Game Review: Puzzle Quest Galactrix (PSN / DS / XBLA / PC)
Review: Puzzle Quest Galactrix
Playstation Network
Developer: Infinite Interactive
Price:£15.99
Platform: PC, NDS, XBLA and PSN (reviewed version)
First off let me say that this is the first time I’ve played any PSN game, I’ve seen PAIN! being played, but for me I’ve never really been bothered for shelling out for games(however little they cost) that I’m not going to play that much. Having said that never turn a free game down and so onto Puzzle Quest Galactrix.
I picked the story mode to begin with getting straight into it. It starts with a bit too over the top voice over explaining the story. It’s then into a bit of text dialogue and then onto the game. Basically you ‘fly’ around a solar system and to planets/places to need to go are marked. Usually you fly to one place, get a bit of a story, and get your mission then head to another place to play the mission.
I’ve played three types of missions so far, fighting pirates, mining, and hacking. They’re all just variations of the same game - match 3 or more of the same colour in the circular playing grid. Now the first version I played was the fighting challenge. Connecting different colours will give you different things - red boosts your shield, green gives you energy(I think!). There are also mines on the grid, get three in a row to attack your opponent. Each mine has a number on it, and the three add up to give the damage inflicted on your opponent. Getting four in a row or multiple connection combos give you bonuses You can also attack your opponent with the weapons on your ship. This is turned based.
For the most part this is enjoyable but there are one or two problems for me. And it’s a big one, sometimes you can’t tell which way the blocks are gonna fall after you make a connection. Several times I chose to make a connection thinking blocks would come down setting up a combo, only to fall from the left or up from the right. Now it might just be me not being used to the game yet, but it’s frustrating as hell when you think you’re about to get a big combo and all you’re doing is setting up your opponent. Also there’s no time limit during this game, minor issue since the computer moves immediately, but I think it would be better if you had to think quickly about what to do.
In between mission you get experience points to upgrade yourself and can also upgrade your ship.
Now the next mission I played was gathering supplies or something of an asteroid. It was a side mission involving one of the crew members you pick up along the way, Lydia(who is very annoying as she calls you kid in every sentence). I’m not gonna go into this one much because it’s an absolute cop out. Again collect three in a row of the supplies to get them on the ship, without a time limit. Fairly standard and would be fine except for one big thing - as I was playing I was taking my time trying to see three I could connect, and then all of a sudden one of the grids flashed, just for a second, it was telling me what block to move! What’s the point in that, it takes all the challenge out of the game.
To move through the different systems(and further the story line) you have to hack through warps. This was my favourite of the game types. To hack to have to follow a code which appears in the top right hand corner of the screen, e.g. if it’s green at the top you have to clear a connection of three etc, all within a time limit. This is more like it for a challenge, a lot of fun, and you do get quite nervous when you have a colour you need to get and there’s no three blocks near each other. There are many warps in this game, so there’s plenty of chances to play this, and there are varying difficulty levels, but basically means less time to complete the code.
I haven’t been playing this game for very long, a couple of days or so, the storyline’s ok, it’s nice to have a point to playing all the different games and a goal to complete instead of just level after level. The dialogue is cheap but it doesn’t matter and the levelling up and updating of the ship etc. adds a nice touch to what otherwise would be a pretty standard puzzler. I can’t really judge it on other PSN games because, well, I’ve not played any but compared to my favourite puzzle game of all time, Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine it’s lacking. I always took great joy in getting the combos in Mean Bean Machine, but in this it just seems like a fluke if I get one, therefore it’s not as satisfying when you get a nova or supernova combo or even win the fight.
Am I gonna play this again, probably not, though I really enjoyed the hacking, the storyline isn’t enough for me to want to continue playing to see where it goes. I might play the quick game now and again, or two player, but apart from that it’s just too average for me to want to turn on the PS3 and play it. It does however, set the benchmark for all future reviews of PSN games from me, and as such this game gets a
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2.5 out of 5
Not good, not terrible, just..meh.
**It’s been two weeks since I’ve written this review and I’ve not played the game since, so I can conclude there really is nothing to drag me back to playing this game, and I wouldn't be happy paying £15.99 for it**
