Do you remember when computers were in their embryonic stage and it took two enormous machines to power a game of Pong, with two paddles knocking a ball from one side of the screen to another? Well, imagine that that game was thrown into the future, spliced with genes from Angry Birds and Blade Runner and given a banging techno soundtrack and you’ve got Quantum, the new game from MetalsGames. Come to think of it, it’s not that much like Pong at all…
As you may have guessed from its title, Quantum is a space-age adventure game in which you control an orb that releases ‘subatomic particles’ in any direction that you desire, just by dragging your thumb across the screen. The aim of the game is to get these particles to hit various goals such as other floating orbs and floating stars, but…there’s a catch. The levels are set up so that blocks are in your way any you have to get the perfect bounce to deflect the particle off the bumper and towards the goal. The orbs have a self-destruct function so that after a couple of bounces, they’ll explode and you have to try with another one.
Stored in your arsenal are a variety of power-ups that you can activate, including Ghost Particles that float through the blocks, shielded particles that go on for ever until they hit your goal or disappear through an exit and a ‘Perfect Bounce Hint’ in which an arrow points you towards that, well, perfect bounce. The number of power-ups is limited but you can earn more by hitting the Quarks (the floating stars mentioned before) to get coins that you can use in the store.
The visual effects are fairly impressive and I particularly like the Janusian aspect of the yin and yang coloured ball, each side shooting a particle in the opposite direction of the other. However, it’s the music that wins first prize for me, the original soundtrack being a crunching techno score…rock on, MetalsGames!
This game is a fun little time-killer and considering that it’s free, there’s nothing to stop you checking it out. It sure beats Pong, anyway…
(Tip: The paid version as an in-app purchase is worth the buck as it gets rid of all of the ads.)
