Game Card
Puzzle Arcade (Xbox360)
- Publisher:
- Eidos Interactive
- Developer:
- CTXM
- US Release:
- 24.12.2008
- EU Release:
- n/a
- Number of players:
- n/a
Review
We play Puzzle Arcade...
Xbox LIVE Arcade (XBLA) is great. There are loads of brilliant retro titles and a whole raft of miniature works of genius like Braid or Geometry Wars. Then there are titles like Puzzle Arcade that don’t really fit into either category. For want of a better word, Puzzle Arcade could be described as fluff or filler and to a large extent it is just that. It’ll appeal only to a very select audience of gamers who love a certain pastime beloved by the pensionable. Jigsaws. Yes, jigsaws.
Now cast your mind back a couple of months to the torrent of incredible games we’ve been showered with lately. Do you really have time in your gaming schedule to fit in a time-consuming jigsaw game?
Perhaps we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves. First, a bit of background information on the game is probably in order. It’s a game devoted entirely to putting together jigsaws, except without the stress and worry of missing pieces or having to socialise with your granny. The game practically reeks of Werther’s Originals and as such it’s hard to see why your average Xbox 360 owner would care about this game at all. What Puzzle Arcade does it does extremely well. In fact we can’t think of a better jigsaw game we’ve ever played. Truly, if jigsaws are your thing, then this will get you very hot under the collar indeed. But for those of you who bought an Xbox 360 to blow stuff up, headshot aliens and smash up cars, Puzzle Arcade probably isn't for you.
That’s not to say the game is entirely without merit. There is a calm, sedate quality to putting together a jigsaw, and the soothing music and gentle background graphics coax you into a hypnotic stupor as you play. After a while however, staring at jumbled up pieces on the screen can become gratingly dull, but if you’re anything like us and you’ve started a puzzle, come hell or high water you’ll finish it, even if you are beginning to stare at your TV through tears.
The number of jigsaws you can do are infinite as you can connect an Xbox Vision camera to your console and snap away transforming photos into jigsaw heaven. There are also a whole variety of puzzle-tastic jigsaw modes to choose from including Fractal Puzzles that take seemingly forever to complete. Yes! Each Fractal Puzzle is divided into several segments, which you must complete before completing the entire puzzle. If you like you can complete two levels of a Fractal Puzzle, or if you’re a complete sadist with far too much time on your hands, you can complete three levels. Finally, a game perfect for serial killers and sociopaths alike.
Or if you want to render the entire experience pointless and impotent you can switch to turbo mode. This basically lines up and organises the puzzle’s pieces for you and then has you drag them onto the completed picture over the specific shape and image segment. It’s a great way to waste hours of your life that you’ll never get back. Still, once you’ve completed a puzzle, you’re normally rewarded with a trophy and you can hang the finished picture on the wall of you’re pseudo-futuristic gallery, set into the side of a cliff face on some bizarre distant planet. Possibly the only planet in the universe where they’d bother to actually play this game for more than two hours without weeping uncontrollably.
For those of you that do care, you can hook up with other players on Xbox LIVE and do a jigsaw together or you can invite friends round for a raucous fun time. Who needs Guitar Hero or Rock Band, eh? If, by chance you do love jigsaws puzzles and you’ve been waiting, praying for the definitive jigsaw puzzle game, then look no further, Puzzle Arcade is it. The rest of us can go back to playing Gears Of War 2 and Fable II instead and save ourselves 800 MS points into the bargain. See that score up there? Add six points to it if you’re a hardcore jigsaw fan. Honestly, it is that good.
Top game moment: The great nights sleep I had after playing the game.
Now cast your mind back a couple of months to the torrent of incredible games we’ve been showered with lately. Do you really have time in your gaming schedule to fit in a time-consuming jigsaw game?
 |
 |
|
| This is about the most exciting thing in the game. Getting a picture of Lara Croft's cleavage | If you are trying to finish a puzzle at speed, these big flashes telling you how near you are to completion are a real pain |
Perhaps we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves. First, a bit of background information on the game is probably in order. It’s a game devoted entirely to putting together jigsaws, except without the stress and worry of missing pieces or having to socialise with your granny. The game practically reeks of Werther’s Originals and as such it’s hard to see why your average Xbox 360 owner would care about this game at all. What Puzzle Arcade does it does extremely well. In fact we can’t think of a better jigsaw game we’ve ever played. Truly, if jigsaws are your thing, then this will get you very hot under the collar indeed. But for those of you who bought an Xbox 360 to blow stuff up, headshot aliens and smash up cars, Puzzle Arcade probably isn't for you.
That’s not to say the game is entirely without merit. There is a calm, sedate quality to putting together a jigsaw, and the soothing music and gentle background graphics coax you into a hypnotic stupor as you play. After a while however, staring at jumbled up pieces on the screen can become gratingly dull, but if you’re anything like us and you’ve started a puzzle, come hell or high water you’ll finish it, even if you are beginning to stare at your TV through tears.
The number of jigsaws you can do are infinite as you can connect an Xbox Vision camera to your console and snap away transforming photos into jigsaw heaven. There are also a whole variety of puzzle-tastic jigsaw modes to choose from including Fractal Puzzles that take seemingly forever to complete. Yes! Each Fractal Puzzle is divided into several segments, which you must complete before completing the entire puzzle. If you like you can complete two levels of a Fractal Puzzle, or if you’re a complete sadist with far too much time on your hands, you can complete three levels. Finally, a game perfect for serial killers and sociopaths alike.
 |
 |
|
| This almost looks halfway interesting. Don't be fooled | This is a piece of a Fractal Puzzle. Now imagine doing another 13 or 14 of these, and then doing more after that all in one sitting. Suddenly hell seems alright |
Or if you want to render the entire experience pointless and impotent you can switch to turbo mode. This basically lines up and organises the puzzle’s pieces for you and then has you drag them onto the completed picture over the specific shape and image segment. It’s a great way to waste hours of your life that you’ll never get back. Still, once you’ve completed a puzzle, you’re normally rewarded with a trophy and you can hang the finished picture on the wall of you’re pseudo-futuristic gallery, set into the side of a cliff face on some bizarre distant planet. Possibly the only planet in the universe where they’d bother to actually play this game for more than two hours without weeping uncontrollably.
For those of you that do care, you can hook up with other players on Xbox LIVE and do a jigsaw together or you can invite friends round for a raucous fun time. Who needs Guitar Hero or Rock Band, eh? If, by chance you do love jigsaws puzzles and you’ve been waiting, praying for the definitive jigsaw puzzle game, then look no further, Puzzle Arcade is it. The rest of us can go back to playing Gears Of War 2 and Fable II instead and save ourselves 800 MS points into the bargain. See that score up there? Add six points to it if you’re a hardcore jigsaw fan. Honestly, it is that good.
Top game moment: The great nights sleep I had after playing the game.
