Quantum Theory

Between 2008 and 2012 a remarkable number of studios tried to make their own Gears of War. Quantum Theory, released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2010, is one of the more literal attempts, and the fact that it came from Team Tachyon inside Tecmo Koei rather than a Western studio is the most interesting thing about it.

The shooting works the way you would expect. Snap to cover, fire down the sights, shoot from the hip, or blind-fire over the lip of a wall. What the game adds is an environment that refuses to stay still: the campaign takes place inside a living tower that rebuilds itself around you, so cover slides away, platforms rise and floors drop out. The idea is stronger than the execution. A cover shooter rests on the player reading a space and committing to a position, and a space that rewrites itself without warning mostly teaches you not to plan.

The other original idea is Filena, the companion the protagonist Syd can pick up and throw at enemies as a weapon. It is the game's best trick and it is rationed almost out of existence, reserved for scripted moments and boss encounters instead of being woven into ordinary fights. The bosses themselves are weak-point puzzles, which is where the thinness of the moveset becomes obvious.

Contemporary reviews were unkind and time has not softened that verdict. The guns lack impact, the enemy roster is small, the pacing is flat, and the plot about two warring factions is delivered in a way that makes it hard to care which one you are shooting. The art direction is at least distinctive — dark, organic, unmistakably anime-influenced — but the technical execution was behind the curve on release.

The reason to look at it now is not the game itself. It is the record of a moment when one very successful design was being copied everywhere, often by teams whose strengths lay elsewhere entirely. Quantum Theory is unusually honest about what it is imitating, and that makes it a useful specimen even though it is not much fun to play.