Cosmic Waves review

Since its 1976 debut in arcades, Atari’s Breakout has spawned sequels, clones, and dozens of paddle-and-ball deviations. The latter are especially interesting, adding mechanics like Arkanoid’s assistive power-ups, Shattered’s ability to adjust the trajectory of the ball, or in the case of Atari’s own Breakout Beyond, the capacity for slowing down time.

Developed by Krakow-based solo developer Łukasz Wyrostek (aka Squirrel Knight), Cosmic Waves is a brick-breaker that incorporates all of these innovations while adding several of its own ingredients to the classic formula. While it’s not quite revolutionary enough to win over those who are indifferent to the genre, Cosmic Waves’ accessibility and multitude of cool mechanics should win over those with bricks left to bust.

Tower Power, Activate!

One of Cosmic Waves most inventive new features are the Energy Towers that line the side of each stage. Rather than just bouncing your ball with a simple paddle, you can charge up these towers and unleash waves that temporarily power-up your orbs. Not unlike a pinball bumper, the fields produced by these spires can radically a ball’s speed, angle, or destructive power. Being able to manipulate the trajectory of the ball forces you to concentrate a bit harder, in hopes of seizing any kind of advantage across the timed levels.

The good news is that Waves forgoes with the monotony of having to break every on-screenbrick. The only slightly bad news is that earning that coveted “S” grade is tough and perfectionists will have to replay levels. But given that stages typically only last for a few minutes, this isn’t much of a vexation.

A Smashing Good Time

Beyond basic ball manipulation, Cosmic Waves mixes things up with additional complications.  Some obstacles can only be broken when your orb is powered-up by a specific tower, mimicking the skill-shot of a pinball table. Similarly, parts of the playfield might be inaccessible until you deactivate a switch that has fortified shielding. Additionally, you’ll gain the ability slow down time and acquire weapons that can help blast away section of each playfield.

Beyond this, you also have access to 24 random temporary bonuses that rain down from above and tempt you with collection. Green power-ups provide universal benefits like extra lives while yellow boosts provide situational advantages such as large orbs or multi-ball play. Meanwhile, red icons are power-down, penalizing players with traits like paddle shrinkage.

Build-A-Paddle Workshop

Smartly, progression in Cosmic Waves feels purposeful. As you break blocks and defeat enemies, you’ll collect resources to upgrade your weapons, expand paddle abilities, and even augment the range and power of your energy towers. This upgrade component not only encourages replayability but also lets players personalize their playstyle. Whether you’re a score chaser or just trying to work your way through the campaign, options accommodated each approach.

Visually, Waves delivers fluid sixty frame per second output on portable PCs like Steam Deck and ROG Ally with similar performance on low-end laptops. Pleasingly, the galactic backdrops, tables built on the backs of spacecraft, and animated effects all gel together smoothly. The result is a clean aesthetic that ensures you won’t lose any orbs amidst graphical clutter. The energetic soundtrack, composed by Jeramiah “Module” Ross, (Shatter) complements the fast-paced gameplay with plenty of catchy cadences.

Breakout Fans: Don’t Miss This Wave

Perhaps the only contentious part of Cosmic Waves is the exhibition. The campaign stars a pair of heroic wolves and their robot sidekick, which aims to deliver the kind of light-hearted interludes that drive action games. While the interactions with a succession of animal antagonists and the amateurish voice acting are overtly bad, you’ll likely want to get back to the breaking blocks, deactivating switches, grabbing power-ups, and confronting Wave’s tough boss battles.

Summary: Cosmic Waves takes the classic brick-breaker formula and gives it a futuristic nudge with charged-up towers, smart upgrades, and plenty of wild power-ups. It probably won’t convert genre skeptics, but fans of paddle-and-ball chaos will find plenty to love here. Maybe skip the story bits, though.

Cosmic Waves was played on PC with review code provided by the publisher.