Arkanoid: Eternal Battle, the proven return of a historical series
Arkanoid
The first Arkanoid dates back to 1986, when it was launched as a coin-op by Taito. The source of inspiration was clear to everyone from the first glance: Atari Breakout. The goal was always to break brick walls by making us bounce on a ball, but with so many variations on the theme as to make the gameplay fresh and, in its own way, original, including bonuses that widened the racket or provided lasers, monsters crowding the levels making the ball take trajectories that are often difficult to predict and the very design of the stages, with the bricks used to draw different figures. There was also a final boss, Doh, who closed the game with an unexpected clash for such a title.The success was such that a sequel was produced, Arkanoid: Revenge of Doh, as well as many home ports, some of which were of great quality and success. From there a real series was born, which however never managed to take flight. Arkanoid Returns from 1997 didn't have a big echo, as did the beautiful Arkanoid DS. Even the landing on mobile, which took place in more recent years, has not produced who knows what a fuss, despite the good quality of the offer (think of Arkanoid vs Space Invaders). This is why we tried Arkanoid: Eternal Battle with a certain curiosity, asking ourselves the question: will it be able to restore luster to the series?
Eternal Battle mode
The battle royale mode works The Arkanoid: Eternal Battle demo, published on Steam on the occasion of the Steam Next Fest, focuses on the Eternal Battle mode, basically the Battle Royale one . However, it is right to specify that the final version of the game, out on October 27, 2022, will offer four overall modes: two single player (Neo and Retro) and two multiplayer (Versus and, indeed, Eternal Battle). We decided to specify it right away so as to answer one of the questions you are sure to be asking yourself, especially if you are a longtime Arkanoid fan. We will talk about the game as a whole in the review phase. Now let's focus on Eternal Battle, the mode that we have had the opportunity to touch.As mentioned, it is a battle royale-style challenge, in which twenty-five players face off level after level to whoever scores the most points . Whoever remains in the queue leaves the game, gradually until there is only one player left, the winning one. The fight takes place on normal Arkanoid levels, where everyone plays on their behalf. On the screen, however, you can always see in which position you are in the ranking, so as to realize the risks you run.
The basics of the mode are similar to those of other battle royale taken from classic video games, such as Tetris 99, in which the historical formula of the gameplay is laid on a modern competitive vision. Yes, because we are dealing with a real Arkanoid, with all the trappings of the case. As in the original, the goal is to destroy brick walls with different shapes, you have to manage the enemies that populate the levels and you can collect upgrades to make your life easier. For example, you can widen the racket, or you can glue the ball to it, so that you can aim it better in the next shot. There are also lasers, ball multipliers and various bonuses, which are particularly useful, since the comparison is on points. The bricks of them are the classic ones: there are the basic ones, which are destroyed with a single bounce, the most resistant ones, which must be hit several times, and the indestructible ones, which serve to make the structure of the stage more complicated.
Arkanoid: Eternal Battle will also have single player modes Consider that it is not always necessary to clean up all the pictures, which instead are scrolled, based on the performance of the players, to ensure the uniformity of the challenge and the possibility to score points and not get bogged down, perhaps with the last brick that you can't reach due to a series of unfortunate circumstances. Of course it is essential to keep the ball in play, which on its own, when it goes off the screen, does not lose a life, but subtracts points. When there are four players left, the final battle begins against a revived Doh, particularly ethereal and aggressive. In this case the goal is not to destroy it, but to hit it to score more points than the others. At the end of the game, based on your performance, you receive experience points that allow you to level up.
Honestly we didn't expect it, but the battle royale mode of Arkanoid: Eternal Battle turned out to be a nice one surprise, which works well and offers a fair comparison, but without giving up the spirit of the series. It remains to be seen how much it will be able to hold on to modern players and how many will go beyond the initial curiosity to see the return of a classic. The premises are certainly good, the title seems to be well developed, but in these cases nothing is to be taken for granted.
