[h1] This is what would happen if Wave Race and Tony Hawk from the N64 had a child. Even though it excels in many things, it regrettably has an equal number of drawbacks. [/h1]
Additional Info:
[table]
[tr]
[th]Content & Replay Value[/th]
[th]I needed 7.7h to finish Wave Break 100% blind. Because the game lacks replayability, I don't see any reason to replay the game again—unless you want to experience the unique vibe again in the future[/th]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Mode[/td]
[td]Dead Online PVP with Single Player/Shared Split Screen PvP. Additionally, you have access to a Level Editor and Steam Workshop.[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Controller Recommended?[/td]
[td]Yes[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Is it worth buying?[/td]
[td]Yes, but it's worth it at Bundle price because I acquired it through a Humble bundle. I would advise purchasing the game at a deeply discounted price or through a bundle[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]
[h3] My Specs [/h3]
[code]CPU: i9 9900k
GPU: RTX 2080 Ti
RAM: DDR4 32 GB RAM
OS: Win10
Resolution: 1440p @144hz (worked flawlessly even though the fps could be better)
[/code]
[h1] In-Depth [/h1]
[h3] Story, Moves, Missions & Vibe[/h3]
In Wave Break's episodic story mode, players take control of animals riding speedboats. The clever and fashionable ad, which pays homage to 1980s television programs like Miami Vice, is amusing and full of darkly humorous moments. The vivid colors, character sketches, and witty conversation between the player's character and their opponents were all really appealing to me. It's basically a brief, arcade-style collect-a-thon with gaps to jump, surprises to discover, and a mood-appropriate soundtrack is the epitome of a fantastic THPS-like game.
I hadn't played anything remotely similar to the Pro Skater formula in such a long time that I felt nearly emotional watching the same rhythms unfold. Every level begins with a summary of the various tasks that players must perform within the time limit. These include jumping over gaps, hitting a particular high score, and gathering letters that spell COMBO or BREAK. After that, players are free to try their hardest to accomplish these objectives, trying repeatedly until they hit a particular mark that allows them to advance to the next level or even do everything. You can also try as long as you want, but every single try only gives three minutes. Once the time is over, you have to restart, but previously finished objectives stay completed.
This was awesome to see, and I couldn't have been happier to start grabbing, grinding, and flipping my way through a level as a sick synth soundtrack accompanied me. Regretfully, despite the developers excellent adherence to Hawk's famous formula, Wave Break's controls and camera still have problems, including other major problems
It took me a while to get used to the fact that players are skating on water rather than asphalt, and they must deal with waves that constantly bump into them. Before beginning the campaign, I advise players to engage in training or free play. This is because the additional pressure of timers, along with the physics of the water, a challenging camera, and controls, may put off some potential players before they even get a feel for the game. There is no Combo list you can check as well, leaving you to wonder if you know every single move or if there are more to discover.
Landing tricks only seemed natural after experimenting with thousands of settings to ensure that my boat wasn't going too quickly and that the camera would follow me accurately, especially while doing combo tricks across the whole map without breaking the combo. This was less of a question of taste and more of a definite issue. The way the water is handled is quite bad; it almost seems as though it was added to make everything seem incredibly floating. General controls alone can be problematic, but the issue gets worse when a trick is executed poorly as well. Since it is the least strong and most peculiar component and doesn't make sense in the overall scheme of things, I find the multiplayer component to be quite mysterious. It feels even more like a hoax because adding it also meant having to have cash and a store to buy goods. If you're prepared to be patient, the outcome may be rather entertaining, but there are some severe problems in its DNA that cannot be ignored.
Not all of the tricks you perform have sufficient explanations at the beginning. Not being able to reference a combo list causes some tricks to happen by accident and also fail. When you first choose your character, they have specific stats like speed, jump, grind, or automatic among other things. This means that you can use the "Gym" to develop your character. Sadly, it feels more like that the game is being artificially stretched when you have to level up the character before achieving certain things in the selected world. Why must I grind so much money to obtain the last level up in my stats and why do I need level 10 speed to finish certain tasks? I also ran into a ton of problems, glitches, and even clipping mistakes during my game, which put me in objects or behind walls. Because of this, getting a high combo or a lot of points is really challenging. Example:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3130418305
Even after I accomplished missions and tasks, sometimes it never marked them as complete. The task was recognized as completed only after I had finished other missions/tasks and was on the verge of giving up. There was also a time when, without even moving a meter in the game world, I entered the world and two tasks were immediately finished. While worlds 1, 2, 4, and 5 are pretty beautifully done, the game world of the third world, the ice world, is just horrible. Not only do you have extraordinarily challenging missions and locations/sections, but everything is extremely slippery. It's absurd how many times I've slipped and fallen before attempting to gather all the letters or botched the crocodile's initial mission of destroying the valves because everything is slippery and difficult to reach/finish. Because of this, the third world has the capacity to infuriate me, and probably you as well, to the point of despair on numerous occasions.
To be honest, I'm glad Wave Break exists. It's a fun tribute to what is possibly my all-time favorite sports game with a fun story mode and an intriguing look and soundtrack. Too bad I was fighting the camera, physics, and controls much of the game rather than just having fun including bugs, glitches and clipping behind walls.
[h3] Conclusion [/h3]
Wave Break features a lot of admirable aspects, yet there are drawbacks to every advantage. There are only 5 large and 1 tiny, varied levels, which hinders the enjoyable and seamless gameplay. The soundtrack is amazing, but performance problems, bugs and glitches detract from the overall enjoyment. While some may expect better, fans of the Tony Hawks series will undoubtedly overlook these flaws. There was no diversity, no other people to play with online (I even checked to see if it was even live, which it was, but no, everything should have worked). It's unfortunate that basic features like a combo list, reduced bugs, enhanced performance, and the ability to complete every task without having to grind are so hard to come by.
[h2] Final Verdict: 6.5/10 - A brief but occasionally entertaining ride with a lot of advantages and disadvantages to weigh 💖 [/h2]
