A Smashing Good Time- Shatter Reviewed

Shatter for the PS3. Developer: Sidhe Interactive, Publisher: Sidhe Interactive ESRB: E

At eight dollars, I recommend all PS3 owners to pick up Shatter, unless they have a natural aversion to block-breaking games. The game adds a handful of elements to reinvigorate the venerable Breakout game, masterfully creating a fresh diversion that is both gratifying and inventive. Shatter is yet another accomplishment in the growing list of must-have PSN titles.

TideGear’s Take: I’d heard a decent amount of excitement over Shatter on some of the gaming podcasts that I listen to. It sounded intriguing but I had some slight skepticism due to the lack of innovation in the genre that DesertEagle mentioned above. Unfortunately, its seems that some of the hype was coming from people who haven’t played many indie Breakout-likes. Shatter is a game that starts off strong but doesn’t go very far.

The game throws you right in and leaves nothing out. From the start you’ll have your suck and blow capabilities, your shard storm attack, shields and the ability to launch multiple balls (which also serve as lives) at once. Some of the enemy blocks that you must destroy also have physics tied to them. The problem is that most of the “new” stuff that Shatter does has actually already been done in some way by other indie PC Breakout-likes (BreakQuest and the Ricochet series, to name a couple). This doesn’t mean it isn’t fun, or that it won’t feel new to most players, but I was less impressed with the game, having this knowledge.

Shatter‘s audiovisual experience is somewhat similar to that of Geometry Wars. Despite the complex moving 3D backgrounds and particle effects, it still looks a bit cold, clinical and unimaginative. On occasion there’s a bit too much going on and you may find yourself actually losing track of your ball(s). This really impedes a desire to use multiple balls simultaneously. The soundtrack, on the other hand, is amazingly good. It’s over an hour and a half of original music, all very 80’s electronica, with tunes that sounded like Daft Punk, Michael Jackson or Peter Gabriel should be singing over them. When I start wanting to record vocals over instrumental tracks, I know I like them.

I was hoping the Geometry Wars-like visuals would mean that, regardless of innovation, Shatter would provide a frenzied and challenging experience. It’s easier to forgive a lack of innovation when a game does something that’s been done before, but does it so very right. Shatter does things right, but not nearly “so very right”. The game is rather short and is too casual with the difficulty, making the game’s ten worlds rather quick to plow through. There’s a decent amount of stages and bosses to play through, and while variation is attempted throughout the game, much of it does little to actually change ones play style and most of the bosses are one-trick-ponies.

Shatter is a competant game with a very reasonable price of $7.99 USD; fans of Breakout-like games should be quite pleased with it. It just feels somewhat lacking in content. After beating the game, you may find a bit of fun in the Geometry Wars-style leaderboards (though I had some difficulty loading some of the tables). The meager boss rush and bonus stage modes don’t make up for a lack of any cooperative mode or level editor in a game that screams for them. Maybe some DLC could cure the itch.