Broken Pieces

69%
Game Brain Score Based on 185 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • graphics
Broken Pieces Game Cover
Broken Pieces is a nostalgic mystery adventure that feels like it might be missing one or two components still.
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"Broken Pieces" is a single-player shooter game centered around an interesting plot and wholesome story. As Elise, a woman seeking a peaceful life near the French coast, you'll investigate strange phenomena and uncover dark mysteries in the village of Saint-Exil after an unexplained paranormal event leaves you stranded and alone. This action-packed investigative and adventure game offers a compelling tale of intrigue in a rural setting, challenging you to solve the riddles of a mysterious cult and its lighthouse.

  • PC
  • Play​station 4
  • Play​station 5
  • Windows
  • Xbox One
  • Xbox Series X|S
  • Cloud
  • NVIDIA GeForce NOW
  • Play​Station
  • Xbox
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

69%
Audience ScoreBased on 185 reviews
story62 positive mentions
grinding10 negative mentions
  • The game features a creative and engaging story that unfolds through cassette tapes and environmental clues, keeping players intrigued.
  • The atmosphere and visuals are stunning, capturing the essence of a desolate coastal village with detailed graphics and a nostalgic feel.
  • The puzzles are well-designed and provide a satisfying challenge, encouraging exploration and critical thinking.
  • The combat mechanics are clunky and unresponsive, detracting from the overall experience and making encounters frustrating.
  • The ending feels abrupt and leaves many questions unanswered, which can be disappointing after investing time in the story.
  • The game suffers from tedious backtracking and a lack of clear direction, which can lead to confusion and frustration during gameplay.
  • story164 mentions

    The story of the game is described as intriguing and well-crafted, with a strong atmosphere and engaging mystery that unfolds through audio tapes and exploration. However, many players found the ending unsatisfying or confusing, feeling that it lacked resolution and clarity. While some appreciated the storytelling mechanics and the depth of the narrative, others criticized the overall execution, citing issues with pacing and coherence that detracted from their enjoyment.

    • “The story is fun to unravel, and the ending was a surprise.”
    • “The game has an amazing storyline and plot which makes you feel lonely sometimes, but it enhances the whole experience.”
    • “The story is interesting for the most part, but unfortunately, the ending feels anticlimactic and unrewarding considering the buildup.”
    • “The lore building didn't give me enough answers to really invest in the story.”
    • “The problem is the mystery and story just kind of stops.”
    • “The story hinges on a mystery, though, and it's a bit of a slap when the storyline neither advances nor clarifies any of that mystery.”
  • gameplay74 mentions

    The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the intriguing mechanics and puzzle-solving elements, while others criticize the repetitive combat and forced backtracking that detracts from the overall experience. Many feel that the game struggles to balance its various mechanics, leading to a lack of cohesion and engagement, despite the appealing visuals and atmosphere. Overall, while there are promising aspects, the gameplay often feels tedious and underdeveloped, leaving players wanting more depth and refinement.

    • “It actually puts many pieces of the great adventure game puzzle in all the right places: the visuals, the location design, the narrative, the gameplay mechanics (well, most of them) and the side activities altogether deliver an enjoyable experience.”
    • “The gameplay was satisfying and the puzzles were not overly difficult but felt rewarding to complete.”
    • “The game has a unique way of storytelling which I liked so far; it drops you in the middle of nowhere without telling you why you are here or what happened, but slowly it reveals pieces of the story by finding hints and clues during your gameplay, which I think adds to the mystery of the game and makes you feel good finding that information.”
    • “It's just a poor mechanic all games need to work on.”
    • “The puzzles feel obscure and overly complicated with frequent backtracking for seemingly trivial things (the night mechanic forcing you to go back to the house at the end of every day is frustrating).”
    • “The tacked-on crafting and survival mechanics are pointless and shouldn't be in the game at all.”
  • graphics49 mentions

    The graphics of the game have received generally positive feedback, with many reviewers praising the beautiful visuals, detailed environments, and atmospheric design. While some noted that the graphics are impressive for an indie title, others pointed out issues with optimization and gameplay that detracted from the overall experience. Overall, the visuals are considered a strong aspect of the game, enhancing the adventure and immersion.

    • “The graphics are absolutely gorgeous on ultra settings.”
    • “The (Unreal Engine) visuals are absolutely splendid - the game reeks of the refined, sedate decay of a beautiful little fishing village whose prime has long past, yet still retains a vibrant (though now, suddenly missing) community.”
    • “If you enjoy a puzzle game with a mysterious back story and hauntingly beautiful graphics, this is the game for you.”
    • “The game is poorly optimized as even after turning down a lot of graphical details, my GPU continuously ran at max heat.”
    • “It slows down a lot on maximum settings and the graphics in general are nothing special to warrant the slowdowns.”
    • “I found this game to be disappointing in part because the graphics are nice, but it does a pretty good job of mimicking an older Resident Evil type game.”
  • music32 mentions

    The music in the game has received largely positive feedback, with many players praising its quality and how well it complements the atmosphere and storyline. The inclusion of audio cassettes adds depth, allowing players to explore and enjoy the soundtrack while navigating the environment. However, some critiques mention that certain character songs may not resonate with all players, but overall, the sound direction and music significantly enhance the gaming experience.

