Quite simply,the best & most addictive puzzle game ever made!
I really enjoy puzzle games.They're simple,& relax you,never stress you out.I really loved Zuma Deluxe, Diamond Mine ,Chuzzle Deluxe, Bejeweld, Glinx ...stuff like this.But I was never addicted to any of them.That happened only to mom.Well,it seems it finally happened to me.Who's the one? Puzzle Quest-Challenge of the Warlords (PC).
Puzzle Quest is no ordinary puzzle game.It starts like an RPG,& is heavily based on TBS elements.First,you have to choose a class.As always, I chose the noble & brave knight.OK,then I face a strategic map,with different cities on it.The game is a TBS here,so you can click for your character to move anywhere on the map,on turns.Well,let's see the Queen & get a quest. Training. Well,combat means puzzle.Let me describe the combat mode:
As in many puzzle games you've seen,there's a board with lots of coloured gems on it.There are blue gems, red gems,yellow gems , green gems,purple stars ,gold & skulls. You've got to match three or more same coloured gems.But you know this.What you don't know is that this is based on turns,& after you do your move,the enemy does his move. If you're lucky & match 4 or even more gems,you get one more turn.Well,the red/blue/green/yellow matched gems mean mana for you.You can use the mana for some of your special abilities.My knight has a cool ability that destroys a gem at your will,so you get the gem's effect. Or an other one with which I destroy all purple stars on the board & gain their benefices. Or deal +30% damage in the next 6 turns. The abilities are very helpfull in combat,so you'll have to match all kinds of gems if you want to use them. OK,next are purple stars.Purple stars mean XP (experience points) ,XP means level up & level up means upgrade skills. Perfectly chosen,the skills can upgrade your hitpoints or the score you get after matching yellow/green/blue/red gems , or the damage you deal. Dealing damage to your enemy is done by matching three or more skulls. If you want to win fast you just have to get his HP bar to 0 before he gets yours,but you may want a long game for you to gain loads of experience.You can also deal damage trough some special abilities. Cools combos can generate two things: a red skull,that when matched with others does double the damage, or a multiplicator,which speaks of itself.But just imagine the amount of damage you deal when matching at the same time two or more red skulls ,along with a multiplicator...poor enemy.Speaking of enemies,they're never the same,& their HP bar & abilities differ,so that you'll never get bored. One more thing:if there are no moves,you don't lose the fight.The board rearranges,& both your & your enamie's mana bars deplete.
The story is very well done for a puzzle game in medieval times,the quests are very various (patrol,scout,get that letter from there to there,save ,etc) so you'll again never get bord.The soundtrack & in-game music is pretty awesome,but the sound effects when gems match or when you deal damage are quite badly done.But that's the only bad thing about the game.
So this is an AWESOME puzzle game,like no other before,that will get you addicted to it & will make you play it without getting bored days & days...