Vitals
Game: Shatter
Developer: Sidhe Interactive
Released: July 23, 2009
Platform: PlayStation 3 (PSN)
Sidhe Interactive, developer of gems such as Madagascar Karts and 2007 Game of the Year contender Jackass: The Game, has shocked the world by releasing the surprisingly competent Shatter.
You may be asking yourself, “What is Shatter?” Well, as the story goes, Pong and Breakout had a lovechild that then grew up and went to college. In college, the young prototype met these two cool dudes named Space Invaders Extreme and Geometry Wars 2, who introduced the naïve program to things like style, trance music, and brightly colored shapes. Months later, that mess of robot language dropped out and became the Shatter found on PSN today.
Or something like that.
In Shatter, you, the player, take control of a jet-powered convex paddle determined to save its fellow paddles from a merciless empire of fragile, power-hungry blocks. In order to save your friends, you must launch balls and “shatter” the enemies into so many pieces or geom-ish “shards” which can then be shot back at your parallelogram-y foes in a “shardstorm”. The balls, which also serve as lives, may be launched from your paddle in tandem, should you wish to unleash extra bouncy fury upon your enemies. But be warned: you will also have to keep track of that many more flying objects.
In addition to the traditional abilities of move … and move, your paddle can also suck and blow air in order to manipulate the ball once it’s been put into play. However, the suck and blow abilities will affect the movement of floating shards and loose enemy blocks as well, so things can get pretty hairy if the screen is full of mobile shapes. There are also power-ups, which include everything from extra balls to bonus shard energy. Oh, and you’ll face off against bosses at the end of each world, like the Bloctopus, Clock O Block and a variety of other animated, block-related puns.
Positives
– Gorgeous, Crisp Visuals: Reminiscent of titles like Metroid Prime, the dynamic, techo-futuristic backdrops are beautiful, yet won’t distract you or clutter the play area thanks to a darkened filter set between the scenery and the action.
– Electronica Soundtrack: A funky-fresh collection of techno-y tunes work well with the backgrounds of each stage. Not so good that you’d want to listen to them outside the game, but they get the job done.
– Excellent Stage Variety: 80+ levels over 10 different worlds featuring vertical, horizontal, and circular play areas as well as unlockable bonus stages and a Boss Rush mode.
– Friend Leaderboard Integration: Similar to Geometry Wars 2 and Trials HD, Shatter lets you know how close you are to toppling your friend’s high score with an infuriating little reminder in the corner of the screen that’s always mocking … taunting … daring you to try and beat it.
– Trophies: Seeing as how I am a self-proclaimed achievement whore and burgeoning trophy addict, I thought this would be an important aspect to mention. The trophies are MOSTLY easy to obtain (that’s a good thing). I’m a far cry from playing Shatter professionally, yet I still managed to get to the VERY LAST BOSS before having to use a continue. (There’s a trophy for completing the entire game in one sitting without using a continue. So, yes, I broke some things.)
Negatives
– Occasionally Cluttered Screens: While the backgrounds won’t block your view, the action might. In some of the later stages, your ball can easily get lost among the multitude of projectiles, shards, and drifting enemies potentially costing you a much needed life.
– No Demo: Unfortunately, a demo is not currently available in the PlayStation Store, but with a review like this, who needs one? (wink wink)
In Conclusion
With loads of levels, creative bosses, great music, and bite-sized chunks of gameplay, Shatter is a fun little diversion to fill your time in between marathon sessions of Modern Warfare 2, Assassin’s Creed 2, and Jurassic: The Hunted. And at a meager $7.99 USD purchase price, it’s a no-brainer.
This review is based on a retail copy of the game purchased by the reviewer. The story mode was completed twice and both the boss rush and bonus modes were attempted at least once.
[Images provided by Sidhe Interactive.]
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