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Puzzle Quest: Galactrix

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7.2 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 31 critic reviews
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Based on 12 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: D3Publisher of America / Aspyr Media

Developer: Infinite Interactive

Genre(s): Puzzle

Players: 2

ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10 and Older)

Release Date: February 24, 2009

Summary

Enjoy a new board, new weapons, new tactics and more in this incredibly addictive puzzle gameboard battle. Collect a fleet of customizable spaceships, which endow your player with new skills and abilities, and fight in over 150 battles. Save the galaxy in your custom-made fleet of starships. Manipulate the puzzle gems in zero gravity on an all-new hexagonal puzzle board. Battle across the galaxy in multiplayer wars and compete for rankings in online leaderboards. Short, easy pick-up and play battles, with incredible depth and RPG-style character building. [Aspyr Media]

Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

GameShark

It’s this blend of casual pick up and play feel, deep, challenging gameplay and copious amounts of activities that makes this a very hard game to put down.

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GameSpy

Like peanut butter and chocolate, the combination of classic puzzle gameplay and RPG game mechanics results in something greater than the sum of its parts.

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IGN

The developers really hit on something with the Puzzle Quest formula, and I'll be on board as long as they can keep it engrossing.

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Games Radar (in-house)

Its handful of setbacks are just about evenly balanced with its improvements, so Galactrix still offers an addictive, puzzle-meets-RPG experience that won’t disappoint most fans of the original PQ, as well as anyone looking for an accessible game that still packs plenty of substance.

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Wired

Galactrix is a surprisingly robust game, but you really need to have an investment in the rote act of matching gems to appreciate it all.

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G4 TV

Whether or not you’ll like this game really boils down to whether or not you like the decidedly Bejeweled-inspired core gameplay mode, because regardless of what you’re doing in this game you’re never more than a few clicks away from it.

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games(TM)

Still addictive, but lacking the original’s impact. [Apr 2009, p.121]

Multiplayer.it

Puzzle Quest: Galactrix is a true sequel of Challenge of the Warlords and it has only a big problem: the developer really can't add any major element to the already perfect gameplay. It's an addictive game with an over the top sense of fun.

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Cheat Code Central

It's the same puzzle over and over again, but the game stretches the concept to cover all sorts of different twists and turns.

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Game Over Online

It’s not quite as well-rounded an experience as its predecessor and it can be frustrating at times, but ultimately the combination role-playing and 3-match puzzle game formula is still very much a winner here.

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PC Gamer UK

It might not be as deliciously addictive as the original, but Galactrix will still suck up hours like a black hole. [May 2009, p.67]

Absolute Games

The only big drawback is the hacking puzzle which is required travel between star systems. You have to replay this timed mini-game as many times as there are stars in the sky – literally!

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Pelit (Finland)

A forced remake. The gaming scene is so over saturated with the match three genre, Galactrix feels old right off the bat. Even though very clichéd, the proven core elements still works. [Apr 2009]

Worth Playing

Puzzle Quest: Galactrix does an admirable job of trying to hold your interest for a lengthy puzzle game, but it has a weak story, the AI feels cheap, an aggravating hacking game and the extremely weak multiplayer drag down the experience.

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GameFocus

The original Puzzle Quest set the bar so high for Galactrix it is almost unfair to compare the two but in the end you must. If you can get past the “dumbed” down gameplay this is actually a fun and lengthy worthwhile gaming experience which most puzzle fans and Role Playing Gamers will enjoy.

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PC Zone UK

A worthy follow-up and well worth your time if you are an enthusiast of the gem-matching genre. [June 2009, p.75]

Total PC Gaming

It’s not Peggle-addictive, but there’s depth beyond the casual puzzle game.

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Play (Poland)

It's amazing how much variety can be squeezed out of such a simple game concept. There's even place for character development, new ship acquisition and commerce! All that is done just by arranging colour tiles in patterns of three or more. [Apr 2009]

GamingTrend

The bottom line is that I feel like I should be liking it a lot more than I am. I keep finding myself alternating between frustrated and bored - a combination I never thought I'd see from a Puzzle Quest game.

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Gamers.at

If you know Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords you know how to play Puzzle Quest: Galactrix. If you are a fan of puzzle games you’ll most probably like it.

