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Pardon the dust! This page includes some jargon that hasn't been added to the site's glossary yet. I'll be around to fix this later, but sorry for the inconvenience in the meantime. |
Review: Shatter
At a Glance
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How to Save and Pause:There's no proper save function. Instead, the Story Mode uses a level selection menu that unlocks as you clear Worlds. To pause the game at any time, bring up the game's menu by pressing ESC. Time needed per session:Expect to take about 15 minutes or so to clear a World, and plan your time around that. If you're going to try for the achievement earned by playing through the Story Mode in one session, expect to play for a few hours.
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Does this game pose issues for Christian players?
 | No - this is a great game for Christians One of the benefits of simpler games is that there's no room for offensive content. |
Screenshots
![[view screenshot]](../images/screenshots/shatter_0.jpg)
![[view screenshot]](../images/screenshots/shatter_1.jpg)
![[view screenshot]](../images/screenshots/shatter_2.jpg)
Game Overview
There's really only so much that you can do to make a ball-and-paddle game unique. By this point, everybody has played Breakout or one of its many many clones, so how does a game like Shatter stand out? The simplest answer, and the one chosen by Shatter, is to add some new ideas to the standard formula.
Players are already used to the basic mechanics: moving the mouse will move the paddle along the edge of the playfield, and if the ball falls out of bounds, you lose a life. Lose all of your lives, and it's game over. If that was all there was to this game, the review would end here.
Fortunately, there's a lot more to talk about. Let's start with the blocks themselves. In your typical block-and-paddle game, the blocks don't move; they're effectively anchored to the background. Here, they're floating in space, which means they'll respond to physics and move around. Players can influence this by using the mouse to exert a "pushing" or "pulling" force on the stage.
Neither of these forces affect just one object or just the ball - they affect everything in range of the visible ripple effect. So while you can use these powers to freely adjust the ball's trajectory, you'll also be moving everything else on the stage around, which might not be a good thing. You see, if an object strikes your paddle, it'll be temporarily disabled, and that might allow your ball to slip out of bounds. You'll also lose points.
You're not powerless however. As objects in the stage are destroyed, they'll break apart into fragments that you can collect. This builds up a power meter, which can then be spent to shield your paddle or fire a huge volley of weaponized shards. The latter is excellent for blasting through the end of a level or giving a boss some extra pain.
Oh yes: there are also bosses in this game. That's because Shatter does have something of a story tying all this chaos together. It's very abstract, but the basic idea is that your paddle broke free by shattering its cell, and from there it's gone on a trippy adventure to liberate paddle-kind. I'm being completely serious - that's actually what's going on here.
Overall, with great visuals, unique mechanics, and a banging soundtrack, Shatter is definitely a short but fun ride that's worth the $2 you pay for it.
Players are already used to the basic mechanics: moving the mouse will move the paddle along the edge of the playfield, and if the ball falls out of bounds, you lose a life. Lose all of your lives, and it's game over. If that was all there was to this game, the review would end here.
Fortunately, there's a lot more to talk about. Let's start with the blocks themselves. In your typical block-and-paddle game, the blocks don't move; they're effectively anchored to the background. Here, they're floating in space, which means they'll respond to physics and move around. Players can influence this by using the mouse to exert a "pushing" or "pulling" force on the stage.
Neither of these forces affect just one object or just the ball - they affect everything in range of the visible ripple effect. So while you can use these powers to freely adjust the ball's trajectory, you'll also be moving everything else on the stage around, which might not be a good thing. You see, if an object strikes your paddle, it'll be temporarily disabled, and that might allow your ball to slip out of bounds. You'll also lose points.
You're not powerless however. As objects in the stage are destroyed, they'll break apart into fragments that you can collect. This builds up a power meter, which can then be spent to shield your paddle or fire a huge volley of weaponized shards. The latter is excellent for blasting through the end of a level or giving a boss some extra pain.
Oh yes: there are also bosses in this game. That's because Shatter does have something of a story tying all this chaos together. It's very abstract, but the basic idea is that your paddle broke free by shattering its cell, and from there it's gone on a trippy adventure to liberate paddle-kind. I'm being completely serious - that's actually what's going on here.
Overall, with great visuals, unique mechanics, and a banging soundtrack, Shatter is definitely a short but fun ride that's worth the $2 you pay for it.
Points of Interest
Great soundtrack
This is almost a necessity - since most of your time is going to be spent just watching a ball bounce around, you might as well be listening to something awesome.
Multiple modes
The main way to play this game is via the Story Mode, which takes you and your paddle on a journey around the universe on a quest to free your fellow paddles. However, there are several other options that become available as you progress the story, such as an Endless mode and a Boss Rush.
Steam Community Features
There are 30 achievements for you to earn while playing Shatter. Most are earned by completing the different worlds in the Story Mode, but there are plenty of challenging ones mixed in too, such as the achievement for completing the Story Mode in one sitting without using a continue - good luck with that.
Concerns and Issues
Nothing worth mentioning
Simple games don't have room for objectionable content. You could argue that the boss battles represent a very mild form of violence, but that really feels like a stretch.