REVIEW
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords
By June Thong - July 16th, 2008
One of my former addictions is Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords, a game developed by the Aussie geniuses at Infinite Interactive. Mere words are empty in describing how much this game can devour your soul. After picking up the Nintendo DS version, I’m still greatly tempted to repurchase it on the Xbox LIVE Arcade for its exclusive expansion pack. Now, with the game achieving an Arcade Hit status and a discounted 800 Microsoft Points price, it’s time to turn to rehab.
Puzzle Quest combines two very different video game genres: puzzle and role-playing games. It doesn’t advertise to everyone since casual puzzlers might be unfamiliar with the RPG genre, and the “hardcore” crowd might be skeptical of its epic title. A name like that hints at massive battles, magic and treasure hunts, and that’s what you get in a nutshell.
Those who have never played an RPG might be shy to try it, so the game lures you in with simple game mechanics: swap the colored tiles and match three in a row to gain points. Match four or more and you’ll get another turn. The matched tiles disappear, letting the ones above it cascade and change the board. Essentially, game plays similarly to the popular Bejeweled, only the point is much more than to match as many gems as possible. This is what makes Puzzle Quest unique.
The board you play on represents a fantasy battlefield. Among the many classes to choose from, you can be a mighty wizard, noble knight or clever thief, fighting against the legions of all-things-evil. You can match skulls to attack the enemy, stars to gain experience points, and colored tiles to gain mana for using skills. Puzzle Quest focuses on strategy in matching the right items that will give you more points per turn, or those you want to keep your enemy from getting lest they use their points to attack you.
I love the way relatively simple gameplay mechanics are combined with creativity and purpose, encouraging the player to try (and try again, as many times as you like) until the day is saved. As you accomplish feats, you can unlock companion characters that follow you on your quest. To be completely honest, the plot has more cheese than a poutine. The hero you play is as remarkable as an unremarkable rock. However, the story comes to life through the tales of your newfound companions as you aid them on their quests, and in return, you will gain items for your character, newfound powers and more missions to complete. As you play through the game, you can also capture monsters, siege cities and buy artifacts to raise your skills.
There is no “Game Over” in Puzzle Quest: if you fail to defeat an enemy, you can always give it another go. You can also keep on playing after you’ve finished the game. I managed to scour through the game over many hours on the subway, between classes, between meals and between breaths. It drove my friends batty until they commandeered my DS–and got them hooked on it too. If you’re undecided and have a little time on your hands, give the PC demo a try.
Even when your stats and skills are maxed out, there’s still the challenge of perfecting your puzzling talents. If you like puzzle or strategy games, this is the game for you. Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords will keep you on your toes, dreaming of those four-in-a-rows day and night.
Puzzle Quest is also available for every current-gen system under the sun–so folks, what are you waiting for?
