There’s an old saying that goes: “Never judge a book by its cover”. I’m sure you’ve heard that line before, right? If not, it basically means appearances can be deceiving. Well, the cover art for this game is definitely deceiving. You may be hindered by the image of an astronaut holding a chicken as they both look patriotically upward towards the sky, but trust me when I say: Breathedge is an absolutely hilarious, in-depth and emotional thrill ride!

Publisher Hypetrain Digital, who we’ve previously reviewed their other upcoming release ‘There Is No Light’, brings us this stellar, sci-fi adventure.

GAMEPLAY

In the decade of the 2070s, Space exploration and transportation has become as common as coffee. You play an astronaut, who appears to have a Russian heritage. His initial mission is to transport his deceased father, coffin and all, to a final resting place. However, a sudden accident has totally ripped apart your ship, and various others in the proximity. You can do nothing but watch your father’s coffin be sucked out into the unknown depths of space, as you begin to emergency repair your surroundings and try and escape to a nearby extraction point.

As a side-story, the game intercuts this opening cinematic with your astronaut being held prisoner by what appears to be robotic space mafia! The dialogue between the two, along with your space helmet advisor and the onscreen titles and hints are absolutely scene stealers, and I truly mean this statement.

There are times when space feels empty, and the sudden delivery of space advice or an inbox message from intergalactic friends really perk you up and make you giggle during your space endeavours. Thankfully, you don’t endure space alone — as you have an immortal chicken traversing the final frontier with you!

The game mechanics surround the concept of venturing out into space, harvesting various supplies, returning to the remains of your spaceship, crafting food, upgrading your ship, spacesuit, and weapons in order to progress further out into the depths of space and, hopefully, reach the extraction point to be delivered to safety. This isn’t an uncommon mechanic in certain modern adventure-based games, but as a suffrage to the genre, it sometimes does give a sense of grinding/rinse-and-repeat gameplay. the quirky jokes and hilarious dialogue and story development however ease the grind sensation.

GRAPHICS + SOUND

A quirky, art style mixed smoothly with a well-drawn and directed game, complemented by either hilarious deaths or confronting storyline-related imagery summarises the graphics of Breathedge. Honestly, you’ll come to find that the graphics in this game are so easy on the eyes, you’ll lose hours on end and not even realise how long you’ve actually been floating around in space. That’s how mesmerising it is!

But the real hero here is the sound; from the haunting operatic soundtrack that plays as you float through the abyss of space, to the upbeat and comedic radio station in your spaceship, down to the hilarious dialogue, audibly this game will keep you glued for hours on end. I cannot ever fault the writing or the sound on this game at all, that’s how well-produced and executed it is!

CONCLUSION

This is an absolute sleeper title that has been in BETA for quite some time. But, now that its release is imminent, you absolutely will be laughing, crying and downright enjoying this title for hours, months, hell maybe even years to come!

Written by: Brutaleo