Shatter - Review
Review from http://bngames.basicallynothing.com
Shatter is a Playstation Network exclusive downloadable game, that is very much the Pong of the future, only lacking holograms. For $7.99 you are certainly getting your moneys worth out of this brick breaker.
Story: Your a sci-fi super futuristic….paddle….shield..thing……with a super laser needle gun
Presentation: Shatter reminds me alot of Geometry Wars on the Xbox 360. It has a similar aesthetic, but not as plain. You bounce a glowing yellow “ball” at multi color bricks and shapes. Said bricks turn into what I could only describe as stardust that you vacuum into your paddlemabob, which is a very nice particle effect. It by no means is silly, as all of the shapes are stylized in a very retro futuristic aesthetic. The Needle-Gun-Fuck-You-Button slows everything down while you fire a constant stream of laser/needle’s by the hundreds at the multi colored blocks destroying them making more stardust type particles. The music is expectantly techno futuristic which compliments the visual style completely. Boss’s have a similar futuristic color scheme to them, the Octopus so far being my favorite. The game is by no means bland, but id like to have seen a color phase shift style, similar to another down-loadable came, WipeOut HD, which this game would have benefited significantly.
Gameplay: Its a brick breaker ala pong with a bit of a twist. The twist being your Needle-Gun-Fuck-You-Button that will clear most block shapes allowing you to move to new areas or rather new puzzles. Another defining feature is the ability to use more than one “ball” at a time. This is a double edged sword however as the balls count as available lives, and if you lost all of them, its game over. The biggest penalty of this scheme is that any score you have accumulated up that point will reset if you use a continue. For Trophy whores out there, and score setters, this is always the challenge and biggest aggravation. You have powerups that will allow you to move the ball in space easier using your vacuum which is controlled by the triggers on the PS3 controller, as well as powerups that allow your ball to smash through all bricks without the recoil, 1up’s, and an occasion power boosts that adds to your Fuck-You-Button’s bar. The level designs are quite clever often switching from a horizontal camera to a vertical camera. The change between level types is never disorientating and definitely add’s variety to what easily could have become a stale sequence of similar brick layouts. After five or six levels you are met with a boss which are never difficult. The idea being you hit said boss with a ball, collect the particles, and fire your Fuck You button to finish them off. Each has their own pattern, but the attack orientation is similar with each. One of my biggest problems deals with the later bricks that have their own vacuum abilities making for some oddly frustrating tug-of-war scenarios inc which you will loop your ball in midair a dozen times trying to hit a single object, which happens level to level. Its an arcade game in ever sense of the word.
Special: The Shatter Soundtrack is available for purchase for 9.99, which is more than the game itself. if you into that sort of thing its a plus, though I cant imagine playing any of this in my car….or a club…..or a disco…
Conclusion: You get alot for your money, if this kind of game appeals to you. For about 8 bucks more you could purchase Battlefield 1943 and have a greater justification for buying a Downloadable game, however if you own BF1943, or don’t have enough for BF 1943, or are just a fan of DLC arcade games check out Shatter, it shat not disappoint.
Shatter is a *** out of 5
Review from http://bngames.basicallynothing.com
