Bejeweled Blitz Live – Review – Xbox 360

We all know that there are Bejeweled fanatics out there, if so, this is just the game for you. However, lets keep it simple, if you love these types of games, then you’re probably going to buy it regardless of what I say, if not, then you probably won’t. That isn’t to say that PopCap hasnt made improvements to Blitz, but it is also missing some things that it’s free to play companions have. The game is a lot of fun, but again its one of those games that is best played in short sprints, although no doubt some will be drawn into the “just one more time” mentality. Is it worth your money? Read on to find out.

Gameplay: Unless youve been living under a rock, you probably already know the basics of Bejeweled. You earn points by making pairs of three or more, and doing so in rapid succession earns you a multiplier.  Of course, creating pairs of four or more nets you even more rewards, destroying all the gems vertical or horizontal for an example. This is a quick thinkers game, you have just one minute to get the highest score before the game ends and you have to start over. However, it is this that makes it so addicting, on top of being able to compete in a leaderboard with your friends.  The controller’s face buttons serve as the movement method, that is, X moves the gem left, B moves it right, and this is actually probably the best control scheme that they could have came up with, its easy to use and works rapidly.

The game features a Twist Mode as well which completely changes the way you need to think. Instead of moving one gem in one of four directions, you now rotate four gems around in a square to make pairs. This seems awkward and clumsy at first but it really makes it hard to think in advance, I often find myself making accidental pairs. PopCap has stated though that the scores are around a 5 to 1 ratio with Classic being the latter.

Graphics/Audio: It seems unimaginable, but PopCap has gave this game an all new soundtrack and visual look which is a welcome change. The music can really intensify those final, crucial seconds. The backgrounds are animated and are pretty cool, but you will be too busy making split second decisions to even notice.

Multiplayer: The game features a leaderboard as I mentioned before, but also new is the Party Play Mode which puts up to 16 people in one room and dynamically ranks them based on how they are doing. This is nifty, but your high scores are not saved unfortunately.

Overall: Like we mentioned earlier, you know if you want this or not, and I doubt our opinion has changed much. But if you are one for short sprints or long instances of playing than this might just be for you. It’s just a little disappointing that more wasn’t included for the price ($10, 1200 Microsoft Points), when the online free to play versions get more content.

Pros:

• Quick, addictive play
• Party Play is pretty cool

Cons:

• Free to play gets more content
• One minute sprints are fun, but we’d like some long games

Overall: 7.0/10

A copy of this game was provided by the publisher for review purposes.

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