Magic Orbz is a break ball game made by Creat Studios that has the twist of being rendered in 3D with both vertically and horizontally constructed levels. The walls to break in this game are both classic brick-like objects and random things like blades of grass (in the grassy stage), pirates, trees, and cats. Every living thing you hit has a sound effect, but most get annoying after the first time.

There seems to be a physics engine that makes stacked blocks and things fall as you break their foundation. This physics feature often makes walls of blocks fall leading to either infuriating walls that end up in multiple deaths, or massive combos that are often invisible behind most of the level.

The 3D aspect to the game is an interesting twist on traditional break ball games, but it only serves to obstruct your view of the ball when it is in the background. This becomes problematic on nearly every level and often leads to deaths that could have easily been avoided if the camera could be adjusted.

The final innovative thought in the game is the angled back walls. I would have liked to see this better explored as a means for getting max combo scores, but they seem to not have such a premeditated purpose. Ultimately these walls just end up making it more annoying to get the last few blocks to finish each level.

Ultimately, this game is a decent attempt at innovation for a minigame, but falls well short of its potential by trying to do too much.

Pros:

• Power ups have a clear use and some are fun
• Controls are functional
• Getting big combos is pretty fun to watch on the clearer levels
• Developer attempted innovation so it’s not just a clone of prior break ball games

Cons:

• 3D obstructs vision and there are no options to adjust it
• Platform’s hit box does not coincide with visual image
• Invisible things in levels that shoot the ball strait down to death are frustrating
• Unintuitive targets that don’t indicate number of hits necessary to break

Final Grade: D

This review was conducted on a downloadable review copy of the game for the PlayStation 3 provided by Creat Studios.