BlockOut 2 is a freeware remake of the original Blockout game, a revamped tetris clone, released almost two decades ago by California Games, that instead of the standard 2D falling blocks, used a new environment in which the blocks had to fall through a three dimensional shaft. The premise was simple, but addictive.

The basic concept is the same as tetris: stacking blocks in order to clear a line to maintain the shaft empty of pieces; the longer you play and the more rows you clear, the pieces will fall faster, progressively increasing the difficulty. The game ends when the stack reaches the top. In Blockout, unlike tetris, the stacking must be done from a top view, making the player unable to see the lower gaps. While in Tetris, the challenge remained in the increasing speed, in Blockout the challenge relies in spatial awareness, therefore, this game requires even quicker reflexes and more advanced skills.

The controls are bit different too, since now you don’t only have to move and place the pieces, but also rotate them, which can be done in three directions using the keyboard. The score system has changed, relying in more properties, like time, height and placement of the blocks.

Blockout II is a flawless remake that has put a lot of emphasis in accurately reproducing the original game’s features and characteristics, adding the option of uploading safely your high scores with replays and statistics, making the game perfect, although it lacks music, like the original game. It also can be downloaded as Open Source.

With a faithful remake, intense system and addicting gameplay, most Tetris fans will surely enjoy this masterpiece, and probably enjoy showing off their high scores online.