BreakQuest is the first effort of European independent developer Nurium. It begins with the classic gameplay of Breakout; use a paddle to bounce a ball against a wall of blocks where each hit of the ball destroys a block. Over the years, there have been numerous games attempting to build on this style of gameplay. Few have achieved any real degree of success. This game does. There is some sort of a plot in BreakQuest, but it's beyond irrelevant. Gameplay is where BreakQuest really shines. The difficulty has been carefully tuned to be perfectly balanced. The paddle is convex, giving the player more control over where it goes. An ability to temporarily increase gravity (and alter the path of the ball) adds a bit more control. Assorted power-ups offer more ways to control the ball or otherwise destroy bricks (such as explosive rockets). In addition, a 'reserve' ball is automatically launched wtih the primary ball is lost, giving players at least two chances per life. Not every power-up is helpful, but few are truly lethal. Again, each power-up is thoughtfully designed and carefully tuned to alter, but never disrupt, gameplay. Of course, each of the 100 levels features a different 'brick' to be destroyed. Some take multiple hits, sometimes pinball-like permanent bumpers litter the field, bricks may be square or round or very large or very small. Each level presents its own quirk to be adapted to. The physics engine keeps things running smoothly and has been glitch-free to date. Graphically, the visuals are simply adequate for the needs of the game. They are clean and glitch-free, but below the 1024x768 that seems to dominate computer games for the moment. The upside is, this game will run on almost any computer. The downside is, it's not as pretty as it could be. Music is a bouncy, synthesizer-sounding track scored by professional musicians. It complements gameplay, but does not distract. At 19.99 US dollars, BreakQuest is budget-priced. Honestly, it'd seem like a better value at the 15 dollar level because there's no CD, manual, etc. that one expects for his (or her) sawbuck. But BreakQuest is a very, very good game with gameplay that many will find addictive, so it's a minor quibble at best. The variety of power-ups insure each game will be different, even when playing the same level. This means plenty of replay value. All in all, BreakQuest is a game worth your time and money.
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