Xmas Brickout Demo

It would seem like Santa runs into trouble almost every Christmas, judging by how many movies, cartoons and video games have shown him struggling to make it every year. However, there is always someone ready to help Santa get back on track and defeat the villain, as well as deliver the presents to every child around the world in that magical night of Christmas.

Xmas Brickout is a Breakout clone featuring Santa and an obvious Christmas theme, although there is slightly more to it than that. Even if the gameplay is more or less the same as it is in every other game in the genre, there are gimmicks designed to break the monotony every once in awhile. On the other hand, there are also many mistakes and annoyances to stop you from having too much of a good time.

To begin with, the levels are rather small and crowded, which means that you have to move quickly and react just as quickly to sudden changes in the ball’s direction. However, the controls are very sluggish and slow, which brings even more frustration. The objects you have to destroy have weird collision boxes as well, so you can never be sure whether the ball will make a hit or not.

Power-ups are part of the deal, as it is customary, but they are not very helpful most of the time. Extra lives, larger paddle or additional energy are some of the possibilities, and there are negative ones as well. Hence, you might even lose a life if you don’t pay enough attention, as well as end up with a considerably smaller paddle. One thing that might annoy you a lot is the fact that a big text covers the screen for a few moments every time you pick up a power-up, and that’s enough to make you unable to see the ball as it falls.

In the technical department, everything is more or less as you would expect it, although the graphics engine is three-dimensional. This might seem like a good idea, but it’s not a very smart choice in the genre. You can get quite disoriented and lose track of the ball behind objects, not to mention the fact that each items needs to have a precise hitbox, which is not the case, unfortunately.

All things considered, Xmas Brickout is just too flawed to be fun for someone who’s a fan of the genre. On the other hand, children might find it entertaining, especially because it features Santa, snowmen and bright colors.