October 9th, 2016, 4:31am
Separated from his brother, Jack fights his way through the campus to find him and rescue him from Monarch goons.
Collectibles
Narrative Objects for Act 1 Part 3
The VARG Heavy Pistol is twice as powerful as the standard Pistol, but has half the ammo capacity, using magazines that hold just 4 rounds. It also has a huge amount of recoil, so you need to wait between shots to fire accurately. The Heavy Pistol’s best feature is that it can kill any normal enemy with a single headshot. The slow rate-of-fire makes it a poor choice for Time Stop bullet stacking, but it is great for headshotting enemies, especially when combined with the slow-motion Focus Time at the end of a Time Dodge. The Heavy Pistol also has the ability to blow up explosive canisters and barrels almost instantly, unlike other weapons that cause them to catch fire and detonate a few seconds later. Like all pistols in Quantum Break Jack has an infinite supply of reserve ammunition for it.
The Heavy Pistol has a weaponlight attached below the barrel, though neither Jack nor the enemies ever use it. Presumably Remedy added it to make the weapon look beefier and more distinct from the standard Pistol. The Heavy Pistol’s design is based on the FN Five-SeveN handgun, a weapon named for its specialist 5.7x28mm ammunition that is smaller and lighter than conventional 9mm pistol ammo, and is better at defeating body armour. These small bullets allow the real FN Five-Seven to have low recoil and a large 20-round magazine. The game’s Heavy Pistol bears little similarity to this, as it is a hand cannon with high recoil and low ammo capacity. Markings on the side indicate that it uses a fictional ‘5.7x15mm’ calibre ammo. My guess is that Remedy did not want their high-powered handgun to look similar to the typical Magnum or Desert Eagle featured in most other shooters, so they chose the appearance of an FN Five-SeveN and took quite a bit of creative license with how it works.
The Semi-Auto Shotgun briefly appears at the end of Act 1 Part 3, but with little opportunity to use it. We will take a closer look at the Semi-Auto Shotgun when it is next encountered.
Jack’s Time Dodge ability allows him to ‘warp’ or ‘blink’ a short distance. While Max Payne’s ‘shootdodge’ allowed him to leap across a room in slow motion, Jack shifts from place to place by creating a time warp. The resulting shockwave knocks back enemies and briefly staggers them, making Time Dodge a great offensive power as well as a way of evading enemies.
It is not teleportation, however. Although Jack might seem to be an insubstantial blur during a Time Dodge, he does actually travel through the intervening space. This means Jack will still take damage if he dodges towards an enemy who is firing at him.
Pressing and holding the Aim button at the end of a Time Dodge will trigger ‘Focus Time’, a second of slow motion that can be used to precisely aim a weapon at an enemy. Upgrades can extend Focus Time to last 1.25 seconds and then again to 1.5 seconds. Although these small increases may seem barely noticeable, an extra 0.25 seconds of slow motion is just long enough to allow a couple of extra rounds to be fired from the SMG or Assault Rifle before time returns to normal.
Time Shield surrounds Jack with a spherical time distortion that deflects enemy bullets, while allowing Jack’s to pass through. This protects Jack from enemy fire when no cover is available, and gives a chance for his health to recover. With upgrades the shield can also accelerate healing, and can slow time outside the shield to allow Jack to carefully aim shots.
Activating Time Shield near to enemies will shove them outside the area of influence and leave them staggered and vulnerable, similar to Time Dodging into them. However once the shield has formed enemies can step inside of it, and also the shield does not protect against grenades, so it is not a completely impenetrable barrier.
It is important to note that although the Time Shield forms around Jack, it does not travel with him. It is possible to take a few steps within the shield, but if Jack steps outside of it (or tries to use it while on the move) the Shield will immediately dissipate. At least one third of your Time Shield meter must be full to activate this power. The shield will stay up for as long as you have energy available, assuming you do not voluntarily deactivate the shield or step outside of it.