Review: Magic Orbz

Posted by Chubiggans on December 10th, 2009 | 0 Comments | Tags: Magic Orbz

Magic Ball is a game of the breakout genre where you must clear most of the blocks to progress to the next level. What’s original about Magic Ball are the physics and 3D aspects of it, something that makes it worth checking out if you’re a fan of these types of games.

The game utilizes a 3D plane and puts up houses, ships, and so on in the game area. If you destroy a mountain that houses a castle, for example, the castle might fall and spill all over the arena. It’s quite entertaining to see the physics react to your well placed shots. Every now and then a powerup appears out of a freshly destroyed item, which could give your paddle a machine gun or cannon, or perhaps make the ball larger or stronger. Then there are “reverse powerups” that can turn the ball into a crazy ball that swerves everywhere, or makes your paddle smaller. And then there’s the skull and crossbones powerup that instantly kills you if you touch it. Man I hate those.

What’s missing from the game is a sense of urgency. Shatter, a much more interesting breakout game released a few months ago, has a sense of excitement and thrills given off by the music and ambiance. Magic Ball seems to be nearly the polar opposite, having a much slower pace with little consequences to your actions, and as a result lesser excitement. Lose all your lives in a level? Simply restart it with the lives you had going into the level. Get almost all the bricks except a stray few? That’s alright; you can still progress to the next level. This isn’t a bad thing per se, just a more casual feel and as a result not quite as entertaining.

But if you’ve already purchased Shatter and are looking for another breakout game, this will fit the bill fine. It’s certainly a solidly made game, just not quite the “breakout” hit I was expecting, hardy har har.

This game was purchased for review purposes. For more info on our review policy click here. This review is for the PlayStation 3 version of the game.

Click Here to purchase Magic Orbz from Amazon.com