Heart Apart, a Flash-based Action Shooter

Heart Apart is a flash animation action shooter created by Newgrounds.com user Stephen Colie (Coaly). The song tracks used for this creation were also made by Newgrounds.com users. Titles of tracks along with authors include Miirage! by Newgrounds.com user Arnas and Random VG Loop by Newgrounds.com user l0vemetal. This cupid-involved creation was submitted to Newgrounds.com on February 15, 2010.

Game Background

Control the evil cupid to shoot hearts to split them apart. Then, control the good cupid to repair the broken hearts.

Gameplay

There are two objectives in this action shooter. First, you will play as the evil cupid, and your goal is to split all of the hearts. The hearts will come down from the top of the screen. As they come down, shoot down the middle of the heart to split it successfully. Second, you will play as the good cupid, who sits below the sky, waiting for the fallen broken hearts. As the hearts appear, click on two that are of the same shape to seal them back together.

At the end of each level, you will receive a review that details your performance in the last level. The report will display the number of hearts that you split up, the number of hearts that you have sealed, the score you have received for that level, and your total score.

There are a total of eight levels in this creation.

At the top right hand side of the screen, you will see a number appear when you successfully split or seal a heart. This value will be accompanied by a circular meter that surrounds the number to indicate a countdown timer. You have until this timer completes its revolution to either split or seal another heart. Doing so will increase this value and reset the timer. Keeping this value up will increase your level score. Doing this for each level will help you get a better final score.

As you progress through the game, the hearts will fall in more ways. For instance, the hearts will start to spin, as well as fall sideways in addition to the initial vertical fall. You will also see a number of helpful items that will appear in the sky for you to use. When you see an item appear, simply click on the item to use it.

There is no minimum number of hearts that you will need to split or seal together in order to progress to the next level. The ultimate goal is to score the highest score possible, which means splitting and sealing as many hearts as you can, as quickly as you can.

Game Review

Heart Apart is a fun little action shooter that puts a spin on the genre. The idea of splitting and sealing hearts back to together creates a duality in the game that makes players interested. With only eight levels, it is a relatively short game and is great for breaks.

Heart Apart scores a 8/10 for a good level of entertainment and creativity.