Ark: Breakout Velocity [by Cornutopia]

Game Review: Breakout Velocity
Release: May 2002
Genre: Arkanoid
Developer: Cornutopia
System Requirements: Windows, DirectX8, 1500mhz CPU, Good 3D System
Price: $15.00

Breakout Velocity Review Breakout styled games are often difficult to review because, let's face it, when it comes to “pong” you either love it or you hate it and the core game hasn't changed much since the computing Stone Age. The gaming world is still waiting for someone to evolve the breakout paradigm and make it something new and fresh again.

Breakout Velocity by Mark Sheeky and Cornutopia may not be the evolution we are waiting for but it is about as technically solid as a breakout game can get. It nails all the critical requirements and makes a solid entry to the genre and yet there are some critical omissions that could prevent it from truly standing out.

I doubt I have to explain how “breakout” works as it’s probably the simplest concept in gaming: move bat, hit ball, break blocks, repeat. The “poetry” comes from what the developer does within the confines of that formula.

Breakout Velocity introduces a few new elements to the genre. Blocks can now be released and fall, similar to how bubbles are released in a Puzzle Bobble game, except now they can kill you if you’re caught underneath. These are an especially dangerous hazard when you perform the classic breakout maneuver of ricocheting the ball off the top of the screen so it’s breaking the blocks from above; they come down like rain and make a really fun test of your reflexes. The entire map of blocks is also slowly descending towards you, adding an extra challenge and a shift in strategy for clearing the board. If you’re too slow you could end up with very little room to maneuver the ball. Lastly, blocks that are successfully broken occasionally drop bonus “flares” which give you extra points if you catch them.

You have 3 lives and as far as I can tell the game continues into infinity until you lose them all. You gain extra lives every 10,000 or 15,000 points depending upon which difficulty level you select, novice or expert. In expert mode the speed at which the wall of blocks descends is faster but that appears to be the only difference between difficulty levels, as speed of the ball and falling blocks seems to stay the same.

Breakout Velocity has 50 levels that can be played in linear or random order. It also has a random level generator that produces an infinite number of random block patterns for unlimited play. These random creations are surprisingly well balanced. In fact, I kind of prefer the random generator to the pre-made levels.

For the few innovations and solid game play there is still a slight feeling of "shouldn't there be more?" when you think of all the game play additions that have already been made to the breakout template. Power-ups like multi-ball, bigger bats, sticky ball, and interactive environments have become almost standard fare for breakout games and yet none of these are present in Breakout Velocity. There are three modes of play - linear, non-linear, and random design - but in the end they all play exactly the same.

This raises the question of how do I objectively rate this game? It’s unfair to mention other breakout style games and point to what they have that this game doesn’t but in a field so crowded one should expect such comparisons.

In the end, I'm giving Breakout Velocity the benefit of the doubt and saying it’s a breakout game for “purists” of the genre. It doesn’t have all of the bonuses and power-ups that other breakout games have but if you are truly a fan it will surprise you how refreshing it is to get back to the basics; move bat, hit ball, break blocks, repeat.

Graphics: 8
If you like lens flares then this is your game! There is plenty of eye candy in Breakout Velocity from "disco" floor tiles that light up as the ball passes over them to streaking and reflection effects on all the objects. These can be turned off in the options menu but the game looks very bland if you do.

The design is clean and more polished than similar games on the market. At the same time there’s something about the graphics that lacks personality and the game seems almost cold as a result. A little more color in the backgrounds and tiles would have made it perfect.

The graphics are very crisp at any resolution and although I noticed a slight performance hit at 1024 x 768 it doesn't really matter since (oddly enough) the graphics looked just as good at 640 x 480 as they did at higher resolutions, maybe even a little better.

Sound: 4
The sound effects are very sparse with nothing really standing out. As a guy who normally turns the music off in games I never thought I would be longing for even a crappy techno track to keep me amused between the monotonous "pings" of the ball. Good sound could have gone a long way towards curing the aforementioned “coldness” of the design.

There is music included if you order the CD version. It's a shame that this wasn't possible for the download copy. Even the ability to play our own MP3s or Wav files would have been better than nothing.

Game Play: 7
The real tests for a breakout game are collision detection and the player’s ability to “feel” the physics of the game. Breakout Velocity has it on the money here as collision detection for your bat is solid, even a little forgiving and I could see no obvious flaws in the ball movement or block collisions. As I stated before, this is as technically polished as a breakout game gets.

I was initially disappointed at the apparent lack of features but Velocity’s redemption comes in the fact that I still play it daily. I call it “gaming in 5 minute intervals”; whenever I feel like I’m burning out at work I can fire up Breakout Velocity and recharge. Since there isn’t a huge investment of time required to play, it’s as easy a game to put down when you have to get back to work as it was to pick up and in that sense the game is a success.

Options: 4
Here certain design omissions come to light and hurt the rating this game could have received. As a brief diversion the included 50 levels plus random generator are sufficient but I would have expected at least an editor so users could make their own block patterns or perhaps a two player, alternating mode. More thought could have gone into adding truly different modes of play like puzzles or goal-based modes.

Most of the features of the game appear to be modifiable, however some (like screen resolution) require you to edit the configuration text file to do it. A built in menu of some sort would have been preferable, especially to allow the user to restore default settings.

Concept: 4
Breakout Velocity hits all the important points to qualify as a good breakout style game. The falling blocks and polished graphical effects are a welcome addition but not enough to qualify as anything revolutionary. The concept is a simple breakout clone and here it has succeeded but may not have adequately differentiated itself from the mass of other such clones. Some innovation is present but not enough.

Fun: 7
The addition of new game elements makes things more interesting and the graphical effects are almost enough for you forget that you’re basically playing a game style that’s 30 years old. As a light diversion from work Breakout Velocity fits the bill perfectly since you’re never more than two mouse-clicks away from a game. And isn’t that how good shareware is supposed to be?

Overall: 7
It’s unlikely that anyone who doesn’t like these types of games will be converted but if you are at all a fan of the genre then Breakout Velocity will make a nice addition to your game library. The simple, polished gameplay is absolutely perfect for study breaks or coffee breaks when you just want to have some quick fun. In the end I just wish there was more here but you can’t blame someone for wanting more of a good thing.Added: May 8th 2003
Reviewer: Cancerian
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