Shatter
Verdict: lots of eye candy
In a Nutshell: This is an advanced and very shiny version of Breakout.
(from the publisher’s website)
“Shatter is a retro-inspired brick-breaking game that merges familiar action with unique twists and a modern crafted production approach. Innovative controls, physics effects, power-ups, special attacks, and boss battles which combine to provide an experience that is always interactive.”
- Fun Rating: Fun
- ESRB: E
- Players/Mode:single player/campaign,single puzzle; multiplayer/co-op gauntlet
- Game Duration:
- System: PC, PS3
- Developer: Sidhe
- Website: http://www.shattergame.com/
- Cost: $9.99 on Steam and $7.99 on the PlayStation Network
| Would I play this again? | Unlikely |
| Would I recommend this game? | Yes |
| Was the story good? | n/a |
| Was the music good? | Absolutely |
| Were the graphics good? | Yes |
| Was this game difficult? | Yes |
| Was this game frustrating? | No |
| Was this game offensive? | No |
| Was this game worth your time/money? | Yes |
Playing the game
You have recently escaped your prison cell and are trying to gain complete freedom. To do this, you must destroy all the obstacles in your path by sending out a life to bust up the blocks and prevent it from being bounced back out of the map using the mouse or some other mapping to steer your ship. That basic premise should sound familiar but this time you have a few extra tricks up your sleeve. Using the left mouse button will suck objects towards you and the right will blow them back, allowing you to change the trajectory of the life. As you bust up the blocks, they become energy shards that can be collected and a full energy bar results in a shard storm weapon to barrage the obstacles. Additionally, the energy shards allow you to power a shield to keep from getting knocked out of the way. But the shield has an additional use: combining the shield with the sucking allows you to ricochet shards back into the map with a similar, but smaller, result as the shard storm.
What the game gets right
All the things I loved about the great arcade machines are here. The game play is simple and requires no manual to start playing but the challenge increases nicely as the levels advance. The graphics and music are satisfyingly electronic and funky and both add a certain level of depth to a well-worn genre to keep it from feeling stale. There are power-ups, bonus levels, and boss fights all there to help you keep racking up your score and encouraging you to spend “just one more quarter”.
What the game gets wrong
With the power ups, i was a little disappointed that you can’t get more than 3 lives at any time unless, of course, it is possible and it was just my lack of ability that prevented me from acuqring more than three lives. If it’s not possible, then that’s the only thing that would prevent this from being a modern classic stand-up arcade machine.
Sum it up
When I say i enjoyed the graphics, what i really mean is i enjoyed the background. Without it I have a hunch that the game wouldn’t feel as big as it does and, consequently, would have been much less impressive simply because this style of game has seen so many implementations. But it has the background and we’re all the better for it. again we find a game that is meant for the arcade machines of old, instead of consoles or PC’s. While it is a plus that the game is now on PC (since I don’t on a PS3) Shatter really needs to be played with a joystick instead of a mouse and keyboard or controller.
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