Anyone familiar with Breakout (or other games along that vein) will be instantly comfortable with Magic Ball. You move a robotic-looking paddle back and forth on the bottom edge of the screen and keep a ball bouncing around in play, destroying things in an attempt to clear out the play space. The great thing about Magic Ball is the variety of objects and items that liter your field, as opposed to generic bricks. There will be over 100 levels to play through set in three different themes: medieval areas, pirates or a witch-filled setting. I was told that the witch area might be premium content though, which will be available for purchase via the PlayStation Network. Thus, only the medieval and pirate levels were on display during the demonstration.
The controls for Magic Ball feel great, which is especially important for such a simple, straight-forward game. The real fun comes into play when you snag a power-up and activate it with a quick press of the X button. Watching your ball bounce off a hefty assortment of dragons, knights and princesses is good fun, but opening up machine gun fire on said targets is not only satisfying but equally funny.
The power-ups aren't always good for you, however. There are both positive and negative varieties and you have to keep a close eye out for the colored circle that highlights each item -- green means "good" and red means "stay away." Some of the positive power-ups included the aforementioned machine guns, cannons, magnets, laser beams and even an item to expand the size of your paddle. But if you're not careful, you might accidentally pick up an item that makes the ball act dizzy or -- more accurately -- drunk, or a power-up that speeds up the ball and makes your job a bit tougher.
Although the graphics of Magic Ball are obviously on the simpler side, the amount of destruction going on is still visually pleasing and it looks like the Havok engine is being put to good use. Things break apart and ricochet around nicely and it not only spices up the aesthetics of it all but makes the gameplay more exciting. While it might fail to impress had it been a full disc-based release, the fact that Magic Ball is a quick downloadable affair makes the whole package way more appetizing.
I had quite a bit of fun trying my hand at some of the single-player levels, but playing with a friend (which can be done both on and offline) was even more exciting. This is especially the case when you have two or three balls in play and you really need to be on top of your game to keep the action going. Good times were had by all, for sure.
Although I haven't been told of a specific release date for Magic Ball, the game shouldn't be too far away and it'd be a safe bet to expect it by the end of the year.