Quantum Break (Xbox One X Release)

This article is about the Xbox One X re-release.. You may be looking for TV series, Xbox One, Windows 10 or Steam release.

Quantum Break (Xbox One X)
Developer(s)	Remedy Entertainment
Publisher(s)	Microsoft Studios
Distributor(s)	Microsoft Studios
Designer(s)	Kyle Rowley, Otto Kivling (Programmer)
Writer(s)	Sam Lake, Tyler Burton Smith, Mikko Rautalahti
Artist(s)	Janne Pulkkinen
Composer(s)	Petri Alanko
Director(s)	Sam Lake, Mikael Kasurinen, Miloš Jeřábek (Producer)
Engine	Northlight Engine
Native resolution	1080p (output), 720p (capped), 4K Resolution (patch)
Platform(s)	Xbox One X
Release date(s)	WW7 November 2017
Genre(s)	Action-adventure, third-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player
Rating(s)	ESRB: M, PEGI: 16
Previous	Quantum Break: Timeless Collector's Edition
Next	Quantum Break (TV series)

The Xbox One X release of Quantum Break is a free high resolution update of the 2016 third-person science fiction action shooter Quantum Break, developed by Remedy Entertainment for the Xbox One, Windows 10 and Steam platforms.

Quantum Break was published and funded by Microsoft Studios, who owns the IP. Written by Tyler Burton Smith, Mikko Rautalahti and directed by Sam Lake and Mikael Kasurinen, Quantum Break follows the story of Jack Joyce, a resident of the fictional town of Riverport, Massachusetts, who, after a time travel experiment goes wrong, gains the ability to control time, and must stop a growing fracture in time from bringing about the end of the world.

Announced August 2017 at the 2017 Gamescom, the Xbox One X release of Quantum Break was distributed by Microsoft Studios as part of their plan to provide enhancements for the library of games originally released on the discontinued Xbox One console. The Xbox One X update for Quantum Break is currently slated for a November 7, 2017 release date.

Story

Official Description

"When time breaks, catastrophe becomes your playground. As hero Jack Joyce, you'll fight your way through epic disasters that stutter back and forth in time. But surviving this unstable world--and halting the end of time itself--is only possible by mastering your new time powers."

—Xbox One Site

Characters

• Major Characters
• Supporting Characters
• Minor Characters

• Jack Joyce (Shawn Ashmore) - The protagonist of Quantum Break. Jack Joyce returns home to Riverport when his childhood friend, Paul Serene, asks for help regarding a top secret project. After Paul's time machine experiment goes wrong, Jack is exposed to Chronon energy and discovers he has the ability to control time. Jack and Paul become mortal enemies after Paul kills his brother, William, and Jack seeks to avenge his brother by stopping Paul from letting time end.
• Paul Serene (Aidan Gillen) - The antagonist of Quantum Break. When the time traveling experiment at Riverport University creates a fracture in time, Paul is sent to the year 2021, the End of Time. Returning to the past of 1999, Paul establishes Monarch Solutions, a corporation created to ensure mankind's survival beyond the fracture in time. Like Jack, he was exposed to Chronon energy and can manipulate time.
• Beth Wilder (Courtney Hope) - A double agent within Monarch Solutions, Beth was has been preparing for the fracture in time since she was approached by her future self at the age of eight years old. When she meets Jack Joyce, she convinces him to help her find his brother's Countermeasure device in order to stop Monarch Solutions and repair the fracture in time created by Paul Serene.
• Martin Hatch (Lance Reddick) - The mysterious CEO of Monarch Solutions and Paul Serene's confidante. Up front, Hatch ensures that Monarch Solutions operates as it should when the fracture in time occurs. He guarantees that Paul's plans for the future go according to plan and Monarch's secrets remain hidden from the public. However, Hatch works behind the scenes with his own agenda regarding the End of Time.

William Joyce (Dominic Monaghan) - The older brother of Jack Joyce and the creator of the time machine, William created the Countermeasure after Beth Wilder from the future of 2016 saves him from Paul Serene, and warns him of the fracture in 1999. His own efforts to prevent the fracture are met with failure, but his apparent death at the hands of Paul Serene ensures that his brother will not only seek revenge, but carry out his and Beth's mission to prevent the End of Time.

Sofia Amaral (Jacqueline Pinol) - The head of research at Monarch Solutions' Chronon division department, Doctor Sofia Amaral works with Paul Serene to ensure the success of the Lifeboat Protocol, an operation that gathers Monarch's best scientists together to create a solution for the End of Time after it occurs. When she is kidnapped by Jack Joyce and Beth Wilder, they intend to use for their own plan to save the world.

Amy Ferrero (Amelia Rose Blaire) - An idealistic college student at Riverpoort University, Amy Ferrero is looking to prevent Monarch Solutions from erasing any more of Riverport's historical landmarks. When she bears witness to Monarch Security's raid on the university, Amy's life and family is threatened by the corporation. However, depending on the choices of Paul Serene, Amy may die or live to help Jack and Beth accomplish their goal.

