Drawkanoid Review

"Neon Explosions"

Campaign

January 22, 2020 at 4:00am
By Jason Stettner

This is a rather interesting take on the block breaking genre, sending the ball out at speeds that feel infinitely quick to then slow them all the way down. It’s a rather strange setup, but one that works well for this. I’ll dive into that mechanic further under gameplay, but now onto the core experience.

Things start out with a primary game mode, where you’re taught the basics of play and then are sent out to do so. As you play you’ll gain currency in order to unlock certain permanent bonuses, special perks to choose from and then some extra modes. The core game features a seemingly random selection of segments to battle through and these apparent bosses to tackle.

Aside from the core mode that works well, there’s also Zen and then Countdown. The former is a more relaxed version of the game, whereas the latter presses you to move much quicker in your work again the clock. There’s an alright balance of modes here, but I could see some individuals not noticing the other two considering you need to get enough in-game currency in order to access them. Folks might straight up be distracted by gathering better upgrades to do better.

Gameplay

This is a very sleek, neon-centric experience with blistering fast ball movement. It’s really interesting, as that mechanic is quite unique here. What you’re doing is drawing the paddle that hits the ball and accelerates it in a particular direction. Some abilities will make this easier to do, but generally it’s quite neat. The top section finds the ball zooming past at ludicrous speeds.

At a certain point depending on much it explodes, it’ll hit the lower area and go into slow motion. When the ball is in a state of slowed action, then you can strike to get it moving around again. I found the launch a bit tough as it felt delayed after a recent failure to keep it going, and it was awkward to shoot out. Often, the ball would immediately go the wrong way as I would have issues with the launch.

The game has a very clean aesthetic, the general look that is. To the side is your current level; the lives you have left, your score and finally the current time tally. It’s easy to understand how you’re doing, and they of course display your various bonuses as well that you’ve purchased. I quite liked the visuals here, very vibrant and the high combos look really intense as well.

The Conclusion

Drawkanoid is an interesting take on the block breaking genre, presenting something unique and filled with neon explosions at blistering speeds. It’s really quite exciting, at the same time calming as well. There’s a nice beat in the backdrop, yet I felt that there’s not necessarily a lot to this. I see it as more of a novelty that you might play for a bit and get bored of. It has limited modes, and not a great sense of competition.

If you’re looking for something on the odd occasion its fine, but this does lean more towards a mobile offering. Not to be too negative as it’s generally fine, I’m just not necessarily going to keep on playing. I had a good time with it, still it could have used some additional modes or some sort of hook to help it stand out further. The mechanics are definitely neat, I liked the visuals and it’s a sleekly designed title.

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Drawkanoid Review on PC
Review Code Provided by Plan of Attack

Rating Overall: 6.7