There are also powerups for doubling the amount of fragments released, increasing your shard fragment meter, or giving you an extra life/ball. Speaking of which, you can launch more than one ball into play. Up to four balls can be released at a time, which can clear a stage with haste. However it can be a bit hard to keep track of all these balls bouncing in all directions, so you may end up missing one, or two, or all of ’em.
The game’s story mode doesn’t really come with a story. It has 10 levels, consisting of 8 to 10 waves of brick breaking madness. Each level also features a boss, which is one of the real highlights of the game. Each boss requires a completely different strategy to defeat, and this can be downright challenging if you can’t figure out a boss’s strategy in time. Especially the bosses in the later levels, which prove to be formidable opponents.
The graphics aren’t impressive, but they fit the game perfectly, with brightly colored bricks laid out over a futuristic, abstract background. The level designs are unique to brick-breaking games. Instead of just having your bat at the bottom of the screen scrolling left to right to repel your ball, there are a few clever variations. The classic bottom of the screen back and forth action is included, but the development team at Sidhe decided to switch it up on gamers by flipping the screen horizontally, so your bat is scrolling up and down the left side of the wall. This twist is taken even further by placing you in a rounded sphere-like level, which makes it a lot harder to keep your balls from falling past your bat to their doom.
The game comes with three modes, the story mode we’ve already touched on, a Boss Rush mode, and a Bonus Mode. The genius bosses are so unique and filled with personality that they really deserved their own mode, and the Boss Rush mode gives you just that. You’ll be brought to controller-smashing frustration trying to beat the 10 minute mark, which unlocks the aptly named trophy “The Boss”. The Bonus Mode places you in all three stage variations, vertical, horizontal, and circular, with only three balls. Your goal is to bounce the balls off your bat as many times as possible to achieve a high score. The more you bank these balls off your bat, the faster they get. And trust me, keeping track of three ultra fast balls is no easy task.
Shatter comes complete with a leaderboard, so you can track your rank, as well as all your friends’ ranks across each and every mode and level. Coming soon to shattergame.com, you’ll be able to check out the leaderboards online on the official website for the game.
All in all, Shatter is a heart-pounding, nail-biting experience, presented in a very pretty package. The music adds to the intense gameplay, and works as a pleasant distraction to the amount of strategy required to complete the game in full. The addition of bosses, as well as the unique power ups, gives Shatter an identity that most brick-breaking games lack. Shatter is hands-down one of the best offerings the PlayStation Network has.
If you need help achieving all of Shatter’s trophies, check out our Shatter Trophy Guide.
PlayStation LifeStyle’s Final Score
Unique twist to classic gameplay Fantastic bosses Heart-pounding action |
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