Virtual crack cocaine!

Buy/Demo: PSP/PSN/PS2/XBLA/DS/Wii/PC/iPHONE

Developer: Infinite Interactive

ad·dic·tive

adjective.

1) Causing or tending to cause addiction: an addictive substance.

2) Characterized by or susceptible to addiction: an addictive personality

3) Casual puzzle games

4) RPGs

There’s no denying it, folks: computer games can cause serious addiction. The worst offenders are deceptively simple casual puzzlers (case in point: Bejeweled, Popcap’s insanely popular first success) and deep, complex RPGs- both of which suck you in with their trademark “just one more level” style of gameplay. You’ll find yourself helplessly glued to your screen to play “just one more level” of casual action… or to get enough experience to gain “just one more level” so that you can equip your sweet new sword!

Theoretically, combining the two genres should create the most addictive game ever (and more to the point, would allow developers to practically print their own money whilst their loyal fanbase dies of starvation and sleep deprivation!). Historically, however, fans of casual games and RPG players tend not to overlap; thus making a game that pleases both camps has proven nigh-on impossible. Factor in the massive difference in game mechanics between the two genres and you’ve got yourself one hell of a challenge.

Cue Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords, the first true cross-platform casual/RPG hybrid from Infinite Interactive (although calling it a cross-platform title is a massive understatement; I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if Infinite release it on toasters, VCRs and calculators next!). So, does Puzzle Quest manage to successfully blend the depth of the roleplaying experience with the quick addictive thrills of a casual game?

The short answer is yes.

The long answer is yes…and here’s how it works.

Puzzle Quest looks just like a traditional RPG at first glance. As usual, you’ll choose from four character classes (8 for the PS3 version and Xbox Live Arcade add-on pack) and embark on an epic story around an enormous world map. You’ll take on subquests, earn gold, manage your inventory, kill a whole mess of filthy undead and gradually evolve your character from a pathetic little serf into the consumate warlord.

So far, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Puzzle Quest is a full-blooded Role Playing Game. In many ways you’d be right: it’s as deep and involving as any other RPG on the market. The main quest lasts a fair few hours, but you can easily spend a few all-nighters upgrading your stronghold, besieging cities to enlarge your empire, crafting hundreds of magic items…capturing and training mounts…imprisoning foes…learning new spells…recruiting followers…all that beardy, grindtacular stuff. There’s simply a huge amount to do besides following the main storyline; suffice to say that RPG fans will be well satisfied with Infinity Interactive’s magnum opus. But what about the casual crowd? Well, that’s where Puzzle Quest’s combat system comes in.

Every time you engage an enemy in combat you’ll be taken to a shameless (but very slick) clone of Bejeweled, where you and your adversary will take turns attempting to match three or more tiles in a row.

A row of skulls will deal direct damage to your opponent, whereas matching coloured gems nets you one of four colours of mana, which can be used to unleash a range of different skills and attacks on your opponent. These skills range from dealing basic damage to drastically changing the configuration of the board, adding an extra layer of tactical strategy into the tried-and-true Bejeweled formula. Gold and experience tiles add directly to your hoard, meaning that you’ve always got the choice to gun for increased wealth and character development or the ability to use your skills. After a few rounds you’ll start thinking several moves ahead- there really is an exceptional amount of depth here, but only if you’re looking for it!

This is where the casual element comes into its own. Each match lasts between 2 and 15 minutes, the perfect length for playing a couple of rounds every now and again (or sneaky game or two at work on your iPhone or handheld during toilet breaks). Failure simply results in returning to the world map: Puzzle Quest is completely stress-free and perfect for a casually dipping into when the mood takes you.

The only real problems with the puzzle system are its reliance on random chance and the enemy AI. Gems and skulls disappear when matched, causing new gems to randomly drop from the top of the screen. When a dozen skulls arbitrarily fall down on your foes turn, burning you for massive damage without any enemy skill involved, you’ll find it very difficult to not take it personally. What’s more, certain enemies have a set of extremely annoying skills (including the always vexing self-healing ability…the laziest way of lengthening a game by a few minutes!) as well as punishing AI that can often chain massive combinations of 4 gems together, resulting in many extra turns and more opportunities for lady luck to ream you something awful.

Presentation-wise, Puzzle Quest is purely functional. Whilst the X360 and PS3 versions add a higher resolution and a few visual sprinkles, the game looks decidedly average. But that’s fine: the menus are concise and the puzzle screen is well laid out and accessible. The world map can be fairly confusing to navigate, however, with small text and enemy encounter sprites that are difficult to make out on smaller televisions (though the handheld versions don’t suffer from this problem). The PS3 version features an extra four characters and 10+ more hours of questing as standard- and comes highly recommended (note that this content is also available on XBLA as a fairly expensive expansion pack).

So, in summary, should you buy this game? No. NO. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DON’T! Infinite Interactive have actually succeeded in creating crack in gaming form- once Puzzle Quest grabs you by the short and curlies you’ll lose your social life, lose your job, ignore your family, forget to feed your pets…and you won’t even care. My housemates almost had to stage an intervention last week after an 8 hour binge. In fact…just talking about it makes me want to go and play it right now…

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…oh god. It’s too late for me.

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