Dark Matter takes the basic idea behind
Asteroids and tries to give it a more modern spin. The first and more noticeable feature is the 30 mission Campaign Mode. While the story behind the missions is forgettable and maybe unnecessary, the campaign gives you a general sense of direction. The campaign map is laid out in a honey-comb pattern. Clicking on one of the spaces brings you to a level. The first few levels feature nothing but asteroids to shoot at, but as you progress through the game, you will eventually come up against other space ships and even a boss or two.
Gameplay sticks to the same blast and move premise of the original. Your ship can spin around in place or, with the push of a button, boost around the level. Your goal is to destroy groups of large asteroids that float around the map. The trick is that every time you destroy a large asteroid, it breaks into smaller ones. This continues until the small asteroids are nothing but space dust.
Although the inclusion of other ships and bosses does add something new, Dark Matter can't escape the one issue that seems to plague all classics - it gets boring. There is very little to distinguish levels from one another and the gameplay doesn't change up enough over time. Dark Matter is great in short bursts, but not something you'll want to play for hours on end.
Challenge Mode is also available. Here you start from the beginning and try to survive long enough to post a high score.
