Written by: Mark

 

 

Before you give up on reading this review due to the game being yet another XBLA puzzle title let me explain a few things. Firstly "Axel and Pixel" is not the usual standard fare of block dropping, colour matching or gem swapping. Axel and Pixel is a very nicely presented, story driven game with puzzles that require thought.

 

At first i was slightly in the mindset that this would be one to miss but having heard about the concept of the game i thought that for 800ms points that this may throw up something different to the huge number of other puzzle games on the format and it did not take long for me to but pleasantly surprised with the overall game.

 

 

Axel and Pixel tells the story of an artist named Axel and his faithful dog companion named Pixel as they find themselves trapped inside a dreamworld created by Axel. The main objective is to embark on a quest to find a path through the entire dreamworld which span the four seasons of the year and along the way solve a variety of puzzles.

 

If truth be known the story does lack a little depth however it is the well designed puzzles and beautiful presentation which gives the game it’s undoubted charm.

 

 

The first thing that strikes you with the game is just how well designed it is with each of the puzzles taking place on a single screen which is very nice to look at and draws comparisons with the excellent Braid in it’s artistic style. Although each stage takes place on a single screen this does not detract from how nice looking the game is and it is so easy on the eye that the single screen gameplay style becomes of secondary importance particularly with the amount of content both background and interactive available to the player.

 

 

To add to the games undoubted good looks is the nice easy listening soundtrack which again can best be described as being similar to that found in Braid and is a nice score to chill out to which is very welcome when looking to tackle the trickier puzzles.

 

There is no doubt that in terms of overall presentation Axel and Pixel is one of those games which looks and sounds far too good to be an 800ms point game but for all it is nice the key element is the gameplay and how that is structured.

 

 

It is without question that XBLA is a perfect format for games in the puzzle genre and currently there are so many similar titles available that it would take something pretty unique to become a hit and the puzzle elements of Axel and Pixel undoubtedly bring something new to the table and will ensure that the game should become a success.

 

There are a number of gameplay differences in Axel and Pixel, the main being that the game can be compared with the point and click style of games as you control a curser which lights up over objects that can be interacted with and it is up to the player to decide how best to use these as each stage takes a lot of logical thinking. Admittedly at times this does take a little too much thought as each stage requires a variety of tasks to be done in order as to complete the level. The downside to this is that sometimes the puzzles are a little on the bizarre side although once they have been completed it gives the player a sense of achievement.

 

 

Whilst the puzzle elements are mostly well designed the actual use of the curser can at times make puzzles easier than they should be as the curser glows when an object can be used and at times this gives a few too many clues on how to progress.