Broken Roads, a post-apocalyptic isometric RPG set in Western Australia that was developed by Drop Bear Bytes, has launched after an earlier delay pushed the release date back a few weeks. Inspired by the Fallout series, it endeavors to carve its own niche in the gaming landscape. However, despite the delay, the game still has its challenges, as it’s marred by technical issues and narrative shortcomings. We checked out the PlayStation 5 version, having met the development team back in 2022 and curious to see how the game had turned out.
Broken Roads presents players with a rich narrative tapestry set against the backdrop of a desolated future Australia. Following a catastrophic event that reshaped society, players find themselves navigating a world where remnants of humanity struggle to survive amidst the ruins of what once was. As they journey across the vast Outback and explore decaying urban centers, players encounter a diverse cast of characters and groups, each with their own motivations and agendas. The main storyline revolves around the player’s own quest for survival, which evolves into a larger narrative exploring themes of power, morality, and the human condition in general. Along the way, players uncover hidden secrets, navigate political intrigues, and confront moral dilemmas that challenge their assumptions about right and wrong. It’s a title that is very ambitious in its narrative scope, which unfortunately also translates into certain elements (and characters) feeling a bit underdeveloped.
In terms of narrative depth, the journey in Broken Roads is compelling and takes you through a desolate landscape teeming with lore and intrigue. The Moral Compass, a novel alignment system that we previously talked about with the dev team, stands out as a shining example of innovation within this context. However, its heavy-handed implementation at times can feel restrictive, nudging players towards predefined paths rather than allowing for more organic exploration – sometimes resulting in things feeling more black and white than the developers probably intended.
The narrative, while rich in scope, also struggles to maintain momentum throughout the story, with fairly predictable plotlines and sometimes lackluster character development. The writing itself is commendable though, with often witty dialogue and some cleverly crafted situations for you to navigate through.
In terms of gameplay mechanics, Broken Roads offers a blend of tactical combat and decision-driven narratives. However, issues with target highlighting and inventory management detract from the overall experience. And combat, while serviceable, lacks the depth to truly captivate players, falling short of expectations set by other (modern) RPGs in the genre.
Visually, Broken Roads is an eye-catching title with its hand-drawn aesthetic, evoking nostalgia for classic RPGs – it’s closer to the earlier Fallout games than Fallout 3 and 4 in that sense. No matter where you are in the game, each environment is painstakingly crafted to immerse players in a world on the brink of collapse – and Broken Roads looks unlike other games because of the hard work put into this. And despite a few technical shortcomings, the game’s visual design is definitely a standout feature.
Speaking of technical shortcomings, we had a few of them despite a few last minute patches that were added to the game pre-launch. We didn’t really run into hard crashes, but did see interface glitches and various other bugs and rough edges that affected our immersion with the game. Despite the delay to help add more polish, it’s clear that Broken Roads still needs a bit of work to deliver on the promise that the game clearly has.
Ultimately, Broken Roads is – at this stage – a tale of a team with a tremendous amount of ambition struggling with the scope of that ambition. While the game boasts moments of brilliance and innovation, pervasive technical issues and other shortcomings undermine its potential. This feels a bit like an early access release at this point, so we’ll be keeping a close eye out on upcoming patches to see if Broken Roads can become what it has the potential to be.
Score: 6.3/10
Press Play Media 