Casual Review

Full Review

Something that’s always bugged me about brick breaker games is how similar they are. You can fire up almost any of them, and when you strip away the graphic tweaks or the pattern variations, you’re still playing Arkanoid. Even the power-ups are mostly the same from game to game. And you always seem to spend an hour trying to break that last… single… brick. Well, not anymore. Here comes BreakQuest, to save you from the monotony.

BreakQuest throws just about everything you know about brick breakers out the window. First, there’s no standard brick set. Every level is different and has a specific theme. Whether you’re destroying the ever-advancing aliens from space invaders or twanging musical bricks on a string that vibrates the whole row, each level is a completely new and exciting experience. You have to learn how to do each level as you go, which is very challenging and exciting. Second, the power-ups do have some of the classic mainstays (widen padel, slow ball), but Nurium also threw in some completely original ones (drunk ball, sputnik, land mines), as well as a whole host of missile types to complement the basic shooter power found in most breakers.

Perhaps the most original addition and the one that makes for some really cool gameplay is the gravity bar, though. You have a gravity meter in the corner of your screen, and you can right click the mouse at any time to arc the ball back down towards your paddle. This gives you immense control over the launched ball once you learn how to use it correctly, and allows you to change the path of the ball in mid air or aim for specific bricks, as well as just returning the ball if you launch it wrong. This helps a lot with that end of level frustration found in most brick breakers where you’re trying to hit that last brick for an eternity.

The music and sound are top notch, as well. Every level seems to have had a musical ditty hand-picked for it, and it always fits the theme perfectly. Explosions and ricochets have appropriate sound effects, and often levels correlate hitting certain bricks to a musical note which makes for some very interesting level sounds. It’s very enjoyable.

Newbies beware, though: This game is hard. There are three difficulty settings, but I’ve played my fair share of brick breakers and on normal it often takes me all of my lives just to beat a level. Fortunately, once you beat a level it’s unlocked forever and you can start the next one at any time.

If you’re looking for a different brick breaker or you just like seeing an original game, you should definitely have a look at BreakQuest. It’s very original, very fun, and highly recommended.

Review by Cameron Sorden