AsinBreakout,youplayasasortof
featurelesspaddle-thinghere,
withouttheabilitytofireyourown
bullets.Instead,youhavetorepel
enemyspaceships’projectilesbackat
them,asyourotatearoundacircular
playingfield.Even
withoutthedevious
colourtwist,Breaker
wouldbeasatisfying
shoot-’em-up,with
fluid,kineticpixelart,
andoneofthebest
soundtracksI’veheard
allyear.Justasthe
stagesblendseamlessly
intooneanother,thecatchychiptune
musicisalwayseitherbuildingor
contracting,toperfectlyreflectthe
stateoftheon-screenaction.
Asbullet-hell-stylegamesgo,this
isalsooneofthemoreapproachable,
pepperingthescreenwithonly
handfulsofbulletsatatime,while
givingyouplentyofemptyspace
withwhichtomanoeuvreyourselfI
fItoldyouthatBreakerwasinspiredbyIkaruga,you’dprobably
imagineaverticallyscrollingshoot-’em-upwhereyoucanabsorb
enemybulletsbychangingcolour.Similarly,ifIsaiditwasinspired
byBreakout,you’dreasonablyexpecttobebreakingblocksby
reflectingadigitalball.Breakerisinspiredbybothofthosebeloved
arcadeclassicsaswellas,moregenerally,SpaceInvaders,butinthe
interminglingitfeelslikesomethingthrillinglynew.outoftrouble.Youcanabsorbafew
hitsbeforetheGameOverscreen
appears,andyou’llevenrecoverabit
ofhealthafterdefeatingbosses.
However,aswithIkaruga,there’s
anotherlayertotheactionthatyou
havetokeepinmind
witheverytapyou
makeontheleftand
rightcursorkeys.
Enemies,andtheir
bullets,aregenerally
eitherredorbluein
Breaker.Whenyou
movethepaddletothe
left/clockwise,itturns
blue,andcanthereforerepelblue
projectilesbacktowardsyour
attackers.Butwhenyoumoveinan
anti-clockwisefashion,thepaddle
turnsred,andsuddenlyredbullets
areyourfriends.Bulletsofthe
oppositecolourareharmfultoyou,of
course.However,whenyoudodge
outoftheirway,youmayfindthat
you’vechangedhueasaresult.Every tap of left or right is
therefore a tactical decision, not to be
takenlightly. It’s a lot to take in, but
theaction isn’t so fast or so hectic
thatyou need the reflexes of a ninja.
Duringthefirstfewstages,atleast.Neu-ArkANoid
Ican’tget my head around Ikaruga. I
finditdifficult enough just dodging
bullets,without having to remember
toswitch colour at the touch of a
button.But, perhaps because that
changeis handled automatically in
Breaker, I find this engrossing arcade
gamefar easier to process. I slipped
intoitsrhythm, into its ‘flow’
remarkably smoothly, although I did
eventually get slightly bored of
fightingthe same bosses, in the same
order,during each replay.
Ithink the developer is being
modestin declaring its inspirations,
asBreaker is hardly a clone of the
classicsI mentioned. It can stand
proudly next to the formative
shoot-’em-upsthatinfluencedit.NeedtoKNow
Whatisit?
Abullet-hell-isharcade
gamewhereyou
changecolourevery
timeyoumove
EXPECttOPaY
Free
DEvElOPEr
DanielLinssen
PublishEr
In-house
rEviEWEDOn
[email protected],
6GBRAM,GeForceGT
610
MultiPlaYEr
None
link
bit.ly/BreakerGame87
Anabsorbing arcade
gamewith an inspired
premise, and a great
soundtrack. You’ll want
toreplay. And replay.vErDiCtBig Break
Youbreakit,youdon’tpayforitinBreaKer.ByTomSykes
ifindthis
engrossing
arcadegame
fareasierto
processYou unlock additional colour
palettes as you progress.There’s less time pressure
than in most shoot-’em-ups.Breaker
FrEE GaMEsrEviEW
Challenging bosses interrupt
the action every few minutes.