Review: Puzzle Quest 2

Type: Match 3
Platform: PC
Price: USD 6.99 from Big Fish Games

Puzzle Quest 2 takes the winning formula of the first Puzzle Quest game and improves on it. The hero has to travel into the depths on a tower buried in the ice to investigate an ancient evil.

Gameplay
Choose from 4 hero types - Assassin, Barbarian, Sorcerer and Templar. Each Hero type has a male and female version. As far as I can tell, it is only the appearance that are different, there are no differences in the stats between male and female. Each hero class has their own strengths and limitations eg. Barbarian can wield the strongest two-handed weapons while Assassins can use the strongest poisons. What you choose will depend on your playing style.

Your characters walks around the Verloren village near the tower and accepts quests. You can also buy, sell and upgrade equipment in Verloren. There is an overview map of whole level in the bottom-right corner. Each level is divided in to rooms or areas, to exit a room or go to a different area, you have to click on the arrows on the ground. Most areas have a few enemies which block your way or are guarding a treasure chest. You will have to fight them to progress on, you can't avoid them.

Fighting is done in match 3 style. You and your opponent take turns to match a gem on the board. Matched colored gems contributed to your mana for your to cast spells. Hands represent action points which are for using the items equipped in your hero's hands. Match skulls and you will cause damage to your opponent.

Thoughts
Puzzle Quest 2 takes place in a smaller area. Instead of a whole country to explore, the only civilization is the village of Verloren which is located near an ancient tower buried underneath the ice. These are the only two accessible areas in the game. Instead of exploring horizontally across a huge map in Puzzle Quest, I am now exploring vertically into the depths of the tower. There are many levels in the tower, housing a variety of creatures so there is always something at each level. I met a lot of enemies and some friends while exploring the tower, and not all of them are human.

There are many rooms on each level of the tower so even with the mini map, it is not always easy to figure out where to go. Luckily, the developers have made it easy by having arrows to guide me to my active quest. I really like this feature because I don't not have waste time wandering around. Portals at various locations allows speedy teleportation back to the village or other parts of the tower so I don't have to trek all the way back up the tower just to go back to the village to sell/buy equipment.

I find that the RPG elements are more tightly integrated into the game this time. I love the improvements the developers had done to the graphics and sound effects. The characters look better and the backgrounds are more detailed. There are also voices for various characters and most of the time they sounded like they should. I always get a chuckle whenever I hear the grunting sounds made by an orc. The only voice I didn't quite like was the narrator's voice which sounded like an old, old man.

Overall, Puzzle Quest 2 is a very addictive game, perhaps even more than its predecessor because I find the game more enjoyable this time round.

Verdict ★★★★★