Reviewed: December 14, 2006
Reviewed by: Mark Smith
Publisher
MumboJumbo
Developer
MumboJumbo
Released: November 14, 2006
Genre: Puzzle
Players: 1
ESRB: Everyone
6
7
5
7
6.2
Supported Features
Screenshots (Click Image for Gallery)
Luxor: The Wrath of Set is the latest action-puzzle title to come from veteran puzzle-game designer MumboJumbo. Chances are you may have already played or at least seen this game or one like it, especially if you own a cell phone, PC, or browse through the selection of Xbox Live Arcade titles, specifically, Zuma.
The PSP is the perfect platform to launch this puzzle-style game on, with its pick-up-and-play design and levels that seldom last more than 2-3 minutes, if that. Packed with 123 levels spread across 20 stages and multiple skill settings, and you have one serious puzzle game that will keep you thinking and shooting for hours.
The concept is simple but quite clever and done with a bit of Egyptian flair including a nice themed map of the Nile delta region and hieroglyphics that spruce up the puzzle screens. Puzzle design is basically a twisting path that winds its way around each screen. Some of these paths are simple and others get rather complex.
You control a paddle-style shooter that scrolls along the bottom of the screen and fires multi-colored balls into the puzzle area above. Strings of multi-colored balls will start to snake their way around the path and it’s your job to shoot your own colored balls into the snake creating groups of three or more adjoining balls of the same color. These groups will then “pop” and possibly rain down a power-up and the snake will shrink back to fill the gap.
In many ways I enjoyed the space invader style shooing action more than I did in similar games like Zuma where the shooter is in the middle and you must fire in a 360-degree arc. At first I thought this was because it was easier, but as the puzzle design grows in complexity being bound to the bottom of the screen can become a bit of a hindrance.
Shooting the ball accurately is a breeze on the easier skill levels where you get a targeting line showing where the ball is going to go, but in the harder levels you’ll have to eyeball and estimate your trajectory. It can get tricky when the snake is winding around and you are forced to fire straight up and only straight up. One misfire and you just made the snake longer and possibly harder to shrink on future shots.
Luxor is almost too easy on all but the hardest of skill settings. The levels, while diverse and colorful, can only do so much and be so complicated on the small PSP screen. The only time I ever got into trouble was when I was going for a power-up and missed a rare shot opportunity. It's almost as if this game was designed for really young kids or really old adults.
The game seems to present the snake with more than enough pairs of colors so it’s never too hard to get that third ball into place. The shooting paddle shows the next color in “the chamber”, so you can even plan ahead and possibly work some strategy and get some bigger combos by swapping the current ball with the next one.
Therein lies the real challenge – getting combos by eliminating sections of the snake and having more matching groups work themselves out as the gaps are filled. It’s kind of cool when it works out, but more often than not it’s purely accidental. Power-ups make things even easier by slowing down or reversing the snake, destroying all ball of the same color, or launching a scorpion to blast the first ten balls it touches.
Luxor is very colorful and quite charming in its design starting with the parchment style map with icons like camels and temples, then moving on to the 100+ puzzle screens that all look like they were carved into stone or marble, complete with hieroglyphics and fun Egyptian symbols populating the screen.
The screen doesn’t bother with a HUD or score – that is saved for the post-puzzle summary. You only have to deal with the paddle, a bar along the bottom that shows your progress in that level, and those intimidating sequences of colored balls snaking towards their destination.
As balls are matched up they pop off the chain and often result in various shaped icons that drift toward the bottom offering a variety of power-ups. It would have been nice if these had been a bit flashier. In fact, the entire game, while bright and colorful, just doesn’t seem to do justice to the potential of the PSP.
There is some interesting theme music that has a definite Egyptian flavor, but the tunes seem to be limited and get a bit repetitive too soon. It would have been nice to play my own MP3’s while working my way through the numerous levels.
The rest of the sound package is pretty basic with the stone-like clacking of the balls as they slip into place or the crumbling sound as they vanish. There are a few other interesting effects thrown in for the power-ups but nothing that will blow you away.
There is no denying that 123 levels will keep you busy for hours and hours and the multiple skills levels will certainly appeal to gamers of all ages and ability, but the game does get repetitive and you might find yourself wandering off to other games before you ever finish a single pass.
There is no multiplayer or game sharing so once you have exhausted all the solo fun you’ll probably not pick this one back up for a long time. There are some practice and survival modes that give you a different way to play, but you’ll first have to unlock the levels in the linear story mode.
Luxor: The Wrath of Set isn’t a bad game, but it just seems a bit thrown together. You can just as easily play this game or dozens like it on countless other formats, even your cell phone or PDA. Admittedly, this is currently the only game of its type on the PSP, but that probably won’t last for long.
If you can find Luxor for $20 or less it’s definitely worth picking up, and you’ll get days and days of fun and casual gameplay, but older gamers or those looking for something with a bit more substance will probably lose interest before they ever finish it.