Break Arts II is a high-speed robot racing game developed by Japanese indie developer Mercury Studio. The game invokes memories of the Wipeout series as the game puts a strong emphasis on speed, but unlike the Wipeout series, Break Arts II features customisable robots.

While primarily a racing game, Break Arts II’s greatest strength lies with its impressive customisation options. If you are a fan of robots and mechs but couldn’t get into the likes of the Armoured Core series than Break Arts II is the game for you. In terms of customisation, you can break down your chosen robot to just its frame and equip various modules to its joints. The modules available tweak the likes of the robots speed, cornering, energy regeneration, weapons and lock-on ability. It is incredibly easy to get lost in the experience of trying to create a fast robot while also making sure it has good cornering. What does hurt the robot customisation, especially early on is the number of presets and modules locked behind your grade score.

When you move onto the racing the game does unfortunately underperform. While the game puts a strong emphasis on speed, you rarely feel like you are going fast unless you use your boost or override ability, an ability that allows you to go full speed without your boost gauge getting drained. In terms of racing, it is very easy to win races as all you have to do is manage your boost gauge and stay out of range of your opponents’ weapons. So, how easy is the racing in Break Arts II, well at grade 3 I was comfortably winning seven-star races, although with that said I did lose some four-star races, the difficulty can be a bit odd at times.

While it seems like I am rather negative when it comes to the racing I will say that the horizontal boosters are a fantastic idea. These boosters allow for a rapid change in direction, which means that you don’t have to worry about slowing down going into a corner because if you are going wide you just use the horizontal boosters to stay on course.

In regards to the modes on offer, Break Arts II has online racing, Grand Prix, quick race and time attack. Overall, the racing modes are simplistic with Grand Prix being the most entertaining as it allows for multiple races in quick succession. In regards to the online racing mode I would love to comment on it, but every time I attempted to play this mode I received a network error.

In terms of graphics and audio Break Arts II is a bit odd because while the robots and race tracks all look great there is the minor issue of your opponents’ robots turning into octahedrons once a race starts. In terms of audio, the game sounds good, although the voice over can take some time to get used to.

Conclusion

While Break Arts II is a great game for those who love building robots, the racing, which is the main aspect of the game, is a bit of a letdown.

Score: 6/10

Pros	Cons
+ Horizontal boosters allow for quick cornering	– The AI difficulty is inconsistent
+ Customising robots is incredibly fun	– The racing got boring very quickly
+ Visually appealing race tracks

 

Developer	Publisher	Genre	Rating	Platform	Release date
Mercury Studio	Playism	Racing	N/A	PC	February 9, 2018

*A review code was provided by the game’s publisher.*

For more information on Break Arts II, visit http://publishing.playism-games.com/break-arts-II.