Puzzle Quest Galactrix Review (DS)

Doing a sequel right is a tough balancing act; you have to keep most of what made the original great, but also try new things so you’re not just cranking out a cash-in. Galactrix is the latest Puzzle Quest game, and it does a pretty good job of updating things. While the visual theme has changed from high fantasy to space sci-fi, the core of the game is similar; you and an opponent try to match lines of gems on a grid, using them to either directly attack or build energy for a variety of effects.

A typical Puzzle Quest match plays like a mix of Magic: the Gathering and any typical puzzler where you line identical gems up to make them disappear. Both players have a Hull rating (which can’t be repaired), Shields (which can be), and three energy types: red, orange, and green. Blue gems refill your shields, mines attack your enemy to reduce his shields and hull, red energy fuels direct attacks, orange manipulates the game-board and other factors, and green produces defensive effects. The upgrades you buy in Story mode use most of these kinds of energy, and you can only pick a few upgrades to use. The end result is trying to strike a balance between attacking your opponent, keeping yourself safe, denying him the gems he needs, and being careful not to make any moves that will give him a series of gem combos. While it’s simple to play, this system of having several priorities to balance makes for a pretty deep game.

Galactrix has three basic modes of play: Story, Quick Battle, and Multiplayer. Story mode adds several more RPG elements to the game, including a plot sending you across the galaxy one star system at a time (each with several asteroids, ports of call, and so on), tending to various quests and fighting opponents along the way. This is actually pretty fun, and money gained in this mode can go to several upgrades. Quick Battle is just that; an immediate match against an AI opponent, and Multiplayer looks for other players nearby to go up against. Unfortunately, multiplayer wasn’t able to be tested for review; D3Publisher generously sent the game out well before release, but each player must have their own copy and that meant there were no other players available at all. And with no Wi-Fi Connection play, that means your pool of opponents will be a bit limited.