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Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords

Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords

Developer -Infinite Interactive
Publisher -D3Publisher
Platforms - PC (soon), Xbox360 (soon), PSP, DS
Available - Unknown for PC, Out now for DS/PSP, soon for XBOX Live
Website - Puzzle Quest

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The most addictive games that you come across seem to be the most simplest of ideas. From the simple gem matching idea comes another game ready to take away all your spare time! Welcome to the addictiveness called Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords!

This game was brought to my attention by my best friend; I'd never heard of this game before and how I had missed out! Not long after I saw him playing the demo, I downloaded it myself (the demo can be found here - Ed) and started to get drawn into the addictiveness of simply matching items in a grid...surely this hasn't happened to me again?! The thing is, this isn't like the typical gem matching game, although Puzzle Quest takes on the same style of game as the famous Bejewelled game that has had many people addicted for ages! Instead of level after level until you can no longer take any moves, you play against a computer opponent in single player, trying to use your magic or aligning skull gems to defeat your enemy by lowering their energy.

You start out selecting your character, which depends on what type of game you want to play. There's a Druid, Knight, Wizard or Warrior at your disposal and each has their own unique benefits, like more magic power or more able to heal their own health during battle – make your decision wisely, as this stays with you throughout the game.

Your main home is the Castle, where you have a selection menu on what you wish to do:

• Your Citadel - Here you can purchase additional buildings, which allow you to increase your character's abilities from casting spells, allowing you to capture enemies, and even allowing you to level the enemies up to name just a few.

• Get Quests - This is where you receive your next task; some sections have multiple quests that you can select, and these include small storylines that tell you where to venture to to complete a goal. After you have seen the basic cinematic (basically pictures with speech bubbles!), you are then taken back to the map where you must venture to the designated section (highlighted by a green mystical dust) to go to battle!

• Tavern - Go and have a drink and catch up with all the rumours over the bar. These can be free but only give you information that doesn't offer that much assistance, or you can pay for some hints to get information that may be of great benefit to you.

• Shop - Buy additional artefacts or weapons to assist you in your challenges. Some items may seem useless and overly priced, and if you require money further in the game to purchase better items, you can also sell items you have already purchased.

• Hero Inventory - Show everything about your Hero, including the spells they can currently cast, what characters you have defeated and captured.

The actual Quests themselves are of the typical "grid with coloured gems to match 3 or more of a kind" variety. There are 4 main items to match, gems (which are added to your Mana to use for magic spells), Coins so you can spend them at the shop, purple stars for your Character’s Gaming Level and skulls to attack the enemy. Matching 3 items simply adds to your character or attacks the enemy, while 4 allows you to have another turn and 5 allows you to have another turn and adds a multiplier wildcard.

Whether you win the battle or not, you are still awarded Experience points to level up your character, after a certain point barrier has been reached. When you do level up, you are given 4 points to spend on skills to improve your character. These can include starting with certain Mana colour to increasing your health points. If you attack a certain type of enemy 3 times, it allows you to capture them. This gives a little puzzle where there is only one way to clear all the gems on the board - simply clear the board and get that enemy to add to your team.

Overall Impressions

Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords is simply an outstanding game. It is currently only in demo form for the PC but is available now for the Nintendo DS, Sony's PSP and coming soon on XBOX Live. There still has not been any release date for the PC version, and some rumours have suggested that the full game may never make it to the PC platform; although it makes you wonder why they have developed a PC demo if they don’t intend to develop and sell the full product. I highly recommend you try this out, and if you love it and have one of the consoles mentioned previously, I'd rush out and get it for one of them in the meantime!

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