Genre: Isometric post-apocalyptic RPG
Developer: Drop Bear Bytes
Publisher: Versus Evil, tinyBuild
Release Date: April 10th, 2024
Edited by AlexKnight2005
Broken Roads is an isometric third-person turn-based RPG from Drop Bear Bytes. tinyBuild publishes the game and has a proven track record of decent games. Even their worst games are reasonably decent. So, I was looking forward to diving into this game. My initial impression of the game was very intriguing, just from looking at the Steam page before playing it. It reminded me a lot of the original Fallout game so It’s no wonder I felt that Broken Roads was made with the love of Fallout, Wasteland, and many more in mind.
One of the game’s key selling points is its original morality system, the Moral Compass. So, when creating a character, you get your first taste of the moral compass after choosing one of the four origins, your
appearance, and your name. They have a great short tutorial explaining what and how it works. After that, you’re presented with a six-question test determining your character’s initial leanings at the start of the game. Each question has four answers, each representing one of the four points on the moral compass, which can be broken down into Greater Good, Others before self, self before others, and violent manipulator.
What is interesting about this is how you can start by serving the greater good and, by the end of the game, be a self-serving jackass. Now, whereas it’s possible to be squarely in one quadrant only, it will most likely be split between two. Another exciting thing they did is that each archetype has three associated skills. The skills affect combat in small ways, such as doubling critical hit-and-miss chances. Depending on your leanings on the compass, you have one or two skills for money and another for the one next to it. This makes for some exciting gameplay.
Now, as far as gameplay goes, it plays similarly to other games of the genre, not adding anything new to the genre other than how they handle the moral compass. The combat functions like every other CRPG, using Action points for movement and combat actions. Moving onto the audio, I ran into no issues, and it all fits the game’s setting. There was no audio desynching or anything. I only wish there could have been more voiced parts to the game. I understand the limitations of a small team, so this is fine for me.
Last but not least, let’s talk about the setting. Post-apocalyptic games are a dime a dozen nowadays. However, Broken Roads is set in the outback of Australia. Most of these games are in America, with a few in East Asia countries and Western Europe. So this was very refreshing, and the way they use culture from there is superb. So if you love the Fallout and Wasteland series, please at least give the game a look. If not a buy, I think you will not be disappointed.
Pros:
- It’s a CRPG
- Unique locale for setting
- Great morality choice system
Cons:
- No VO other then key moments
BoxCatHero gives Broken Roads a Drastik Measure of 7.6 out of 10.0 (76)
