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Puzzle Dimensions
Puzzle Dimension is the
first title created by the company Doctor Entertainment. While the
company itself might be brand new, the founders have worked on games
before such as The Darkness, Riddick, some of the Battlefield games, and
Kula World. Puzzle Dimension shares a lot in common with Kula World and
those who loved that game, will love Puzzle Dimension.
The gameplay for Puzzle
Dimension is pretty easy to sum up and like most puzzle games is simply
meant to challenge and keep the player focused and challenged. The game
has the players controlling a little golden sphere as it rolls around on
a 3-D labyrinth trying to collect little flowers and then get to the
portal at the end. It sounds simple, but 'dimension' isn't in the title
for no reason. As the player moves around on the playing field he will
roll up, down, and all around in a crazy gravity defying path. No matter
where the player is gravity is always down and as such gravity changes
based on where you are. Say, for example, that during the course of the
maze you roll down what looks like a steep cliff, instead of falling,
you would follow the ground and gravity would twist so that what was
once down, is now straight.
While this makes for
some interesting puzzles and engaging environment, it can be a problem
at times if you rush due to the camera changing. Countless times I would
find myself jumping off the edge and too my death because the camera
changed just as I was hitting a direction button. While it wasn't very
common, it can be quite a pain for those trying to race through the
levels to get high scores.
One of the upsides to Puzzle Dimension that makes it superior to its
predecessor Kula World is the removal of the time limit. There is no
rush to complete the puzzles other than a high score so people who
simply want to focus on thinking ahead and solving the puzzle don't need
to feel rushed. If you get stuck, feel free to move the camera around,
look up and down and plan your moves out ahead of time.
Puzzle Dimension mixes up each puzzle by adding different tiles that do
different things. Ice tiles cause you to keep rolling until you reach
either the edge or a different tile, cracked tiles break after you jump
off them, sand tiles force you to jump and make rolling impossible, and
many more. Puzzles are divided into 'clusters' with each cluster
introducing a new tile and adding to the complexity. This added
difficulty helps and means that no matter how skilled somebody is they
can slowly work up their talent until they've figured out.
Regardless of if you
are a puzzle fan or not, the game is addicting. Even when various
puzzles would frustrate me to no end and cause me to quit, I'd find
myself going back and trying again. The game is capable of keeping a
constant and well-balanced challenge curve. It starts ridiculously easy
as you learn the controls, but eventually gets harder and harder slowly
pushing you farther.
Graphically speaking the game is interesting. It's HD and supports 3-D
and while the graphics are cool there is only so much you can do when
the entire game is a ball rolling around on square tiles. The concept is
original though in that before you roll over a tile it is a pixalized
low graphic tile, however, upon rolling over the tile it transforms into
HD graphics. This change has a few useful purposes. It not only lets you
see what tiles you've been and track your route when planning ahead, but
it also gives completionist something extra to do and adds another level
of difficulty on each puzzle.
One of the downsides to the game however, is that there really isn't
much point to getting a higher score. Unlocks are based on puzzles
completed, not on points, and there is no online leader boards or other
ways to compete. Simply put, the only thing a high score does it let you
look at it and feel special. Sure, looking at your high score and trying
to beat it is fun, but it doesn't really add much and just seems
pointless since there is little point to replay levels you've completed.
Puzzle Dimension
features one hundred different puzzles to solve which means you will
have hours of playtime as you try to solve each puzzle. The game is also
relatively cheap meaning tossing down the money for it if you love
puzzles should be a no brainer. However, be advised that the replay
value is pretty low. Once you have solved a puzzle there is little
reason to go back because you already know the solution. It's like being
asked the same riddle over and over, sure you can answer it quicker, but
that's because you know the answer. It would have been nice to toss on
the option to make your own puzzles as well since that would have given
it replay value and allowed players to customize and have fun.
Overall, Puzzle
Dimension is a simple, yet fun and addicting game that most people will
enjoy. It suffers from a few rare and minor camera issues, the lack of
any form of online, and the inability to make custom levels. It is still
a fun and engaging puzzle game however so if you love puzzle games and
enjoy testing your brain than the cheap price should be an even better
bonus. However, if you aren't a fan of puzzle games while it might be
fun anyways, the money might be better spent elsewhere.
Michael Riling
Impulse Gamer |
