A Sideways Spin on a Brick-Breaking Classic
If you’ve ever picked up a controller, there’s a decent chance you’ve played a Breakout game; if not one from the original franchise, one of the many, many clones.
And if you have played one of those games previously, there’s a very good chance you’ll get on well with Breakout Beyond. See, it’s Breakout. Just different.
A Vertical Velocity
From Atari and Choice Provisions, Breakout Beyond takes pretty much everything and anything you would know about a Breakout game, and then flips it, literally, onto its side, turning things into something that ever-so-slightly plays as a side scrolling shooter.
Of course, the basics stay the same and in Breakout Beyond you take charge of a (very thin) light paddle, batting a ball – or, as fast becomes the case, a multitude of balls – at a wall of blocks. Your goal? It’s to break through. Obviously.
Speed and Focus: Mastering the Pace
An end zone awaits in every one of the 72 stages on offer here, but whether you’ll get to them all very much depends on your ball-batting skills. It depends even more on your reflexes.
Breakout Beyond is a fast paced game, one that we feel is probably a bit too fast. Perhaps that’s our aging fingers talking, but for the vast majority of our time with this brick breaker, we’ve relied heavily on the right bumper on our Xbox Elite controller. Holding this down slows the action of Breakout Beyond into ‘Focus Mode’, ensuring that it’s a much more manageable affair.
There are negatives to that little ‘cheat’ though and it will mean that the score chasing and combo building that is a huge part of Beyond, is very much pushed to one side. You’ll want to build combos as much as possible if you can, supercharging the ball, making it more destructive – and faster again – in the process. But frankly, we’ve found it for the best to take things nice and slowly. In fact, we’re not too sure if we would ever have made it through even the first few levels without knuckling down with that more focused option.
Spin and Special Abilities
The paddle can be sped up too, with a little whack of a trigger, and so utilising both sets of mechanics is a good option to make use of. And from there comes spin, actioned by striking the ball whilst moving the Paddle. It’s a good way of shifting those balls around the screen, but does also make any ball route anticipation even more tricky to consider.
The many power ups that are present are also appreciated. Much like in many brick breakers (although we’re not too sure how many were present in the very original game), Breakout Beyond features multiple power-up types, all designed to help you break through the walls that await. They also aid in that score building if number chasing is your thing, with multi-balls, ass-saving barriers, lasers and even the opportunity to turn your bat into a shot-firing cannon all present.
Co-op Chaos: Double the Paddles, Double the Fun
You’ll want to lean on all the tools at your disposal as you work your way through Beyond, possibly even running local cooperative angles too. This adds in another player, and in turn, another paddle sitting just behind the original player’s bat. And it works well too, as family and friends join forces to become an all-conquering ball-batting team. For us, that’s fine for a little while, but have mostly found the addictive qualities of Breakout Beyond to pop in the single player. Each to their own though, and if you’ve a local couch-based friend, should find some joy here.
There are limited leaderboards to go chasing too, as well as an infinite Endless mode should your needs call.
However you play, Breakout Beyond is a visual treat. It’s like November 5th going off in your living room, with vibrant neon colours turning the entire experience into a bit of a light show. Of course, with so many explosions going off at once, and the sheer speed of Breakout Beyond already at a limit, a sensory overload could well come into play. Yet there’s no doubting that this is a game that is visually hot; audibly too with a cracking soundtrack bringing things together even more, ramping as progress is made.
A Fast-Paced and Addictive Brick-Breaking Reinvention
In all, Breakout Beyond delivers a bit of a unique take on an old classic. It may look to reinvent, but ultimately this is Breakout, flipped. Long term play may be an issue, but if you’re looking for a big old hit of nostalgia, mixed in with plenty of modern day touches, this is one to consider. Just ensure you bring your A-game to the table, as well as the reflexes of a cat.
Important Links
Sideways is the New Up – Breakout Beyond Flips the Script on the Classic – https://www.thexboxhub.com/sideways-is-the-new-up-breakout-beyond-flips-the-script-on-the-classic/
Breakout Beyond: A Brick-Breaking Blast from the Past – https://www.thexboxhub.com/breakout-beyond-a-brick-breaking-blast-from-the-past/
Buy Breakout Beyond on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/breakout-beyond/9nkfrjlg0r17
