A review of a fantastic game where you must puzzle in zero gravity in order to win space battles.
Puzzle in zero gravity! Game publisher D3 takes the Puzzle Quest series to where no puzzle game has gone before. Everyone who enjoyed the first Puzzle Quest will not be disappointed as the same "match colored icons in a row" concept remains while everything else is improved and given a new twist.
Trading in Swords for Lasers
While the first Puzzle Quest game, Challenge of the Warlords, was set in a fantasy world of magic and swords, Galactrix is set in the future, where humankind has developed psychic powers and the ability to travel across space through the invention of Leap Gates. You play a MRI agent who just graduated. Your adventures start when you respond to a distress signal from a research facility and, from there, you begin to chase a dangerous and unknown creature across the galaxy.
Hexagons in Space
Just like with the fights in the first Puzzle Quest, space battles are fought with multi-colored icons that you match together. If you match space mines together, you deal damage to your opponent. Matching blue icons will recharge your shields while white and purple icons will give you money and experience points. If you match red, yellow or green, you will charge up your ship’s energy, which will allow you to use its items for different effects. For example, you could fire your ADV lasers to deal more damage or give your opponents a shield virus that will drain their shields within a few turns.
Aside from space battles, you can also hack Leap Gates, mine asteroids, and haggle over prices at the local store. You do all these things with the same puzzle board, only you are given a different goal, which means you need to come up with a brand new game plan in order to succeed.
Advancing Technology
Puzzle Quest Galactrix improves upon Challenge of the Warlords on a number of things. The hexagons make the game more interesting, as you can control how the pieces fall, giving a whole new layer of strategy. As well, the layout of the entire game is much better, making it easier to do battle and complete missions. Finally, the special attacks in the game have been balanced, making multi-player battles more fun and fair. This game is definitely a must have.
Game Rating:
Price: $29.99
ESRB Rating: E10+
