
	Platform PC Genre Puzzle Publisher Pieces Interactive Developer Pieces Interactive ESRB E (Everyone) Released November 25, 2009

- Unique twists on tried and tested gameplay - Excellent graphics for a budget title - Online battles for a puzzle game

- Overly heavy emphasis on combat - Controls take a bit of adjusting to - Not as addictive as others in the same genre

Review: Professor Layton and the Curious Village (DS) Review: Portal (PC) Review: Puzzle Guzzle (PSP)
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Puzzlegeddon

Score: 7.0 / 10

Coming up with names for games has got to be a tough business. Sometimes you’re left with simply mashing words together and come up with something new. I suppose that could be how Pieces Interactive, the Swedish developer did it. Take a puzzle game, combine it with Armageddon – the last great battle, and you’ll end up with Puzzlegeddon.

At first, you’re going to think this is just like any other match three game but once you start playing you’re going to notice a couple of things that just don’t add up. First of all, you’re going to need to match five pieces instead of three. Secondly, the controls are very PC-centric, forcing you to use the right mouse button to unlock the combo instead of say a double-click or something else you might be more used to. It takes a little while to get used to using the right mouse button but you need it for

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other features of the game anyways so you’ll adjust over time. The game also allows you to play using an Xbox 360 if you have one hooked up to your PC.

This game, at the core, is about survival. Your match board is attached to one of seven spherical worlds that are all themed and show off the games good graphics. One thing quite different about this title you will

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notice is that you are actually able to move the tiles around, vertically or horizontally. It’s more like sliding them up and down because they will wrap around the edges and come back on the other side. This allows you flexibility and control over which color sets you match up. This too, is important. Once you have at least five of one color touching, you can trigger a combo move with the right mouse button. This will then fill up the meter for that particular color. Red, for example, is for an attack move.

There are essentially four different meters you can fill. Two are offensive (attack and disrupt) and the other two are defensive (a defend and a launch anti-missile). You’ll need to use each wisely in the game in order to win. When it’s a sudden death match round for example (after a tie) you are going to want to go for the attack right away but in a regular mode you might want to invest more in defensive manoeuvres first before attacking and wasting your initial combos.

This new element of attacking opponents blends quite well with the puzzle genre, adding both a tense feeling and that extra element of strategy. You can play against the computer or online, although you may not find another six players to play at any one given moment. This of course, can vary depending on a number of factors. The computer bots are still quite satisfactory to play.

In the end I applaud this game for trying something different. It works, that’s for sure and you can see great potential in what has been done here. I did find myself at times just wanting to play a more traditional puzzle game as I went along and it would have nice to include that as a basic gameplay mode. I also didn’t feel that addictiveness to some puzzle games that I have seen, but your mileage may vary.

Overall, Puzzlegeddon is a competent puzzle game with some innovative twists. Just try the free trial so you’ll know whether it’s going to get it’s brawling hooks into you. After all, it’s war out there.

- Syd Bolton

(April 6, 2009)

Syd Bolton surrounds himself in classic games at the Personal Computer Museum (www.pcmuseum.ca) in Brantford, Ontario, Canada.