Reviewed: July 10, 2007
Reviewed by: Jeff Gedgaud
Publisher
Got Game Entertainment
Developer
Farmind Limited
Released: June 1, 2007
Genre: Puzzle
Players: 1-8
6
3
6
6
5.5
Supported Features:
Screenshots (Click Image for Gallery)
Puzzle Scape for the PSP is yet another puzzle game that tries to capture the great gameplay and style of that long ago classic Tetris or the more recent Lumines but falls a bit short. From Farmine Ltd. And Got Game Entertainment the puzzle game Puzzle Scape has very simple gamplay in your quest to match four of the same colored blocks in a square.
Any adjoining blocks as well as those four are blown up and deleted from play as you try to gain higher levels or high scores. The variety of game play in single player is limited to two modes and you do have a few extra treats with power ups and multiplayer games.
For all the gameplay of Puzzle Scape your goal is to match a two by two square of like colored blocks and have adjoining blocks of that same color destroyed as well. You have two main single player game styles in the artist and architect mode with the difference being that artist is your general point scoring mode while in architect you unlock levels by accomplishing goals.
The goals of architect mode can be things like create a chain of 10 blocks or clearing a number of the same colored blocks. These goals when accomplished will unlock more levels as well as that levels artist mode. Whether you play artist mode or architect the goals are basically the same with very little difference except you have some specific amounts to clear in architect.
The blocks are moved around by a two block wide bar that is moved by your arrow keys back and forth, up and down. When you have the cursor bar where you want you can swap the two blocks inside it to rearrange those blocks sideways. You can drop blocks down a level by moving a block onto a clear spot to change its level.
There is no way to move blocks up and swapping blocks can be accomplished quickly but you also have a row of blocks falling down but the speed of descent depends on the speed of the level you're on. The higher the level the faster the row of new blocks will fill and fall down on your playing area.
You are also given a joker block that can be used as any color as well as a Blocker that you will not be able to swap with other blocks. During gamplay you can speed up the blocks that fall by pressing the triangle button called Rush mode to give you more blocks quickly.
During games you can also have power ups that can be used at specific times to accomplish a variety of tasks in the gameplay. Some power ups will remove all the same colors or some can slow time but all of them have limits and their own usefulness. You can have two power ups pending and you use them by pressing the left or right buttons on the PSP.
Some of the power ups are specific to an area and will have a time limit that you can apply them so you may need to hurry before you loose the advantage of the power up. The power ups add a little gameplay variety but not much else to the Puzzle Scape game.
There are some multiplayer modes played by both two players and one that can be played with up to eight players. The co-op modes in either artist or architect puts both players trying to match blocks at the same time on the same game area. One player has a vertical selection while the other player has a horizontal selection so both players can be working on removing blocks at the same time in a different direction. The gameplay is the same as artist and architect in single player for the two co-op modes.
The Duel mode pits two players against each other for a time period you select for a high score with scores being achieved by matching blocks. You play from 3 to 15 minutes according to the time period the host selects and try to have the highest score when the time runs out. During the Duel mode there are no power ups or Rush mode and you play on the same game area.
In the Bomb Run mode you can pit from two to eight players in an all out race to blow up a predetermined number of blocks. Each player is playing on their own game area with no power ups in Bomb Run mode. You have your own block counter and can see the other players counters but not what colors they need. You can use Rush mode in Bomb Run to get more blocks quickly when you need them.
The artist and architect mode can be fun but after a bit its gets pretty stale with little to change it for the higher levels. The game tries too hard to copy other games of the same type but does not have that special something that makes a game a hit. Although Puzzle Scape is a decent game it just lacks that style or frantic feel that makes it a challenge when the going gets fast.
Graphics for Puzzle Scape are a bit annoying as they have added this kaleidescope pattern to the games area background while you're playing. The blocks falling and the general layout are pretty basic and I cannot see how they could have improved it much except to get rid of the patterns that slide across the screen while you're playing.
The backdrops will change every ten levels of gamplay with one of four themes that are supposed to be interactive with your gameplay. The patterns change when you clear large chains but that is about all that is interactive while you're playing.
There really is nothing that ties in the background patterns other than a visual change when longer chains are cleared. Unlike the Lumines game where the background changed a lot during gameplay the Puzzle Scape background is mostly random and just adds a distraction.
There are no sound effects while playing and basic background music for you to listen to that is a collection of simple computer generated tunes. The background music that plays is pretty good with nothing that can be classed with any specific type of music like hard rock or rap.
The techno and trance music in the background did not have any problems but it was nothing spectacular or even stood out much in Puzzle Scape. I have played around with some music composing software called Sound Pool that could create music of this same quality and have. There was nothing remarkable with either the sound or graphics in Puzzle Scape.
Puzzle Scape for the PSP is very much like Lumines but not as addictive in it's gameplay. Once you have played the basic game in both modes it's style or adventure slows quickly. The multiplayer modes might hold some additional hours of fun but there is a general lack of real challenge or additional inventive style to the game to be much value.
Puzzle Scape seems to try too hard at imitating other games, especially Lumines with its addictive gamplay. The game has a bit of a difference in how you level up and move on to new areas but the basic gameplay is about the same. If you want to match colored blocks with the music and background changing to the gameplay, stick with Lumines.