Breakout Beyond Review - Busting for the Goal
They say that if at first you don’t succeed, then try, try again. This so happens to be something Atari have been doing as they worked to modernise Breakout in the last few years. The thing is? With Breakout Beyond, they’ve gotten so close to nailing it, outside of a few small quirks. It all starts with developer Choice Provisions, the devs responsible for the Bit.Trip games. That helps set expectations – don’t expect Breakout Beyond to be one you’ll be playing forever, instead being suited to short bursts of play. Like the original arcade game, you smash blocks by bouncing a ball into them. Unlike it, you don’t need to smash them all to win. Instead, smashing blocks advances the level along, and once the goal line is in sight, getting the ball over it will Break Out and win the stage.
Mastering ball control is the key here. Like the original, where the ball hits your paddle will influence its rebound direction, but you can also add spin by moving your paddle as you hit the ball. Combined with the hit and rebound sounds being played through the PS5’s controller, there’s some nice feedback for keeping the ball in play as you break those blocks. The main Voyage mode consists of 72 stages. These can be played solo, or with a friend, and simply require you to get to the exit as mentioned earlier. They’ve all got their own hooks, meaning you’ll have to figure out the right spot to launch your ball to get things moving.
A challenge I feel gets bolstered by the time limit imposed on each level. Thankfully the game won’t end should that expire, but it will start making blocks indestructible which can trap you if you haven’t cleared enough. Blocks also serve as a second threat, as your paddle can be momentarily frozen should you touch one, meaning there’s a risk you could miss a wayward ball. You have a few tricks up your sleeve to even the odds – the first being a pair of control modifiers. Sprint mode lets you zip across the screen to intercept the ball. Focus mode gives you bullet time for finer control, though at the cost of reducing both your score and combo meter.
One more bonus to the PlayStation 5 version is that you can use the controller’s TouchPad as an alternate input method. I didn’t find it as precise as the thumb stick, which is no surprise based on its size, but it’s a neat option nonetheless. The other trick comes in the form of power-ups, which are slowly introduced as you progress through the game. There’s a mix of offensive and defensive ones on offer – from various bombs to multi-balls and a blaster on the offensive side, to a protective barrier and extra lives on the defensive one.
Levels will typically have a fixed set of power-ups to hand, though there are some that feature wild card blocks. For these, you can pick from any of the power-ups you’ve unlocked to be substituted in. It offers a nice twist on the challenge, letting you add those items that suit your play style into the mix. All of this contributes to working your way to some chaotic action, and for me, this is where Breakout Beyond is at its strongest. Triggering a multi-ball power-up (or two), and watching those balls ping about the level at speed, with the barrier keeping in play as possible might sound daunting at first, but once it all comes together, it’s magical.
The real joy though is in getting a ball through the goal and watching that Break Out sequence, especially if you’ve spent way too long trying to bust through an infuriating stage. This contrasts with the relatively slow pace that many levels start out with, thanks to the distance to the opening blocks, and the ball’s starting speed. I found myself zoning out more than a few times here, resulting in balls being lost and needing a quick restart to get back on track. Compressing things down a bit would have helped the gulf in pacing not feel as fast, which would have helped keep players hooked.
What also doesn’t help is that Voyage mode feels like busy work – sure, it keeps your high score and combo, but only locally. So the scoring penalty for using Focus mode to save your skin becomes redundant when the only person affected is you and you alone. Of course, you can’t just skip it as you need to play through it to unlock Infinite mode, which gives you three lives to see how far you can go. It also has an online leaderboard, so you’ll be spending most of your time here once it’s unlocked, as there’s little reason to go back to the Voyage mode.
The overall aesthetic to Breakout Beyond channels its throwback tribute well – from the glowing visuals, to each level’s name having some reference to Atari’s history, and to the soundtrack which contributes spectacularly to the atmosphere as you ball builds up speed, and the levels get more lively. I had a fun enough time with Breakout Beyond. It gave me plenty of challenge, with some frustration, but in the long term, I can’t help but feel it’s one best appreciated by arcade fans who are willing to accept the lack of leaderboards in its main mode.
Breakout Beyond was reviewed on PS5 with code kindly supplied by the publisher.
