Broken Pieces is the first large-scale game developed by Elseware Experience, a French company based in Paris.
The studio's first projects were mods for Source engine games such as Half-Life 2 and Left 4 Dead, which was well-received by the gaming community. Elseware Experience used its technical expertise and game engine knowledge to create digital experiences at the Game Developers Conference 2015 (GDC 2015) and the European Commission's Science Hub.
Broken Pieces is the independent studio's first full-length game in production, and it debuted an official trailer during the IGN Summer of Gaming 2021 event in Los Angeles. Taking place in a French coastal village, the player comes across a paranormal event that causes them to get trapped in a day that repeats itself endlessly.
A reference to the story's fragments that must be pieced together through deciphering the mystery of your surroundings and completing different in-game challenges, Broken Pieces is also a play on words.
Fixed camera angles are used. Animations that are clunky. Clues jotted down in a spiral-bound notebook Puzzles with moving blocks. Broken Pieces, which debuted a new video at the IGN Expo on Friday, is undoubtedly evoking memories of early 2000s 3D adventure games.
At some point, “psychological thriller” elements appeared, like trippy flying rocks and what appears to be a cloud monster assaulting our otherwise ordinary protagonist.
Once you've completed that task, it's back to the task of resolving a fuse box puzzle—Broken Pieces is unquestionably an adventure game in which things will, at some point, go bizarre.
Broken Pieces Is Still In Early Development
Here's what Steam has to say about it: “When you play the game, you'll be in the shoes of Elise, a thirty-something lady who lives in the village of Saint-Exil, which is located in a fictional territory evocative of Brittany.
Following an unknown paranormal occurrence, Elise finds herself trapped in a time loop by herself, where she is forced to replay the same day over and over until she escapes. Here is where your research will begin…”
According to the pitch, fixed camera angles reminiscent of Silent Hill are included, as is a “unique combat system” that essentially consists of standing stationary and shooting at cloud creatures as they slowly approach you from behind.
That particular section of Broken Pieces doesn't appear to be particularly appealing, though the makers do state on Steam that it is still in early development and has placeholder animations.
One other feature that seems interesting is the ability to return to certain regions of the game as the weather changes. I enjoy a nice snowfall, especially if it has the effect of changing the world in some way.
Broken Pieces Trailer
The video opens with a 3D-generated portable tape player that plays music to create the tone for the rest of the film. The game is described as a third-person investigative adventure with fixed camera angles and an abundance of interactive puzzle-solving opportunities.
We also get glimpses of a snowy blizzard-wrecked pass and some pretty spooky underground caverns, which serve to break up the monotony of the setting a little bit. Broken Pieces is scheduled to release in Q2 2022 for PC, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, and Xbox One and Xbox 360 consoles.
Release Date
Broken Pieces will be released for PC and consoles in the second quarter of 2022.
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