Broken Lines
Broken Lines is a story-driven tactical RPG set in an alternate-history version of World War II. It’s a game about a group of eight soldiers who crash-land behind enemy lines. It’s up to you to lead them home while fending off the enemy and helping them deal with the horrors of war. Your squad has crash-landed behind enemy lines, in the heart of an alternate history Eastern Europe. With no intel or leadership to support them, these soldiers must fight their way back home before the horrors of war break them. Teamwork and strategy are paramount… Each soldier has their own personality and ideas on what needs to happen next. Some want to investigate what caused the crash that left them in hostile territory, while others want to lay low and wait for rescue. There are even whispers of desertion. You are the “unseen hand” that guides this ragtag group of soldiers to safety and possible rescue. Whether it’s as simple a choice as to which way to go next, or something as serious as how to engage their mysterious foes, every decision you make is serious and significant.
Game Discussion
Steam User 7
A good tactical strategy game. The only problem I have is with the stress mechanic that cannot be turned off in the custom difficulty settings. The one thing I absolutely cannot stand in these kinds of games is soldiers disobeying orders and getting themselves killed because they didn't execute my plan, It really annoys me. I get that this is one of the themes of the game, as it's a bit of a Spec Ops The Line in strategy form. But you let me tweak difficulty to my liking in other areas, why not this?
The gameplay is a solid compromise between real-time and turn-based. A the start of each turn you get to plan your actions. Each turn lasts 8 seconds. During that process there's nothing you can do, as the decisions have been set in stone, meaning you gotta think well before committing to ending the turn. The enemies move in real time during those 8 seconds. So a grenade that you threw at their position might not actually get them because they have moved on by then. If you ever had the chance to play Frozen Synapse you'll feel right at home here. I like this style of this gameplay a lot personally. A full on tactical pause is great, but it makes for a different game. Broken Lines is all about positioning, flanking, using special abilities and anticipating the enemy actions. It's good.
The story seems very mysterious at first, especially if you keep picking wrong missions. However all you gotta do is to listen to your recruits instead of the veterans, and do more investigative work to understand what's going on. It's not that complicated once the cards have been laid out on the table. The atmosphere really shines through though. The enemies you face are intriguing, as nothing is as straightforward as it seems at first. I got in my opinion the best ending out of the five available ones, which really could just have been cut down to three. There's three extraction endings that differ little from one another, and make little sense with certain choices preceding them.
The narrator as almost always in other media is freakin' annoying and should have been cut from the game completely. All she does is take away from the game. I kept skipping all of her word salad nonsense right before the final cutscene.
I'd say it's worth picking it up on sale, but your mileage may vary on this. It's supposed to be played several times in order to understand the story... unless you luck out like I did, After that there's little point in staying. I'm yet to try the complementary DLC. But even now I'd say it's worth it picking up on sale.
Steam User 3
Love XCOM and was looking for a similar game. Hasn't quite got the polish of XCOM, and is a little less tactical, but really enjoyed the game and the story. Overall very fun, just lacked a little depth to the combat. 8/10
Steam User 2
takes a bit to get used to the timed stop-go action. once I did i could make some really neat sequences.
I found a bit difficult to "attach" to the characters. A bit too random character development.
Steam User 1
Amazing game and gameplay, started with 8 characters ended up with 6.
ust a tip, if you play it in hard make sure to put the revives to one per misson rather than 1 only. this way your soldiers will heal wounds at the camp
Steam User 1
You will probably breeze through this game in couple of hours so it is recommended to buy this on discount (unless you want to go through campaign multiple times to experience multiple endings). You dont control the soldiers entirely, just their movement and some abilities, they fire at enemies automatically once they get close enough. Still it is nice mechanic that brings something new to the table and gameplay is fun and enjoyable.
Steam User 3
6.5/10. Ok story, and fun gameplay. Maybe not worth $30, but its alright.
Steam User 0
plays a bit like company of heroes, but turn based and every units move at the same time.
could be better polished... made an effort not to kill any civilians but the story evolves like I somehow did... a design choice or oversight ?
also could't finish the last mission because of the known infinite loading screen bug (tip : just finish the stage, don't leave and comeback later)
still, i find the gameplay loop really fun, so up to the DLC now. the music and the few VA are nice too.