"Absolutely Wonderful Due to it's Outrageous Corniness"

"Nano Breaker" is not the conventional type of game. Once in a while, a famous company (such a Konami) must release an odd, mediocre game in order to see if it will score or sink. According to the official reviews and sales I've read, "Nano Breaker" sunk real low. Thus, one can immediately assume that it was simply a "bad game". But wait a minute; let's define a "bad game", shall we? A "bad game" is a title embedded with countless technical flaws, uninteresting gameplay, and a serious lack of polish. "Nano Breaker", however is not technically flawed (aside from some basic slowdown, there are no technical glitches I noticed). The gameplay can get repetitive, however, it does have enough depth to prevent it from simply being "uninteresting". Also the game is polished technically and graphically; there are no jagged lines of anti-aliasing permeating every frame of animation, the combos all work and the game tries to promote their use, and the game is edited and programmed in such a way in that it has a solid flow from beginning to middle to end.

The only sin "Nano Breaker" commits in the gaming industry is that it is so "predictable" in it's basic setup as a game. Nowadays, people want something extreme and completely unpredictable; something that will revolutionize the video game industry with both image and technicality. For "Devil May Cry" it was swords, guns, and fusion of 2-D smoothness in a 3-D setting. For it's successor: "Devil May Cry 3", it was the customizability between the various weapons, styles, and guns Dante could wield. In "God of War", the revolutionary concept was an extreme visceral presentation of a small and sturdy warrior fighting off hordes and hordes of enormous enemies, and ripping them to shreds with his bare hands. What's the big deal? In "Nano Breaker", you cut enemies up and watch their blood gush out in enormous puddles. It might not look or sound as visceral as "God of War", however the gruesome effect is most certainly there. Also, the puddles of blood in "Nano Breaker" are far more convincing in realistic terms than those stupid floating red orbs that "God of War" attempts to pass as your currency. However, as I said before; there's nothing technically wrong with "Nano Breaker"; it simply falls under a lot of competition from other titles. Doesn't a gamer think that if the commercial companies did nothing but advertise "Nano Breaker" all day long on their shelves, gamers would more likely seek that out as opposed to that oblivious game about Greek mythology in the background.

Finally, I want to go back to the title topic: corniness. Now, if anybody tells me corniness in video games is a bad thing, well then we might as well TEAR DOWN THE WHOLE INDUSTRY. All the players who played "Dungeons and Dragons" should know that the developers who wrote up that fantasy game were not on the intellectual level of J.R.R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, or even Hiroshi Aramata. Even games with good stories come off as corny simply because the execution is so simplified for the general audience. Take "God of War" for example; many people argue that the story is a very engaging factor of the game. The story is fine and the voices are fine by my opinion. However has anyone stopped and listened to the dialogue? The diction they employ; the way the words constantly repeat themselves ("I'll kill you just as you killed my family"); tis' no better than a Saturday Morning Cartoon Show! "God of War" on Fox Kids! "God of War" on Kids WB! "God of War" on PBS Kids! The dialogue told the story correctly, but it just wasn't polished at a higher and more knowledgeable level. Greek scholars should have been able to look at this game and enjoyed it's accuracy instead of being mocked by it's dialogue.

Now "Nano Breaker" is a totally different case. It's clear that the story and the dialogue could have been better here; however, "Nano Breaker" has one positive going for it that "God of War" could never have matched without ruining it's content: exaggerated delivery! Face it, it's a game and we're supposed to be having fun playing it! Why can't we laugh at the voices? Why can't we quote these outrageous characters on our way to school? Why can't we sympathize with Keith for all his disgruntled and unfortunate position? Besides, voice actor fans shouldn't worry, given that these are all professional actors doing these voices anyway (Crispin Freeman: Alucard from Hellsing, is the main character). Actually, since the concept of the game is kind of outrageous anyway (in sci-fi terms), then the silliness of the presentation actually HELPS the package instead of hurting it, as with the dialogue in "God of War"'s case. Keith is the ugliest bad guy I've seen in a long time; just as Jake is the most handsome, assertive, masculine protagonist that anyone would expect out of such a character. It's good vs. evil in it's simplest and most blatant form! And if anyone thinks that's bad; then please, find a hobby away from video games.

So "Nano Breaker" succeeds not due to revolutionary technology or brilliantly conceived stories, but due more to it's STABILITY. Everything in the game works, and everything in the game fits together like pieces in a puzzle. There are no glaring technical flaws that hinder the player's progress, no dialogue that would contradict the story or the action on screen, and no fundamental presentation faults that contradict the expectations of the players. "Nano Breaker" is a video game, put together in a simple structure for the simple task of entertaining an individual gamer looking for some monsters to hack up. Ambitious gamers who want the best and hottest items on the market would probably avoid this title, but for the common gamer (like me) it's a reminder of why video games can be fun.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/23/05