Puzzle Quest: Galactrix is the sequel to the critically acclaimed Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords, the original Xbox LIVE Arcade release of the successful PC series. Having since been ported to nearly every system commercially available – including full retail-boxed adaptations for Wii and Nintendo DS – Puzzle Quest has had more exposure than it’s seemingly diminutive presentation would suggest. However, with this fully-fledged sequel, developer Infinite Interactive has certainly taken this into account.

            The player’s choice for progression has been expanded exponentially, with multiple quest-paths providing weaving stories in, out and regardless of the main storyline. Instead of just have one large map, the game has dozens of small maps (Solar Systems) interlinked through a larger map (Galaxies). While the player must traverse set paths in order to travel from Galaxy-to-Galaxy, they are free-to-roam in each small Solar System through indirect movement of their ship on the Left Analogue Stick. Combat can be initiated by rival ships anywhere, and so strategy is born not just of in-play tactics and a clear idea of how you wish to progress your character, but also greatly through the quests you collect and order in which your partake in them.

            Though the basic match-three rules still apply, but the grid on which the puzzling action takes place has received a substantial revision since Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords. Combatants now face-off on a hexagonal playfield as opposed to square. The rules have been customised accordingly, with five-of-a-kind required for a second turn rather than four, and the player able to control the direction affected gems will travel in through the direction used to move gems into their chosen match. There are far more mini-game additions using variations of the basic formula than in any previous title, including the frequent Hacking in which a player must remove pre-set colours in a certain order within the prescribed time limit, and Haggling, where the player has to remove as many gems as possible from the grid without running-out of possible matches.

            The opportunities for creating a unique character are almost overwhelming from the very first time you level-up. Within the first ten levels, your character will have chosen a path leading to a differing set of moves, and though the player is of course limited by the statistics and moves pre-built into the game, the order in which you are able to unlock them will vary drastically; so much so that many moves will remain locked for many tens of levels.

            Puzzle Quest: Galactrix isn’t going to rock any graphics-based boats, but it’s comfortable in it’s art style. Whether or not the artwork will be more appealing than Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords is a matter of personal preference, as is the soundtrack.

            Puzzle Quest: Galactrix poses a more detailed, intricately balanced and complex system throughout each and every aspect, resulting in a game that is much harder to get into than most previous Puzzle Quest iterations, including Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords. However, this is exactly what the fans had been asking for, and clearly Infinite Interactive has built the game in accordance with their wishes. Puzzle Quest: Galactrix is not a new Tetris, but fans of the original will simply love every moment of it.

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