In shatter the aim is to use your paddle to knock your ball against bricks in order to clear them from the screen and then move onto the next level, but of course there is more than one twist along the way which helps to make this one of the most fun and additive games you will play on PSN. One such twist is that you are able to manipulate the ball by blowing air to send it back into the playing field, or alternatively you can also suck the air, causing the opposite effect. Another twist is that your ball acts as your lives, therefore you can throw them all into play, which obviously makes the bricks on the screen disappear much quicker, although doing this is also risky as if any of the balls go out of play you will lose a live and believe me it isn’t easy to keep track of them all of the time.

 

 

When playing through each level any bricks you shatter will turn into shards which when collected will fill up your power bar, on occasion these bricks will also release various power ups such as extra lives and shields. To collect these shards you simply use your ability to suck the wind towards you and then once your power bar is full you can then unleash a powerful shard attack which devastates everything in its path, which is very handy when you come up against those bosses.

 

The levels themselves are quite varied, in all there are ten to play through each of which has numerous stages and becomes progressively more difficult. When you start off the levels are quite basic asking you to just destroy the bricks in order to progress and making it easy for you to keep your ball in play, however soon things take a different form as the levels take on different shapes such as becoming circular and once this happens having even one ball in play never mind two or three is very challenging indeed.

 

Although generally most of the bricks stay static as you progress, things soon change and occasionally some will start to straddle towards you, which adds more of a challenge as when you are sucking in the air to collect shards the bricks will also come towards you and if they hit you they will knock you out of the screen, possibly delaying you long enough to lose a life.

 

Once you have completed all of the stages in a level you are then greeted with a boss level, this sees you up against some very tricky opponents, and although the premise remains generally the same the challenge is ramped up tenfold.

 

 

Visually the game really is a pleasure to the eyes, the levels are all very colorful and the effect of the bricks shattering into pieces looks fantastic. The graphics are also backed up by some wonderfully upbeat techno tracks that really fit into the whole feel of the game.

 

The main source of longevity in Shatter like most arcade games comes from the leaderboards, although there are a few other options for you to play with such as the Boss Rush mode and a challenging bonus game which tasks you with trying to keep three balls in play for as long as you can. The game also includes the now mandatory trophies for you to gain, which should keep trophy addicts happy.

 

Shatter takes the classic Breakout and improves on every aspect of it, if you are old enough to remember that classic title or have been recently hooked on the similar Ice Breaker title from Playstation Home, then once you download this you are going to be in for a real treat. There is no doubt that Shatter is one of the best games that you will play on PSN this year, it offers a real good challenge, looks fantastic and is also very addictive, so what more can you ask for in a Arcade title? We say buy this now because you won’t regret it.