Nano Breaker

Nano Breaker
Developer(s)	Konami
Publisher(s)	Konami
Designer(s)	Koji Igarashi (producer)
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2
Release date(s)	JP 2005-01-27 NA 2005-02-15 PAL 2005-02-18
Genre(s)	Action
Mode(s)	Single-player
Rating(s)	CERO: C (ages 15 and up) ESRB: Mature PEGI: 12+

Nano Breaker (ナノブレイカー Nano Bureikā) is a video game developed for the PlayStation 2 video game console by Konami, and was released on January 27, 2005 in Japan and February 15, 2005 in North America and February 18, 2005 for the PAL Regions.

Gameplay

As Jake, a cyborg militant, the player will wield a plasma blade that has the ability to transform into numerous weapons (axe, broadsword, hammer, etc.), which are generated by the blade during combo attacks. The plasma blade also has the ability to grapple enemies from afar with a blue energy cord. Jake's body is metallic and features wings that can come out of his shoulderblades and allow him to glide. The wings also serve as a sort of "limiter release" for more powerful combos and finishing moves. Within the game world, the player will be facing the mutated inhabitants of the island which are referred to as "Orgamechs". There are many different types of orgamechs including humanoid, bug and dog types. The points system is a counter which racks up the amount of blood spilled after killing an orgamech. After the counter reaches certain amounts of blood Jake will receive extra health and energy as well as increases in the maximum amount of health and energy Jake has at his disposal.

Plot

Story

The player controls Jake, the protagonist of the game, and explores a large island stage. The game takes place in 2021, in which the United States has established an island facility called Nanomachine Island to research and develop nanotechnology for implementation in military and civilian life. To reach this goal, the United States collected the world's foremost scientists, analysts and businessmen and then formed a secluded community out of them. Through 20 years of technological gain, this world is the result. As Jake, the player's goal is to assist the daughter of a brilliant scientist in her quest to restore order to the island and its people by destroying the main computer which manages the activities of the nanomachines.

Characters

Jake "The Genocide Hero": (Voiced by: Crispin Freeman) Jake is the leader of a group of cyborg militants that fought in a war around 7 years before the game's beginning. He was put into cryogenic sleep for 7 years because he and his squad were accused of killing many innocent civilians during a skirmish. He is awakened at the beginning of the story to stop the Orgamech outbreak on Nanomachine Island. Jake is of an average physique and has long white-blond hair which stops at his shoulders. His body is made of some type of metal and seems to be entirely mechanic, except for his head which is the only part of his actual body left visible. Jake obtains a few special abilities (called Boosters) during the game. Some of which are Plasma Storm, a wide range energy blast that damages many enemies at once, Speed Up, which increases Jake's speed for a limited amount of time and Status Boost, a buff which enables Jake to ignore interruptions during combo attacks and reduces damage taken. All Boosters are obtained at some point within the game. Jake also has a combo list which can be upgraded with special nanomachine cores that come in different levels and colors indicating which slots of the combo list they can occupy.

Keith: (Voiced by: Steven Blum) Keith is one of Jake's former squad members and a cyborg militant who committed the murders Jake was accused of. He is one of the main antagonists of the game and has a grudge against Jake for killing him prior to his becoming a cyborg. Keith is a large, broad shouldered man with a raspy voice who has a thin strip of white hair running from the front of his forehead to the his neck. He also seems to have a heavily modified body in comparison to Jake's which includes a gatling gun hidden inside his arm and long, thin "wings" that extend from his back and allow some control during aerial combat but do not allow continuous flight. Keith also has a seldom-used "Final Limiter" which changes his appearance dramatically and allows him to become stronger and faster for a seemingly unlimited amount of time. He uses this form when he fights Jake for the final time in the game. This form also allows him to maximize the use of his plasma blade and grants him the ability to use an attack which can slice a bridge in half (this happens in one of the game's cutscenes). Keith becomes a playable character after completing Story Mode once. He can be selected by highlighting "New Game" then selecting him as the character. Keith has all the same abilities as Jake and does not obtain the bridge-slicing move during story mode at any point.

Michelle Baker: A female scientist with intimate knowledge of the nanomachines. She is dispatched to Nanomachine Island to shut down the main computer. Michelle appears to be in her early twenties. She is the daughter of the scientist who created the nanomachines and is also a skilled hacker who assists Jake in his endeavors. She has little influence on the game's storyline up to the point where she is kidnapped, Jake then tries to retrieve her while at the same time fulfilling his main objective.

General Raymond: (Voiced by: John Rubinstein) The main antagonist of the game, his ultimate goal is to transform the entire world into Orgamechs by taking control of the main computer on Nanomachine Island. General Raymond is an old military man who appears to be on Jake's side in the beginning, but, midway through the story he betrays him. He employs both Keith and Jake to do his bidding unknowingly. Whether Jake killed Keith or vice versa he knew one of them would reach the main computer, destroy it, then allow him to take control of its core. Afterwards he would just dispose of whichever one fulfilled his wishes. He is the final boss and he takes control of the main computer's core to become an extremely advanced, gold plated Orgamech which is fought in the final stage. He is killed by Jake at the end of this fight.

Reception

GamesRadar rated Nano Breaker #1 on their original "The Bloodiest games you've never played" list, but later moved it to #6. The current number one slot belongs to Dead Space: Extraction.^[1]

Gametrailers also rated Nanobreaker as the "bloodiest game you never played."

References

1. ^ Gamesradar ranking of this game as one of the bloodiest rarely-played games. [1]