    • “The sound direction is amazing and the music fits perfectly.”
    • “The music, especially the cassettes you can listen to whenever you want to, are wonderful and honestly the most fun parts of the game are when you're exploring the streets with one of these playing and just soaking up the atmosphere.”
    • “I thought the music was phenomenal!”
    • “They try to use the old and tested French method of giving the protagonist a music player and a lot of benches to sit on and listen, but unlike Life is Strange, this does not seem to be user-friendly or even atmospheric.”
    • “And their 'music' sucks.”
    • “Who cares about his music, his instruments, his... everything?”
  • atmosphere32 mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its spookiness, nostalgic charm, and stunning visual design, reminiscent of classic titles like Silent Hill. Reviewers highlight the effective use of sound design and music, which enhance immersion and contribute to a sense of place and time. While some critiques mention issues with storytelling and combat, the overall consensus is that the game's atmosphere is its strongest asset, making it a worthwhile experience for players who appreciate atmospheric exploration.

    • “The atmosphere is absolutely on point, and the mechanics such as the need to sleep every night do a good job of adding tension.”
    • “In my opinion, the game is worth playing for the atmosphere alone, and the well-crafted mystery adds to its appeal and helps make up for the combat.”
    • “The best things this game has going for it are its incredible atmosphere, sound design, and original soundtrack.”
    • “It's a shame because the atmosphere set is right, the protagonist is likable and the story could be much more fluent and enjoyable to follow if it weren't for those elements, which look like they don't even belong to a game like this.”
    • “Some of the otherworldly sights on display in this game are stunning, often resembling paintings in texture and atmosphere, so I found a bit of that upended when the game shed light on some of its inner workings, though I understand it may not have been the intent of its developers to obscure every aspect of the narrative.”
    • “The combat is awkward (a common problem for indie fixed camera games!) and the narrative ends somewhat abruptly, but elsewhere the experience of fixed multicam survival-horror-lite is absolutely worth playing for its sense of place and time (1991, a fictional remote coastal French village!) and the lonely, wistful atmosphere conjured by audio diaries and sad Gallic rock.”
  • grinding10 mentions

    Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, often feeling like a chore rather than an engaging part of the experience. While the game features beautiful music and intriguing story elements, the repetitive backtracking and lackluster combat detract from the enjoyment, leading to a mixed reception regarding the grinding mechanics.

    • “Frustrating, tedious and ultimately disappointing.”
    • “The environments are large and while you unlock shortcuts through the village a lot of the time the game will have you going back and forth between points to get items/find locations and it is pretty tedious.”
    • “Overall, Broken Pieces is a great looking and sounding game marred by fairly needless combat that feels bolted in to the game to hook more players in and some tedious backtracking-esque exploration.”
  • stability9 mentions

    The game's stability has been widely criticized, with numerous reports of glitches, freezes, and crashes that significantly detract from the overall experience. Many users noted that the game appears to have been released without thorough testing, leading to frustrating bugs, particularly when navigating the user interface or completing optional objectives.

    • “The optional objectives are a bit harder, though, and unfortunately one of them is buggy.”
    • “Interesting storyline and very good graphics, but the game was not fully checked for errors, problems, and glitches before being released.”
    • “Weird, clunky, annoying - I would even say buggy (the game crashed two times while my storage box was open).”
  • optimization7 mentions

    Overall, the game's optimization has received mixed reviews; while some players report satisfactory performance, particularly with high-end hardware, others note that it could be significantly improved, especially in certain combat areas. Users have experienced issues with overheating GPUs even at lower graphical settings, indicating that optimization remains a concern for many.

    • “Performance/price = 8/10 (spent a nice time with a cheap price)”
    • “Visuals are really good and performance-wise I didn't have any issues; turned on DLSS and was getting at least 150 FPS in most cases with a 3090 at 1440p resolution.”
    • “Bit unoptimized, but it's fine.”
    • “The game is poorly optimized; even after turning down a lot of graphical details, my GPU continuously ran at maximum heat.”
    • “It feels like the performance could be better in some areas, particularly in the optional combat sections.”
    • “The performance could have been better optimized.”
  • humor4 mentions

    The humor in the game is well-received, with players appreciating the clever use of puns and funny movie posters that add levity to the narrative. The balance between serious moments and lighthearted humor effectively supports the emotional journey of the main character, enhancing the overall experience without becoming overwhelming.

    • “Loved the movie posters in the game, so funny.”
    • “Wesker: [chuckling] 'I prefer brute force, but who am I to give tips?'”
    • “Puns and humor are there to balance and protect her sanity and the toll the events have taken on her.”
  • emotional1 mentions

    Players appreciate the emotional depth of the game, particularly the immersive experience of returning to the house, which enhances their connection to the world and makes them feel genuinely involved in the narrative.

    • “I loved having to go back to the house from time to time; it felt real and made me feel like I was truly a part of that world.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

70% average critic score

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Play time

3hMedian play time
3hAverage play time
3-3hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 1 analyzed playthroughs

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