Puzzle Quest has recently been added to Xbox Live for 1,200 points (about ten quid), and yet we’re being asked to put hand in pocket and produce double that amount for the game on the PS2. Although we’re getting a nice DVD case and a nice instruction manual (that we’re never going to read), we can’t help but think that PS2 owners are getting a bit of a bum deal here. Price anomalies aside though, the question we’re here to answer is this: is Puzzle Quest worth the cash, especially with the notable lack of net play?

Puzzle Quest is primarily a puzzle game permeated with RPG elements – so you can level up, cast spells, earn weapons and partake in a rather uninspired story (in grander RPG terms), which threads each battle together through clichéd events, like running errands for a young queen or helping a feral-looking outcast wipe the smile off the face of a wizard and his zombie.

Puzzle Quest plays very similarly to Bejeweled, with the difference being that you fight opponents using the same game grid. Each player is presented with a board crammed with differing coloured orbs of mana, and taking it in turns, you must connect three or more similar coloured orbs to build up your mana stockpile and cast spells. The winner of each bout is the person who successfully depletes their opponent’s health to zero, and this can be done by either spell casting or matching the skulls, which deal direct damage, that appear on the board.

The most impressive thing about Puzzle Quest is the amount of options in the game. You can go on side quests, capture monsters and there’s even a quirky ‘Citadel’ section that lets you build ramparts to unlock new spells and earn additional cash. The main puzzle mechanic of the game, however, is not without issue. Because you can only move orbs beside pairs of the same colour – failure to do this is considered an illegal move and will dock you some health – in most instances there will only be one or two move options available during a turn. This can mean a lot of the time you’ll be staring at the television trying to find where these possible moves exist on the board, and in some instances you’ll feel forced into moves that give your opponent an advantage on their next turn – and for some, this might snipe some enjoyment from the game.

Overall, the game looks okay, obviously it doesn’t feel as nice in your hands as the DS version, look as nice as the PSP port and certainly suffers with a lack of online play, but its overall charm and concept still wins out.

Stuart Hunt