Energy Invasion (PlayStation 4) Review

Genre reinvention and re-evaluation hasn't exactly been a new concept for a few generations now. Platformers, shooters, and RPGs come out every year to try to break the mold and redefine what it means to be a videogame in their respective genres. As is the case with any title, some are good, some are bad, and some are forgotten entirely. While levels of success vary from release to release, they do all share one defining feature: they attempt to redefine modern genres. Modern not in the sense that these genres are new but, rather, that they are still prevalent in the current generation. It's far more unusual to see a developer go back to gaming's youth in the 1970s to explore a genre, but this is exactly what Sometimes You has done with Energy Invasion.

By going back to the 1970s' Breakout, an arcade game that involved bouncing a ball off a paddle to break blocks, Energy Invasion does lock itself into a predicament that many games strive to avoid: simplicity. Simply put, the core concept behind the gameplay is incredibly basic. How could it not be? It's based on an arcade classic from over 40 years ago. Simplicity isn't always a bad thing, however, and Sometimes You adds enough gameplay tweaks so it still resembles Breakout, yet creates a brand new identity.

Instead of just bouncing a ball off a paddle to break blocks, both analogue sticks must be used to ensure the blocks break at all. Most blocks need to be worn down, but bumping into them doesn't do the trick. By utilising the right analogue stick, the main ball can fire off missiles in any direction to damage, and break, the blocks. This twin-stick style of interactivity keeps the gameplay engaging, far more so than its inspiration ever was.

Gameplay is nothing without level design, however. Energy invasion offers three main modes of play to choose from: Invasion, Linear, and Endless. Invasion is the main campaign, where breaking blocks is coupled with avoiding enemy attacks, Linear is a more straightforward campaign with design more in-tune with the original Breakout's, and Endless is an infinite mode where players continue until they game over. All three have their own difficulty curve to keep players on their toes, but Invasion and Linear only have 25 stages apiece. Thankfully, this isn't as big of an issue as it would seem, as the core gameplay is fairly addictive. It certainly helps that the soundtrack is always changing, always transitioning into new tracks, and always creating a surreal atmosphere.

More than anything, the star of the show here is Nick R 61's score. At times, it's bombastic, capturing the feel of an invasion. Other times, it's haunting, adding an atmosphere no one at Atari would have expected to be attributed with its simple block buster blockbuster. While the gameplay certainly feels like a progression of Breakout's formula, it's the spirit of the music that solidifies Energy Invasion as a proper evolution.