KMGR of "Breakspin"

Image via Wikipedia

Breakspin mumbles something about the war between light and dark in a 2D universe. What it REALLY is... is a new variation of Breakout, where the "bricks" are round, often require multiple hits, and they explode in pretty confetti fashion. And there are random "creatures" that move about the playing field. Thus, the game is really quite derivative, though it is somewhat fun to play.

There are two versions of the playing field: the standard "Breakout" where you have a paddle at the bottom and you bounce this energy-ball to destroy the various "energy prisons" that are holding the "light creatures" hostage. The other version is the same idea, except the field is CIRCULAR, and you have two rotating paddles that you need to move around to keep the "ball" inside the circle.


Instead of "life", you have an energy counter, which maxes out at 250. If you lose a ball, you get hit with a -50 energy penalty. If you keep bouncing the ball between the paddles without hitting anything, your energy goes down slowly. If you lose all energy, you are "dead". You can recharge by hitting stuff with the energy ball. Hitting some nodes will release powerups, while others will "shoot" at your paddles and will deplete some of your enegy if they hit.

Later levels introduce "gravity nodes" (actually PULLS on the energy ball that flies by so the trajectory CURVES), "bounce nodes" (adds energy to the energy ball that hits it, and varies the rebound slightly), bombs (takes out surrounding nodes), and more.

Music is pretty good, as it manages to be techno and new age at the same time, without sounding too sci-fi or a "march".

And there are plenty of achievements you can go for, but the details are a bit thin in this game.

Difficulty is relatively low. I think I finished the whole game in about 20-30 minutes (not all the achievements though, just all the levels). Then I discover there are some more levels, and if you finish those, there are some more after THAT! And in those you can only use ONE paddle on the round field! You start with 20, then 16, and then down to 9, but that's still a lot of levels.

All in all, Breakspin is a fine variation on "Breakout", just don't expect too much out of it.

Overall rating: 7 out of 10
Pros: decent 2D graphics, easy to pick up, colorful explosions
Cons: nothing much new here, a lot of things NOT explained
Verdict: play it for the novelty, but deep down it IS Breakout, no ifs, ands or buts about it.