Nick Marsters (Sean Durrie) - A former football player turned taxicab driver, Nick Marsters held Monarch Solutions in high regard for bringing Riverport out of the financial slump it had fallen into years ago. However, when he is almost killed by Monarch Security officers carrying out the Hardline Protocol, his opinion of the corporation changes very quickly. Nick does what he can to help Jack and Beth achieve their goals, all while causing minor headaches along the way with conspiracy theories.

Clarice Ogawa (Jeannie Bolet, Jules de Jongh) - A commanding officer in Monarch Security, Clarice seeks to find out the truth about what happened during October 9th and 10th when Jack Joyce and Beth Wilder attempted to steal the Countermeasure, the Lifeboat Protocol's Chronon Field Regulator (CFR). Clarice works closely alongside Martin Hatch and aids him behind the scenes to ensure his plans to sabotage Paul Serene, succeed with little interference from within or outside Monarch.

Liam Burke (Patrick Heusinger) - A soldier hired by Monarch Solutions, Liam is one of Monarch Security's best officers and a former candidate in the Striker Program. Liam is willing to defend the corporation from outside threats until he discovers Monarch's intentions to leave him and his pregnant wife, Emily Burke, to the mercy of the End of Time. Allying himself with Fiona Miller, Liam tries to gain access to the Lifeboat Protocol in the hopes of protecting Emily.

Charlie Wincott (Marshall Allman) - Monarch Solution's hacker and security monitor, Charlie Wincott aspires to climb the social ladder of Monarch Solutions to a loftier position. But, his attraction for Chronon scientist, Fiona Miller, leads him down a path to Monarch's true intentions. When faced with the choice of saving himself or helping others, like Liam, Fiona and Jack, Charlie may choose to save himself unless given incentive to do otherwise.

Fiona Miller (Mimi Michaels) - A Chronon scientist who works as Beth Wilder's informant within Monarch, Fiona attempts to gain access to Henry Kim's lab on Gull Island to ascertain information on the CFR and the Lifeboat Protocol. With the help of Liam Burke, she uses Charlie Wincott to do it.

Summary

Main article: Quantum Break (video game)#Summary

Development

Production

Main article: Quantum Break (video game)#Development,

Main article: Quantum Break (Windows 10)#Development,

Main article: Quantum Break: Timeless Collector's Edition#Development

According to Daniel Heithhorn (@Scnittgemuese), the 4K patch for the Xbox One X release Quantum Break was commissioned by a unnamed software engineer who was a fan of the game. He reportedly worked on the 4K patch on his own time and was not paid for his efforts.

Announcement

The Xbox One X re-release announcement was made by Aaron Greenburg at the 2017 Gamescom event, August 20, 2017.

Critical Reception

Performance

Preview Build

According to Digital Foundry's first look at the "4K Patch" for the Xbox One X version of Quantum Break, they state that the resolution upgrade and performance of the preview build was "solid". In another look at the preview build, DF states that the Xbox One X update for Quantum Break uses the temporal reconstruction which uses information from previous frames to create quality resolution from the endstate of the frames.

The reconstruction technique used for the Xbox One X patch gives the game the illusion of a higher pixel count with a resolution boost and a pixel count of 2560x1440, but lacks "the clarity and sharpness of a 4K image". Digital Foundry claims that the resolution limitations plays into the flimic visual design of the game. Texture filtering was improved by a combination of higher resolution output and anisotropic filtering, resulting a sharper image quality.

Microsoft's projected performance bench for Quantum Break on the Xbox One X was a resolution boost four-to-five times greater than the original Xbox One release with the same general 30 frames per second performance. With the resolution boost, combat sequences resulted in frame drops, that approached 20 fps, and screen tearing that was not seen on the original Xbox One.

Digital Foundry speculated that 10% of extra overhead would be required to create a consistent performance level seen on the previous console, based solely on the first thirty five to forty minutes of the game (roughly the first Act of the game itself). Digital Foundry stated, if the code following the preview build did not improve, the suggested settings of 1920x1080 resolution and the default 3840x2160 were an option.

According to Digital Foundry, the preview build for the 4K patch suggests "a full 1920x1080 with temporal anti-aliasing, but no re-projection from prior frames". The 4K patch renders 56% the 4K base resolution. No GPU cycles were used in the reconstruction, and the game is not uncapped. The default 30fps limitation was used in the reconstruction.

Videos

• Trailers
• Comparisons
• Gameplay

<gallery spacing="small" captionalign="center" position="center" hideaddbutton="true"> 4K Quantum Break Xbox One X vs Xbox One First Look!

XBOX One X Quantum Break at 4K 60 FPS? Performance Evaluation

QUANTUM BREAK XBOX ONE X GAMEPLAY 4K (Exclusive)

Quantum Break First 10 Minutes in 4K (Captured at 100 Mb s)

External Links

• Xbox One site
• Quantum Break.com
• Official Facebook
• Official Twitter