Broken Helix

by Sony Playstation 1

Product Features

• 3-D shooter featuring voice of Bruce Campbell
• Non-linear evolving storyline
• Explore Area 51 and race the clock
• Heavy-duty replay potential
• For one player

Product Details

• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B00002SV4M
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 4.7 x 0.2 inches ; 1.6 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #25,716 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

GameSpot Review

Konami's Broken Helix presents a complex web of plotlines in a 3D shooter/adventure whose shortcomings in control and graphical clarity are made up for by the game's narrative twists and tough real-time challenges.

Something is amiss in Area 51. You're sent in as a one-man bomb squad with 20 minutes to diffuse two explosive devices. That taken care of, the plot not only thickens, but splinters off into four distinct lines, and which line you follow will determine how you play the game: You can aid the marines or work against them, and you can play as a human or follow a more peculiar route. You must piece the story together from fragments of speech overheard on your comm unit, and by talking to various scientists and military personnel inside the base - much of which is genuinely funny, thanks to Bruce Campbell's deadpan voice acting.

The clock is ticking throughout the game, sometimes onscreen, sometimes not. Just when you've established a satellite link, reopening communication with the outside world, the marines who've betrayed you are already two levels up and hot on your trail. This time function is touted by Konami as part of its "4D engine," and as ridiculous as this half-baked PR invention may sound, the pace of Broken Helix makes for white-knuckle gameplay.

The game's control is a little sketchy. The standard Doom configuration, with rotation as well as strafing, feels a little loose here, so the learning curve is fairly high. In addition, the AI has a tendency to freak out at certain critical junctures. For example, if you are assigned to clear out levels of zombie-aliens in a small team of marines, and their mad dog sergeant will kill you if he's doing more than his share of the work, it is extremely frustrating that the entire team freezes if you so much as nudge one of your peers or block his path.

Further complicating control issues are the game's dim and sometimes vague graphics. The overall darkness of the game does much to augment its bleak pre-apocalyptic tone, but when pursued by the disembodied head of an alien, it's nice to see it before it bites your kneecaps off.

If you are a Bruce Campbell fan, Broken Helix is worth the ticket price for his tough-guy histrionics alone. Despite its graphical difficulties and control issues, the replay value of the game's four distinct storylines, and the challenge you'll find in unraveling them, make it worthwhile to any 3D shooting fans. --Josh Smith
--Copyright ©1999 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited. GameSpot and the GameSpot logo are trademarks of GameSpot Inc.

Manufacturer Description

Enter the dark mysterious 4D world of action and adventure. Bruce Campbell is the voice of the main character Jake Burton explosives expert.Talk to characters and choose your attitude with over 95 minutes of interactive voice dialog. Explore over 1 600 000 virtual square feet in an interactive 4D world. Go where you want when you want with non-linear story themes. Become the leader of a marine platoon join the scientists in struggle of good vs. evil become an alien warrior or follow mission objectives. 56 movies and 40 minutes of interactive music enhance the in-depth story line.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It's got Bruce!, August 26, 2011

By 

Bumble "I Bounce" (The Woods) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Broken Helix (Video Game)

Oh how wonderfully horrible. There's more cheese in this game than there is in a triple-decker Mcgrease burger but it's oh-so-good. And no narration in recent memory can top what the Bruce offers here. Game-play is surprisingly deep, the story complex and convoluted enough to stay interesting to the very end. I have to admit though, it's tough to slog through to the end.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Who is Hideo Kojama anyway?, July 27, 2006

By 

Michael Osborn (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Broken Helix (Video Game)

Before Mr. Kojama became involved with Konami they produced this game in 1997. The game engine and the gameplay are identical to the Kojama Metal Gear Solid games. The main character is a demolation expert named Jake Burton. He uses stealth to infiltrate Area 51 where one of the scientists has placed a series of mega explosives which he threatens to detonate unless his demand of a national exposure of the goings on is met. Really the only difference between Metal Gear and Broken Helix is the evolution of graphics over the years. Where this game suffered was in the begining. It starts in total chaos. The US Marines slaughter the scientists that are running screaming out of the front door that Burton is supposed to sneak through without being seen by the roving robot security cameras. The game has three different twists. (1)Escort reporter to the scientist (2)Find other scientist who knew Burtons father and (3)Infiltrate past the explosions and join the marines in slaughtering all the scientists.