Past Dragon Ball video games have held up very closely to the familiar formula. Whether it’s tied to the narrative of the series itself, or a straight fighter with weird RPG elements thrown in, THE BREAKERS, as I call it in this review, is something completely different. Instead of picking your favorite fighter or villain and learning combos or fighting 1v1 or 2v2, you find yourself just a normal human being. As this human, you and his six other humans must survive against some of the deadliest villains in the Dragon Ball franchise!
If you’ve played games like Dead by Daylight or Friday the 13th: The Game, you essentially know what you’re doing with THE BREAKERS. It’s an asymmetrical survival game that follows the same formula, except you’re in the Dragon Ball anime world. For those unfamiliar with this style, it’s a 7v1 survival match. Here, one big bad villain (known as Raider) has his one purpose: to defeat everyone. The seven are tasked with either escaping in a time machine or using the “Transsphere” to power up and defeat the Raiders. can be either.
There are several ways the 7 Survivors can win, but they’re fairly straightforward. These “power keys” can be used to power up your way out of the map, and are hidden in supply he boxes scattered around the map. There are also several ways to keep raiders at bay. There are different weapons you can use to shoot raiders to protect yourself, you can use vehicles to quickly zoom the map and use this to quickly hide.
In addition to the items you can find in matches, you have at your disposal abilities that you can equip. “Transsphere” allows you to temporarily acquire super-warrior abilities. These are the heroes of the Dragon Ball franchise, which when activated will inherit the warrior’s iconic outfit, engage in his brief one-on-one battle with the Raider, and be able to use that hero’s special moves.
If you play as a Raider, you have to hunt down the rest of the players before they escape or get killed. Getting the chance to become a character like Cell, Majin Buu or Frieza is great, but you quickly realize how difficult it is to win as a Raider. Level up. Each raider has different requirements to level up, making every time you play as a new player a unique experience. But as mentioned, it’s very stuck against you, and in all the matches I’ve played, Raider has never won.
Like games such as Dead by Daylight, an internet connection is required to play the main mode. Matchmaking says he takes less than a minute, but I found myself waiting much longer than that each time. No crossplay means you’re limited to matchmaking only with other Switch players. These long wait times, plus an even longer menu management and process to join the game, make for a poor experience before the match starts.
Unfortunately, the problem didn’t stop there. Graphically, THE BREAKERS is unimpressive. Aside from the disappointing visuals on par with the PS2 Dragon Ball video game, there’s a lot of clipping, with trees and buildings popping in and out of sight and focus, and many cutscenes freezing or skipping entirely. This really took a lot of the fun out of the gameplay and overall player experience.
Besides the graphical issues, there are many little things that make THE BREAKERS counterintuitive. The menu screens, for example, are inspired by previous Dragon Ball games such as FighterZ, and instead of simple, easy-to-use menus, there are random robots, shops, and small towns where billboards are menu options. This, coupled with the choppy visuals, makes finding what you’re looking for the first time a real pain.
