Official Website
Platform: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, PC

Genre: Puzzle / RPG

Number of Players: 1 (2 - 4 online)

If you’ve played Bejeweled for any length of time . . . actually I think if you’ve played Bejeweled, time kind of loses all meaning since the title can be moved from “casual gaming” to “time killer. Everyone has done some variation on PopCaps popular game at this point, but developers at Infinite Interactive took it in a completely different direction. Puzzle Quest still included the familiar match three or more colors concept, but it also incorporated a role-playing game aspect which proved popular for fans of either genre. Puzzle Quest: Galactrix is that same idea, but this isn’t quite the same game that you knew from before.

Galactrix now uses a style of gameplay that is similar to Hexic, but the RPG element is still left as a huge part of the game meaning that once again, you’ll find that time is getting sucked away from you. As one of four different characters (and there’s not really much difference between them) you’ll begin by aligning yourself with the Multinational Resource & Investment Group, or the MRI, and intergalactic mega-corporation. Rumors have been circulating about a strange new threat to the cosmos that you’ll need to track down, but as the details become clearer it seems that these clones as you discover them to be might not be the real menace to the galaxies but perhaps the MRI and those who are affiliated with them.

Much of the premise behind Galactrix is the same as what was found in the original Puzzle Quest, but with some drastic differences. While the map portion of the game still has you moving from location to location, instead of a city or dungeon you are now dealing with galaxies, all of which aren’t accessible at the beginning of the game. In order to reach many of them, you will need to hack the leap gates which have been closed off. This involves the usual method of matching three or more colors in a row, either horizontally or diagonally. Each gate has a given number of matches to make and players will be restricted to a time limit which can be increased by matching the clocks that occasionally cascade onto the screen.

Combat in the game also involves matching colored tiles, but there are differences here as opposed to the other variations of this idea. Various colors are attributed to various aspects of your space craft. The red tiles are used for equipped items with attack capabilities while the yellow and green are pooled in for those accessories which can help to regenerate your armor or empower other defense mechanisms. The ship that you begin with will have some of these already equipped and as you progress, these can be bought from various space stations around the universe or crafted. Each of them has a given number of colored tiles that need to be in your collective pool to operate them and most will also have a recharge time before they can be used again.

The puzzle field has other tiles as well however. Matching purple tiles adds into your psi, abilities that you’ll need to gather by taking on quests. As you get more of these powers you can avoid battle with enemy craft. Depending on the missions you are currently engaged in and the level of hostility that a fact has towards you, there’s a high probability of getting attacked each time you enter a new galaxy, but with your psi powers, you can avoid direct conflict. Matching grey tiles will award you with experience points, called intel in the game, and finally the blue tiles will help to recharge your shields.

There is one final tile that can be matched however. Whereas the original Puzzle Quest used skulls to attack your enemy, Galactrix has replaced those with something more appropriate; mines. These can be used in combination with some weaponry at times as there are items which can be used and not cause your turn to end. During any of these “battles”, matching five tiles at once will award you with an additional turn but also getting them to cascade and build up to a supernova is another means to undertake another phase.

There is still more to the game beyond hacking and fighting. There are some missions that require you to do very little aside from simply going from one planet to another one in a different galaxy for pickup, deliveries and other menial tasks. This works out to being easy experience in most cases. Some galaxies also have asteroids that can be mined. This uses the same puzzle aspect, though the colored tiles are replaced with different raw materials. In this games though, if you run out of moves your mining is completely until the asteroid replenishes itself. These materials in turn can be used for crafting new items for your ship. In this mode you need to use the resources you have on hand to create different portions of the item in question and like mining, you can find yourself out of moves. Fortunately these things aren’t taken away from your pool and you can try again to create them. Any materials that you don’t presently need can be sold to other factions in the game, something that can be beneficial as it will improve your relations with them and can make an enemy a friend.

If you’re more into buying gear for your ship, you can haggle the prices down. Once again this coems down to matching and has a limited amount of moves. The amount of matches you make will directly affect the percentage that you will save on buying goods. Later in the game you will also find your final NPC (there are six characters total to be added to your crew) who excels at finding out rumors. However, this is yet another variation on the game. In this phase you need to keep the biohazard symbols from matching for a given amount of turns. If you’re successful, more intel will be added into your experience.

Puzzle Quest: Galactrix offers plenty of combinations and variations of craft, weapons, and items. Each ship will have a limitation as to how many things can be equipped on it so trying to outfit your craft with nothing but weapons isn’t going to necessarily be the best thing to help you move further into the game. There are plenty of other things that will assist you besides just trying to be the aggressor in combat. Having the ability to rid yourself of those nasty probes that drain your color pools, recharge your shields or rebuild your armor are just some of the options that can be a tremendous asset in combat.

Puzzle Quest: Galactrix though isn’t the type of game that comes with flashy visuals, but it’s a puzzle game and really, that genre isn’t as much about eye candy as it is addictive gameplay. Galactrix has plenty of addiction to it just like the first Puzzle Quest did. Some might think that this is the “same game” with a science fiction setting, but this latest offering has improved upon the formula seen originally and offered quite a bit more. If you found yourself with a case of missing time before, this is going to increase that by quite a bit and Galactrix should be just the thing to satisfy puzzle fanatics and those who enjoy RPG’s that aren’t quite the norm.

-mike-