.

 

Having been previewed last year I recall thinking ‘it looks like Gears in a church’, but after that gave it very little thought until images started to show up in Japan’s Famitsu magazine.

 

While the aesthetic remained the same it appeared to be doing enough differently to peak my interest so I dropped by the Sony booth for a try.

 

The parallels between Quantum Theory and its inspiration, GoW, are unmistakable. Taking the lead role is a heavily scared space marine in chunky armor. The armor is overly intricate with a dark gothic style that is mirrored through out the world. It isn’t only visual similarities that Quantum Theory borrows: gameplay, HUD even controls are all instantly familiar to any one who played Gears.

 

In defense of the shameless borrowing of ideas Tecmo is engaged in, all game design is iterative. People build on ideas, developing them, perfecting them, and Quantum Theory does add a couple of interesting twists to the formula.

 

Deforming terrain morphs the towers around you as you run from one section to the next like some king of demonic Hogwarts. It was an idea that looked impressive in videos but in action it frequently resulted in the frame rate dropping to a slow chug, and on one occasion saw me drop of the edge of the map as the ground disappeared beneath me.

 

The other key innovation on the GoW formula is the way the partner system is implemented. Rather than an equally scared AI friend jogging along side you, in Quantum Theory you have a waif like woman, wearing the Japanese female equivalent of power armor (i.e. not very much).

 

She joins your character scampering about the levels and in the demo can be used in two ways. Firstly you can launch her like a javelin across the room, she attacks whatever she hits (or whatever is near her after landing) a useful ability when you need to rapidly flank an opponent.

 

The other thing she could do was to break the demo. Enemy AI seemed obsessed with hunting her even when unconscious, and reports from others at the event spoke of her constantly running at a walls.

 

'Quantum Theory' is early in development; I understand that, what I don’t understand is why Tecmo decided to show it.

Frame rate drops, AI issues, poor textures and an overall lack of polish just resulted in giving people a bad impression of a game that on paper still looks good.

 

The key mechanics are there and when everything is working if feels like GoW on a PS3 (a niche some would argue needs to be filled), unfortunately its technical issues currently dwarf any promise the game has.