Puzzles and RPGs seem to go together like Yin and Yang. The former is simple and one-dimensional, the latter can go deeper than the Grand Canyon. That developer Infinite Interactive has managed to combine the two so seamlessly in Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords is a triumph.

Read more of my review after the break.

Something is wrong in the realm of Etheria. Undead, previously unseen for many years, have begun to appear again. Additionally, Orcs are carrying out uncharacteristically coordinated attacks. Who or what is causing such a disturbance? As a member of the kingdom of Bartonia, it is your job to set out and defeat the looming evil force.

Puzzle Quest is comprised of two very distinct parts. The first is the RPG half of the game. During these sections, your character travels across an overworld comprised of various kingdoms, towns, and remote locations. Each of these places contains several quests to perform in order to gain experience and level up. The main kingdom, Bartonia, houses your citadel, which can be upgraded with dungeons for captured creatures, stables for mounts, and towers for research. Every city also has a tavern for finding out about new quests and tasks.

The interface for the overworld is simple to use. Highlight a city and our character travels there. When performing a quest, your subsequent location will sparkle, giving an easy indication of where to travel to next. The interface also color codes quests based on importance. Red quests propel the main story; green are sidequests. An exclamation point will also appear over towns with new quests. The management system is great for a game like Puzzle Quest. It’s easy to pick up the game and immediately know where to go next.

The other half of the game is the puzzle aspect. Every time you level up, capture a creature, or research a new spell, you do so by playing a game of Bejeweled. Each side takes turns, and lines containing 4 or more blocks net that player annother consecutive turn. In battles, colored blocks are mana used to cast spells. When you destroy them, the add to your amount of mana. Destroying skulls directly damages your opponent. If no options are available, a mana drain occurs and the board resets. The Bejewled template is also used for capturing and research minigames.

Combat is as addictive as, well, Bejeweled. It can make a fight last as little as 5 and as long as 20 minutes. They have a great pick-up-and-play feel. The addition of spells add another layer of complexity to the combat, but their effects are never too complicated to make the player forget where they stand. Capturing puzzles challenge you to clear all of the blocks from a grid, and research requires you to get a certain amount of each color. Each variation adds a little something different and requires you to think in various ways.

The AI seems to need a little balance. One minute I would be on the verge of victory, and then my opponent would link together 5 skull combos. It can be frustrating at times. Puzzle Quest remedies the erratic AI by still doling out experience when the player loses. This really makes the player feel like the last 15 minutes weren’t a complete waste, but it feels like a bit of a cop-out.

Puzzle Quest has a simple graphics style. The game utilizes static, seemingly hand-drawn portraits. The characters are generic but detailed, and each of the four classes has four different looks, totaling sixteen playable characters. The overworld is easy on the eyes but nothing outstanding. The battle interface is crisp and clean, but is as detailed as a grid-based interface can really be. Animations such as lightning and explosions work well to identify the effect of each move. Overall, the graphics are sleek and streamlined, and definitely more elaborate than most XBLA games.

The sounds of Puzzle Quest are the weakest point of the package. There is no voice acting, and the music switches between three or four generic medieval tunes, whether it be minstrel music or a Gregorian chant. The opening narration sounds electronic, almost as if the developers had a computer recite it. The music never impeded on the experience, but did nothing to enhance it either.

Puzzle Quest is sure to keep you entertained for much longer than most XBLA games. It has a full-fledged single-player mode, quick play mode, and online multiplayer. The best feature is that your character remains constant throughout all three modes. You can take your single player character into battle online, and experience earned online directly adds to your single player character. The only drawback is that a game is only as strong as its community, and finding an online opponent can take a while.

There is also a large amount of customizability. Building your citadel can take a while. You can also learn a myriad of spells and purchase new weapons and armor. Besides buying items, you can combine items and forge new weapons, The amount of things to do is massive.

If you like RPGs but can’t seem to invest hours at a time, or love puzzle games, but find them a tad bit one-dimensional, then Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords is perfect for you. It can be as deep or as shallow as you want it to be. You can amass every single spell, mount, and weapon possible, or you can run through with just your puzzle skills. Even at 1200 Microsoft Points ($15), it’s still one of the best deals on the Xbox Live Arcade.

-Simple interface
-Addictive combat
-Large amount of customizability
-Persistent character development

-Bland audio
-Static sprites
-Erratic AI

4.5/5

Categories: DLC, Microsoft, Reviews, XBLA, Xbox 360, Xbox Live