Shatter is another entry into the list of overhauled and downloadable videogame classics, following a similar update pattern to the likes of PacMan CE and Space Invaders Extreme. The gameplay twists and smooth visual style are layered thickly on top of Arkanoid and Pong-inspired block-breaking mechanics, but for all the invention and modernity in level design, surprisingly it’s the audio that really drives this PSN-only title into the realms of a must-purchase.
Played out across colourful, sparsely-rendered arenas (think Lumines crossed with Rez), Shatter neatly encapsulates the addictiveness of an almost-forgotten genre. The basic principles will be familiar to most, with a small paddle-like vessel bouncing balls into destructible blocks and each wave needing to be cleared in order to progress. Levels orient themselves vertically, horizontally or radially, with changes in perspective occasionally complemented by a subtle camera zoom to confine or enlarge each play area.
Leaving the formulaic firmly behind, the integration of a basic push-pull physics system is key to breaking away from the considerable lineage. Holding the right trigger radiates a forcefield outwards from your craft, whilst holding the left sucks objects – including stray bricks – towards you with the same veracity. Get hit by one of these and the vessel bounces out of play for a few crucial seconds, allowing a brief opportunity of frustrating defencelessness.
The same system of exerting force on the environment also allows the player to apply swerve to the ball, enabling the designers to come up with a variety of block patterns that would previously have been unusable. Complementing these are two power-up states (activated by sucking the shards of each destroyed brick into the vessel) – allowing the brief use of a shield to protect the player from stray bits of structure or alternatively to destroy anything in range with a machine gun style ‘shard attack’. Boss battles at the end of each set of themed levels often require the use of both, but easy movement patterns and large target areas ensure the need for reaction speed is kept to a minimum.
Although latter levels stretch this formula a little thin, developer Sidhe has generally done a decent job pacing out power-ups and ramping up difficulty so that Shatter never really outlives its welcome. A complete run-through of story mode will take around two hours to complete, but with little outside of high scores and boss attack modes to tempt people back, the stylishly sparse design could also be said to mirror a distinct lack of content. At £4.79 however, that might be a little unfair, and quite honestly the audio is worth the price of entry alone.
Eclipsing almost all of the chiptunes and 8-bit revival material currently in vogue, Shatter’s combination of warm basslines sitting beneath melodic synthesised effects manages to conjure up evocative arcade memories through subtlety rather than sample. It’s a reductive and abstract approach that works in tandem with the visual design to produce an experience that exceeds the sum of its parts – and by a considerable margin in the process.
Make no mistake, without the quality of soundtrack Shatter would simply be good. With it, it becomes one of the finest examples of modern downloadable retro-remakes, comfortably sitting alongside the likes of Geometry Wars and Pac Man, and absolutely worthy of a purchase.
Shatter is currently available only on PSN, at a price point of £4.79 or $5.99 for our US brethren
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[...] the PSN title Shatter turning out to be the first game that I’ve been driven to play almost entirely to hear the next [...]