Paddle. Ball. Minimal physics engine. This is the very foundation, the beginning of gaming. From Pong to more complicated games like Breakout, the concept of the paddle and ball started the gaming revolution. Shortly after the introduction of the concept, the ball and paddle game quickly vanished taking on more realistic figures like 3D modeled tennis players and an actual tennis court. Games like Breakout simply vanished off the face of the Earth. I have no idea why, but the relative simplicity of launching a ball into a brick wall and breaking them has always been appealing.
While I haven’t found myself pining for the return of the genre, I always thought it would be a rather entertaining concept if it were to re-emerge with differences, enhancements, and other new gameplay modes. Luckily, the folks over at BC Soft Games, maker of all that is retro goodness, developed just a game.
On the surface, Break Ball 2 is just a basic clone of Breakout and its ilk. Beneath the surface lies a game far more complex than a Breakout of yesteryear. The basic game is as follows: move the mouse, bounce the ball, and break the objects in front of you. Simple, simple, simple, anyone can get into it. Now, when you start taking into effect the multiple other parts of the game it gets far more interesting and complex.
The first most notable addition over the classic breaking bricks with a ball game is the addition of power-ups. Power ups range from making your ball bigger and smaller, making the ball or even the paddle invisible (evil bastards), fire balls, ice balls, a machine gun mode (your paddle fires off a bunch of balls you can keep until they vanish off the bottom), and the most evil of them all, poison, that takes away a paddle.
You are given a variety of different paddles, each of which has special properties. For example, you can select your basic paddle, and this one simply taps the ball off. The ice paddle has a slippery surface and you can also obtain the magnetic (which I lovingly refer to as the cheater) paddle, which allows you to turn it on and off to attract the ball. Each paddle also has a special, right click move. The standard pulls back and allows for a power hit and the missile paddle can charge up a missile to use to destroy blocks.
Oh, there is much more to the game than just paddles and specials. The game itself is an absolute blast. First, the levels themselves are absolute genius. They start off with your basic block formations. For example: a simple chunk in the center of the screen. As the game progresses the levels get more complex and create odd formations that are difficult to navigate your ball through. The level designs are diverse and have obstacles that are just plain nasty. The bricks that try to thwart completion move around at high speeds and in random patterns. Even the variety of bricks is insane. You have your standard one shot fares but you’ll also face ones that require more attention. Hard bricks, which take more than one shot to take down, ice bricks and even the ball bricks are multi-shot bricks that can’t be removed with one shot. The ball bricks are especially tricky. After you hit one, you never know which way your ball is going to bounce off it at. Now combine this with power-ups and you are in for a crazy time.
There is a load of strategy to this game as well. Most players will just sit there and bounce the ball off the paddle, but never use the current level to their advantage. For example: if you were to move the paddle under the ball during contact, you could create a curve ball effect. Also, levels that move can play to your advantage if you hit the ball right as the movement will assist you in keeping the points up.
The visual elements are also easy on the eyes with slightly 3D accelerated graphics. Break Ball 2 has 3D accelerated balls, paddles, and bricks. There are a number of nice effects; like when you pick up a fire power up and watch bricks explode or watch the ice effect that freezes them over. The backgrounds are pretty and tasteful, yet fit the gameplay perfectly.
Sounds were given a rather bare minimum affair. The sound effects remind me of 80’s arcade cabinets and the music is somewhat sparse; featuring what seems like a total of two songs. The opening theme and the in-game theme are apparently the only music tracks available.
The biggest issue with the game, overall, is the lack of replay. After a few hours of breaking up bricks, the gameplay tends to get dull. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any options in terms of unlockables which further hurts the game as far as replay is concerned. Even though there are tons of levels and types of conditions you can put yourself into; the game really offers a limited scope of replay.
Overall, Break Ball 2 is an entertaining title that would be better suited for workplace environments where you have a few minutes to burn between projects or while on break. As a serious game to get into, Break Ball 2 falls just a little bit short. Even with all of the added enhancements over the old classics; the amount of fun to be had is somewhat short. Even if you pick up the game and play for 10 minutes here or there, the game rarely dulls and a purchase would definitely be recommended. However, if you are one who has to play one game for hours on end, the game easily tires and becomes monotonous.
