14 DAY TRIAL // Who doesn’t remember the classic Atari Breakout game that caused insane addiction back in 1976? Previous game clones could only try and reach up to the level of the original game by adding new power-ups, better graphics and various touchups to the physics behind the game.
Just when we thought that all the Breakout themes were depleted, along comes Break-Out the Bible with the promise of adding some educational note to the game. Indeed, DivineGames have managed to create the right theme for the game and decided naming the levels according to some of the most important chapters of the Bible. The thought of playing a Bible-themed Breakout might be somewhat hard to take in all at once, but when you start playing you’ll remember how much fun the classic game really was.
An interesting feature of this new clone is that it provides a short description of each chapter of the Bible, which you can read while bouncing the ball like crazy and breaking out bricks. From the educational point of view I commend the developers for trying to teach the younger generation the basic ideas from our sacred book of origins. On the other hand, I’m inclined to say that this is their most impressive achievement considering that the gameplay is somewhat buggy, at best.
If the classic Breakout tried to offer a realistic control over the ball and the way it bounced off the walls and paddle, this Bible-themed clone seems to have forgotten this very important aspect of the gameplay. Whenever you will try to get the ball to bounce off the top margin, you’ll be surprised to find out that instead of going in a ninety degree angle, like it’s supposed to, most of the times it comes back on the same trajectory. This is a serious downfall if you ask me, which will cost you a huge number of lost lives throughout the game.
I’m all for changing the classic Breakout paddle, but when you give it a book skin and also add an aura to it, make sure that it still acts as a paddle and you’re not just changing it to preserve the game’s theme. As you play a couple of levels, you’ll notice that the paddle has a few bugs such as trapping the ball between the book and the aura for a short while, making it impossible to predict where the ball will bounce off next. Also, no matter how hard and fast you pull the mouse, you’ll never get to move the paddle with precise accuracy and immediate response. As if it were lagging, the book themed paddle turns out to be slow on the reaction time and imprecise on nudging the ball in the right direction.
Still, if you get past these hiccups, you’ll find the game to be lively colored and equipped with inspirational backgrounds that depict some of the most important scenes from the Holy Book. The short descriptions on each level will give children just the right amount of information they need so that they’ll get the basic ideas.
As a conclusion, the theme is pretty original and perhaps this was the only one missing when it comes to Breakout clones. As regards the overall gameplay, not having an insane amount of power-ups and not being able to predict the physics of the ball turn the game into a not so viable candidate for the best Breakout clone ever. If you are willing to give the game a try and relive a Breakout experience, try the trial version first and then you can unlock the full extent of the game for only $3.99.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
