Written by: Ian

 

 

 

'Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords' was one of the most innovative and exciting hybrid games to be released when it first came out. However, after coming out on pretty much every platform available, can the series cope with a sequel, especially when it involves a complete change of setting into the wilds of space?

 

Welcome to "Puzzle Quest: Galactrix".

 

 

Like with the first title, the game presents you as a generic character that you can give one of a few appearances, before setting off on your mission. Things then start off fairly quiet, with some standard small, insignificant quests, but you’ll soon find yourself trekking across space hunting down a rogue clone who is hell bent on destroying civilisation and taking over what’s left for himself.

 

It’s a little more generic than the story in the previous game, and a lot of the extra length over the first game feels a little like unnecessary padding- a lot of the game involves some ponderous travelling, which will probably result in some random encounters along the way. It’s no disaster, but I certainly was never as engaged as I was with the first game.

 

 

The complication, cheating AI and general frustration, combined with the fact that D3 over-saturated me with the first game meant that I have far less goodwill towards this title, especially given the more generic art style. It’s a real shame, and hardcore PQ fans will still enjoy the game, but for me, whilst the core game is still fun, I found it a slight regression over challenge of the warlords.

 

 

Graphically, the game is excellent from a technical perspective, but I was also pretty disappointed by the overall art style involved. The same can be said for the sound design too.

 

Everything looks seriously crisp and clear, and all the art has clearly been rendered at a really high resolution, so to me it’s a real shame that a lot of the magic has been lost.

Most of the characters, ships, planets and effects look really generic. They could have been stolen from any sci-fi franchise, and it does get distracting as you progress through the game as you begin to care less and less due to how poor the art is.

 

 

The same can be said for the sound- there’s very little music and effects, and given how long the game is, the crazy amount of repetition began to grate really early on, and only got more frustrating.

 

 

Xbox live multiplayer is available in Galactrix, and works in a similar way to the first title, although it seems like an extra mode or two has been thrown into the mix. It’s all fairly decent, but there didn’t seem to be a huge online community, and to be honest, the game isn’t really designed for multiplayer- in the competitive modes it is essentially just a bejewelled clone.

 

 

I can’t quite put my finger on it- but "Puzzle Quest: Galactrix" just isn’t quite as good as it’s predecessor. It’s a bigger game, with technically better graphics and sound, but it all feels a bit sterile.

 

The loading times are too long, and there’s too much puzzling and not enough role-playing for my liking. I’m also not a huge fan of the rather generic art and sound direction on this title compared to the unique and colourful presentation last time around. Also, having played the original on several formats, I guess I’m pretty jaded by the whole concept by now. If you never played the original, I’d still recommend that first, and if you have played the 1st title, you may find you quickly grow tired with the sequel.

 

However, it’s still a very solid game in its own right that is worth trying out.

 

 

 

 

+ Huge campaign
+ Better MP options
+ Less linear