Breakout Beyond — it’s like they took the old brick-breaker and decided to stretch it all out, turning the usual gameplay into long fields of action. You know, it’s that kind of game you play when you’re trying to kill some time. But hey, don’t get too comfy because, yep, you gotta unlock a bunch of stuff. Odd, right? Some of you might just get fed up and drop it, but others — probably the stubborn ones — might keep coming back, especially if they’ve got a buddy joining in.
Now, let’s talk co-op. Honestly, that’s like the big cheese here. Playing solo got kind of blah after a while, but everything changed when I got my wife to grab that second paddle. It felt like we were in sync or something. Although judging by the leaderboards, maybe not everyone’s on the same page. But more on that later. First, there’s this “voyage” thing you have to deal with.
In voyage mode, you’re unlocking bombs, giving your paddle and those balls a power-up, even slowing things down (though it costs points). Trust me, when you’re deep into the game, you’ll appreciate these slow-downs. It can get brutal past those first levels, even more so if you’re going it alone. But there’s this itch, you know? The “just one more try” feeling. Fiddle with paddle sensitivity; it’s trickier than it sounds. So, you get a whopping 72 levels. My inner collector wanted to bash through them all — not that you need to. It’s still a straight shot kind of game, beat one level, unlock the next.
When it comes to looks, they’ve jazzed up the classic vibe with “procedural audio and visual effects.” Sounds fancy, right? The deeper you get, the wilder it looks and sounds. And yeah, they let you tweak music and sounds separately, which is neat.
We gotta circle back to the whole unlocking thing. Why put leaderboards and modes like infinite and the original arcade under lock and key? It’s almost baffling. Like, why not just give us the whole shebang upfront? That would give players more room to play around and not just get stuck in a rut. At least, if you manage to unlock them, leaderboards are split — global, friends, and modes. Oh, and you wanna know something cool? My wife and I hit #1 on the co-op boards. Maybe folks just prefer flying solo.
So yeah, Breakout’s hard to wreck — it’s fun, what can I say? But Choice Provisions came close with the locked content, especially the leaderboards. Still, somehow, despite that facepalm-worthy move, they nailed it, thanks to their skills and that timeless gameplay we’re all hooked on.
