Blood Diamonds

Even if you've never heard of the Tetris effect, you've no doubt experienced its effects. Having the wall in front of you ever being moving upwards after a long Rock Band session. Feeling as though the world is shaking after playing too much Call of Duty. It's essentially when your mind starts playing tricks on you because of too much visual stimulation.

Recently, I've been falling asleep to the images of coloured rocks being rotated into place AND I DON'T LIKE IT ANY MORE MAKE IT STOP.

WHY WON'T THEY GO AWAY

Bejewelled isn't a franchise I've really ever played before, despite having had a go on plenty of clones in my time. If you are unaware of the game's premise, then you might need to stop reading this blog about video games, and first learn what a video game is.


The Windows Phone 7 offering is inventively titled Bejewelled LIVE, and features the same simple gameplay as its predecessors. The game is fun to play, and I feel like I'm getting a bit more strategical with my gem slection. Making power gems is a vital part of the gameplay but sometimes feels like little more than blind luck. I really don't understand why the game ends when you run out of moves on the board. It's not like this is your fault, because you don't have any influence on the next gems being introduced. It's a feature that has infuriated both me and Jess over the past couple of days.

In a similar colour matching game vein, I picked up Puzzle Quest 2, also on WP7, as it was discounted as deal of the week. This game can best be described as something of a casual hardcore fusion. It's essentially Bejewelled covered in a fine layer of high fantasy. I don't know why I describe so many games using food metaphors.

I really enjoyed Puzzle Quest 2. I find it surprising no developers before Infinite Interactive had hit on this idea. The idea of switching out points for damage and mana is incredibly simple but very effective. There's a great feeling as you collect up action points and then taking a massive chunk of your opponents health. There's also a massive sense of annoyance when your opponent manage an enormous cascade, netting himself twelve extra goes.

Whilst I do still enjoy the game, there are a few bugbears. The upgrades to the weapons are a good goal to work towards, but it's often unclear what effect the expensive upgrades will have. The game also scales the enemies to your currently level, meaning that there's really no point in fighting any unnecessary battles or taken on side quests, since every enemy will be on a level playing field. Gaining allies is good, but I feel something more could be done with it. Perhaps I could spend some action points to call them into battle, boosting my attacks for a few turns?

Two similar concepts, but two very different executions. That's just gaming in a nutshell really, isn't it?

Also, because I'm never gonna have another opportunity to link to this, here's one of my favourite Penny Arcade strips ever. Enjoy!