Metareview update: Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords (Xbox 360, DS, PSP)

by Alexander Sliwinski { Oct 20th 2007 at 2:10PM }

The gamer crack known as Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords kept getting better as it evolved from PC screen, to handheld screen, and finally to glorious HD. As this blogger has officially not been able to use the Xbox 360 for the last four hours because of household members discovering the game for the first time, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to go back and update our original metareview on Puzzle Quest. Although the Wii version costing $30 and PS2 version at $20 are expected Nov. 13, the real gem in the Puzzle Quest iterations is certainly the $15 HD version available on XBLA. Civilization may be known for its "just one more turn" line of addicts everywhere, but Puzzle Quest could very well become known for "just one more quest" as more and more people discover this addictive puzzle/RPG hybrid.

Previous Metareview for DS and PSP:

Gamespot (85/100) - "What's most remarkable about Puzzle Quest is how a simple change of context turns some tired genre conventions that have been done to death into something that's suitable for just about anyone, regardless of your interest in the components."
Gamesradar (70/100) - "The source material Bejeweled is fantastically compelling, so the puzzling is solid even if purists may dislike the addition of spells and powers. But those powers can definitely tip the scales in a match, so they add a whole new nuance and added strategy. And your constantly rising stats, abilities and property deliver a nice feeling of progression."

Update for XBLA:

Gamespot (90/100) - "Online play is a great addition, even if it's limited to straightforward ranked and player matches. It's still fun to be able to take the character you've been building up in the single-player campaign against another live player, and the ability to adjust the time limit for each player's turn can make the action much more frantic and challenging. ... Despite coming out on XBLA a good half a year after the original DS and PSP releases, Puzzle Quest still feels incredibly fresh and vital, and the changes made in between make it even easier to recommend."
IGN (90/100) - "The minor glitches that were apparent in the DS version are nowhere to be found here. It's also a bargain on XBLA, priced at half the amount of the portable versions. If you haven't played Puzzle Quest, yet, this is a definite download. And if you have it's likely you'll fall in love with its seemingly endless set of quests to be accomplished, different classes to try, and new spells to master all over again. Throw in achievements, higher resolution graphics, and online multiplayer -- Puzzle Quest is a marriage that will last."

Gallery: Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords (XBLA)

Tags: metareview, puzzlequest, xbla

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

geeky @ Oct 20th 2007 2:37PM

Yeah, totally worth it. I'm hooked.

cassingham @ Oct 20th 2007 2:56PM

I've purchased 20+ XBLA games, and this game has gotten the most playtime hands down. Great addictive gameplay.

Martin @ Oct 20th 2007 2:57PM

I agree with you. I have 23 XBLA games right now, and this one takes the cake. I play it more than Halo 3, or any other retail game.

Now, if any game had an achievement for "X hours of Online Play", this one would be the easiest to achieve.

copa @ Oct 20th 2007 2:59PM

This thing really slipped under the radar. I give it a tie with Geometry Wars for best XBLA game, but it's not even ranked on the top 10 played XBLA games on Major Nelson's list today.

Jonah Falcon @ Oct 20th 2007 3:17PM

I still prefer Catan and Carcassonne.

copa @ Oct 20th 2007 2:56PM

DO NOT DOWNLOAD THIS DEMO! This thing sucked me in mercilessly and took my $15 when I knew very well that I barely have time for Orange Box and Halo 3 right now.

Jonah Falcon @ Oct 20th 2007 3:16PM

PC version is due Oct 23.

Anonim @ Oct 20th 2007 8:13PM

Boxed edition of course.

Downloadable version for PC is already out for 20 Euro

http://www.gamersgate.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=231&option=com_virtuemart&vmcchk=1

gonk @ Oct 20th 2007 3:43PM

good game

Rob Accomando @ Oct 20th 2007 3:51PM

Got this last weekend for XBLA and my and the wife sat there ALL day playing it. VERY VERY VERY addicting.

rockintom @ Oct 20th 2007 4:07PM

Tried the demo a bit, and I could probably get pretty addicted to it, but I just found E4 so damned awesome I bought that instead. No regrets though, it is freaking amazing.

ogvor @ Oct 20th 2007 5:04PM

I got kinda a bored on my DS playing this game (I did spend a LOT of time in it though) so I probably won't be getting this. Maybe if they have a sale on it in the future (though this is highly unlikley considering it's already a good price). For those who have yet to play it I do highly recomend it, although if you have an Xbox 360, why aren't you playing Portal yet? Like, Right now?

Yourself @ Oct 20th 2007 5:52PM

Do yourselves a favor and buy this game immediately. It was easily worth the 30$ for the DS version, so I can't imagine skipping a higher res, online enabled version. The only reason I won't be getting it is that I already have the DS game, although somewhere down the road i might pick this one up, too.

bVork @ Oct 20th 2007 6:42PM

The (boxed) PC version comes out in a couple of days. I'm going to pick that up so I can watch my productivity plummet to an all-new low.

driven2sin @ Oct 21st 2007 4:00AM

yes that me climbing your leaderboard... warrior with Burn & Berserk plus wightblade w/troll rings is a great build till around level 30

once you get that high though you have to start doing more damage and change the build a bit

natureboy46 @ Oct 21st 2007 9:56AM

How does the multiplayer stack up. I would imagine that playing against a Knight with Deathbringer would getting frustrating pretty quickly.

Still as a single player game it's amazing. I've played through twice on the DS, so that's about 75 hours or so right there.

driven2sin @ Oct 21st 2007 11:04AM

it works really well.. there is a handicapping feature that does a pretty good job of balancing a fight when players are not close on levels. Of course the equipment and spells for the higher level player usually come through but remember that now most good spells have a wait time of X turns before you can recast.

Rubang B (NDF - Heart) @ Oct 21st 2007 6:13PM

Oh no a PC version's coming out too? Will it have online multiplayer?

Sean @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:55AM

I wish I had time for this. Sigh.

Sarah-Anne Kendrick @ Oct 23rd 2007 8:22PM

Love this game. But have a question, I am using the download pc version, I am running a level 21 knight, and trying to siege Silvermyr. The city started with 165 hit points and every time I tried to use the spell trample, instead of taking hit points away from the city it gave it hit points and added onto the full amount. By the time I was defeated, the city had 374 hp's. Does this happen to ahyone else or any other characters besides knights? Is it a glitch?