[Script Info] Title: [Events] Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text Dialogue: 0,0:00:02.19,0:00:04.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"This is what you need to know." Dialogue: 0,0:00:05.63,0:00:07.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Time broke, a growing fracture leading to Dialogue: 0,0:00:07.82,0:00:07.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the end of time." Dialogue: 0,0:00:07.82,0:00:07.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"And of course, Dialogue: 0,0:00:09.77,0:00:13.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,time travels." Dialogue: 0,0:00:11.50,0:00:11.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Jack!" Dialogue: 0,0:00:11.50,0:00:15.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Going too fast for you?" Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Quantum Break is the latest third-person Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.20,0:00:04.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,shooter from Remedy, the same studio that Dialogue: 0,0:00:04.20,0:00:08.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,brought us Max Payne way back in 2001, Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and boy, does that lineage show. Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Like that game, this one revolves around a Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,flashy gimmick that serves to differentiate Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,its gameplay a bit from that of other, more Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,straightforward third-person shooters. Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And like Max Payne, as well as Remedy’s Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,2010 game Alan Wake, it stars a dude Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who cannot stop narrating his story for us. Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Paul and I Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Time, is going to end." Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"That was the first time my powers started to manifest." Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Sadly, Quantum Break’s story is just a mess. Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because of reasons, time is fractured, Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,stuttering with increasing frequency and Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,possibly approaching a point at which Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it just breaks down completely. Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Different men have different ideas Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about how to deal with this problem, Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they fight with each other while Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,uttering standard lines of dialogue like Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,“It doesn’t have to end like this.” Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There are very few clear rules established Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in Quantum Break about how time works. Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It just behaves in whatever way it needs Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to behave to throw the characters into Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,another complication or to give the Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,main character new powers. Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Things just happen because they’re Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,convenient for the story, so there’s Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,nothing clearly at stake. Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You might argue that the quality of Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the story in a game like this isn’t all Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that important, but the thing is that Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Quantum Break really wants you to Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,care about its story. Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You see, Quantum Break is one part game, Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,one part live action TV show, Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and a good chunk of your time is spent Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,watching the four live-action episodes Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that play out over the course of the game. Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And they’re just such generically bad TV, Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,filled with cliché dialogue and cookie Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,cutter characters, right down to the comic Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,relief tech geek hacker type that seems Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to be a necessity these days in every Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,mediocre crime drama. Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"That's pretty awesome." Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"(laughs)... {\i1}cell phone rings{\i0} shit." Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There are a few fine actors here, including Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Lance Reddick, who proves he can bring Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,gravitas to even the goofiest material. Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Do I look threatened to you?" Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the most that decent acting can do Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,here is serve as a smokescreen to distract Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,us from just how bad the story actually is. Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Quantum Break is, at its core, a tale of Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,three men. You play as Jack Joyce, a man Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who comes away from a time travel mishap Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with the ability to manipulate time in specific ways. Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s sort of like last year’s adventure game Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Life Is Strange, only instead of using its Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,concept to explore relationships and Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,serious, real-life issues like bullying and Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,suicide, Quantum Break just uses it as a Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,source for spectacle. Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Jack’s brother Will is an eccentric genius, Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the villain, Paul Serene, is a powerful Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,CEO of a massive corporation named Monarch. Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Both Will and Paul’s characters are just Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,recycled archetypes without any new flavoring. Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Quantum Break doesn’t even try to break Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from traditional male-dominated convention here. Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The TV show portion of this game also Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,spends a lot of time on a supporting character Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,named Liam Burke. Burke gets into weird Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,escalator kick fights! Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Burke unleashes manly screams while Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,strangling someone to death in a hospital Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as a bunch of people just stand around and watch! Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Burke has a pregnant wife who he would Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,do anything—ANYTHING—to protect. Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Games and other mainstream media often Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,reinforce the false notion of women as fragile Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and men as protectors whose role and Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,responsibility requires them to do anything Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to either protect or avenge their families Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,—Max Payne was definitely in this mold, too— Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but Burke is a particularly bland and Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,formulaic take on this character type, Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that’s really saying something. Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In Quantum Break, men are the prime actors Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and doers. Men are the ones with vision and Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,ambition, who set things in motion and who Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then do whatever they can to make things Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,go their way. The only female character Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who gets any real development is Beth Wilder, Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who helps Jack for reasons that aren’t Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,immediately clear. In one of the game’s Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,only moments that even come close to generating Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,actual interest in its characters, we do Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,eventually get to know Beth’s history and Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,her motivations. Her main purpose here, Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,though, is to serve as a love interest for Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Jack, and she’s ultimately more important Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for the emotional impact she has on him Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,than she is as an individual in her own right. Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"(Beth) My ride, my music. Deal with it." Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s also worth noting that like most of Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the enemies, Beth works security for the Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Monarch corporation. She must be the only Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,woman on a team otherwise made up of Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,hundreds of men, because there are no Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,female combatants in this game. Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As for the combat, there’s a certain novelty Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for a little while to the spectacle of Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Quantum Break’s action. Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Seeing environments shatter in slow motion Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and seeing people get stuck in time looks pretty cool. Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But that’s all it does. Quantum Break’s Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,structure feels overly familiar and predictable, Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from the heavy enemies it introduces with Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the weak points on their backs to the Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,checkpoints near the end in which it throws Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so many enemies at you that you just Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,want it all to be over. Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s unfortunate that Quantum Break’s Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,ambition to tell video game stories in a Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,new way is wasted on a story that doesn’t Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,do anything new. Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The game doesn’t seem to care if it makes Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,any sense or if its story actually tries to say anything. Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,All it cares about is being “awesome” in Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the most insubstantial way possible, Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the sense that it’s “awesome” to watch Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a locomotive crash again and again and again. Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There’s nothing underneath. Maybe, in 2001 Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when Max Payne came out, a flashy gimmick Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was enough to make the mere act of Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,filling hundreds of dudes with bullets Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,more than a hollow exercise. But not now. Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We’re not actually stuck in time. But playing Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Quantum Break, it sure feels like we are. Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"(Will) If time is an egg, then that egg" Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"is fucking broken. The time egg is fucked." Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"(Jack) What? Why is there an egg in this?"