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Game Review

Puzzle Quest Galactrix – Game Review

Often when a game gains success the publisher will attempt to follow that success with a sequel, unfortunately these tend to be unimagined remakes of the original with a new skin. Puzzle Quest Galactrix may look like the original Puzzle Quest set in space, but it has so much more to offer Puzzle Quest veterans and newbies alike. Aside from involving gem matching in the majority of your activities, Puzzle Quest Galactrix changes the game.

While the game does use the same system of gem matching, it allows for much more complex strategies, since the board is now no longer a grid, but a circle. Of course with a change in board shape comes a change in the shape of the individual pieces. Rather than being round and shift in four different directions, the pieces are now hexagonal and can move in six different directions. This adds a little more strategy in how you maneuver pieces, especially because instead of the skulls of the previous game there are now mines which can do up to 10 damage each. Unlike the original game where all you had was health, your character now has shields as well, meaning even though you could take over thirty damage in a turn it is possible to recover. Puzzle Quest Galactrix eliminates the ability to collect money on the game board, but the board does contain other objects aside from energy, in the form of three separate colors, and mines. These objects are Psi, which is used to run away from combat (after you have unlocked the ability), experience, which is used to gain levels, and shield, which is used to replenish your shields while in combat. The goal in battles remains unchanged, defeat your opponent by using mines or with skills. Unlike the original Puzzle Quest you no longer gain skills by gaining levels, and you also do not gain more health either. These changes make Puzzle Quest Galactrix last longer and allow for more customization.

Puzzle Quest Galactrix

Unlike the original game where you choose a class and are restricted in your skills, skills are now crafted in a one-sided mini-game, allowing you to get any skills you want. Of course you have to meet a few prerequisites, but aside from that you have an endless number of choices. The same goes for your avatar, even though you pick your hero you can change the ship you use for adventuring. By changing your ship you can have more speed (for use on the map), more hull integrity (health), and more cargo space. Speed becomes necessary when you want to evade enemies on the map, while cargo space is needed when you are trying to collect things from asteroids. This collection process is also done through a mini-game, which is rather similar to the mini-game played to gain skills.

Puzzle Quest GalactrixOne of the most frustrating mini-games, but the most interesting is the hacking mini-game, which is needed to move to new areas on the galaxy map. It is frustrating because it is timed and must be played using a very different strategy from the battles. In the battles you are always trying to create combos and cause a cascading of new pieces to appear on the board. While you can do this in the hacking mini-game, the fact it is timed means you lose precious seconds as your moves are being resolved, also if these pieces being eliminated do not match the color in the hacking sequence then the match can amount to a big waste of time. Unfortunately if you do not enjoy this mode you may find exploration to be difficult.

Puzzle Quest GalactrixAll in all the game adds many new ways to play, but with these new features, comes a slight learning curve, where veteran players must break old habits. With the ability to choose any skills you want, you can create the perfect build to fit your style, and the numerous quests and puzzles will keep you entertained for a rather long time. Of course the most important question is, is it worth buying? To be honest, this game is a definite cool plus for puzzle quest fanatics, while people who like puzzle games fall into the cool or cool minus category. As for which system to get it on, the PC and the DS have pretty intuitive control schemes, while the XBOX 360 and PS3 offer better graphics than the DS. It depends on what you want, but to be honest the PC gives you the best of both worlds, but for those who want it on the go, the DS is really your only option right now.

Puzzle Quest Galactrix is available now to purchase from Amazon.com.

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About The Author

Genuwine Jon Hammer

The self proclaimed "Genuwine" Jon Hammer, currently a student studying at Digipen Institute of Technology to be a programmer. I am a huge pop culture nerd, so movies, music, tv, podcasts, and games are all important to me, in fact if I often post about such topics on my twitter.

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