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Edge Magazine

While the overall blandness means Galactrix is unlikely to truly thrill many people, it also means that it won’t exclude anyone either, and the ever-reliable pattern-spotting blends with the steady trickle of meaningless rewards to exert a pull on its audience that is truly Pavlovian. [Apr 2009, p.125]

GameZone

The actual puzzles follow the same base format, albeit with some different bents that create different challenges as you move through. While there are a number of mini-games, they are all basically the same thing and though the storyline does attempt to drive the gameplay forward, it does miss the boat.

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AtomicGamer

Even with the modest $20 price tag for Puzzle Quest: Galactrix, it's not worth the frustration after a taking a couple of losses that are completely out of your hands.

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PC Format

Most Puzzle Quest aficionados will quickly end up returning to the original.

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Giant Bomb

The first Puzzle Quest was a revelation; Galactrix is just a complication.

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LEVEL (Czech Republic)

How to make an awkward elephant from a light-footed gazelle? The same way you can advance from a splendid Challenge of the Warlords to an overcomplicated Galactrix. [Mar 2009]

Computer Games Online RO

Puzzle Quest: Galactrix bears on its shoulders the burden of the glorious past created by its older brother and I’m sure that if it had been the first born, it would have been much better received.

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1UP

So while I'm excited about the changes to the formula for Galactrix, the downsides aren't sorted out nearly as well as I'd hoped, making this huge bundle of gameplay seem more like a chore than a boon.

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Game Revolution

If the the old school Puzzle Quest is mega-addicting black tar heroin, then the new one is some brown weed that barely gets you high and leaves you with little more than a headache and a bad taste in your mouth.

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GameSpot

The sequel to Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords takes everything that was great about its predecessor and ruins it.

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GameStar

More complexity doesn't automatically create more fun. The successor to Puzzle Quest, the entertaining mix between role-play elements and puzzle game, turns out to be uninspired and boring. It's more complex but confusing, even for experts. There are less rewards to motivate you and the AI doesn't work properly. A candidate for the list of bad sequels.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 7.2 (out of 10) based on 12 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Adam R gave it a6:
The original was an amazing accomplishment, managing the complexity of an RPG, the accessibility of Bejewled, a so-bad-its-good story with a few genuinely good bits, and lots of very intuitive mechanics that added great depth. For some reason, it seems they decided that even that was too complex, made the game slightly simpler, and infinitely less meaningful. The new grid is not necessarily a bad move, but while everything else dumbed the game down, the increased number of angles traded thought out strategy for dumb luck. And is it just me, or are the graphics significantly worse then the original? If this was the first Puzzle Quest game, I would have to applaud it based on the sheer strength behind the concept. As it is, it's the poor mans PQ:CotW. If you've played neither, get the original. If your looking at Galactrix after playing the original, just go play the original again. Though not entirely bad, there no reason to buy this game when there's another option that's superior in every way.

Alan B gave it a7:
The new puzzle board is really clever and requires refreshingly different tactics to get the most out of your moves. Hacking is often criticised but the "you have to wait for the gems to fall while the timer ticks down" design is deliberate, and there to make you avoid cascades, which is just part of the tactical play of the game. It seems almost impossible at first but is easy once you get into the swing. Having said this, Galactrix is not as good as the first Puzzle Quest. Main problems are a less interesting story with relatively mundane characters. They're just not that interesting or well-written. The original game which had me in fits of laughter, but this one only got the occasional chuckle. Also, some ship modules are just way too powerful and should not have been included as they are basically an I-win button. And the game crashes periodically on both XP and Vista, which is just shoddy and unprofessional. Still, worth getting for your gem-matching fix, I would definitely still recommend it over Bejewled Twist - just don't expect too much from Galactrix and you won't feel let down.

Johan K gave it a3:
I loved the first Puzzle Quest even though Infinite Interactive dropped the ball on that one and never patched the horribly flawed PS3 version (having the same song repeated over and over again).Given how much Galactrix crashes, let's hope they do not blatantly ignore that their product is broken; this time around. The gameplay isn't too bad but iit does lack the feel of a finished product. Many times you will click and click again just to get the game to respond - this is felt even in the intro screen. What worse is that the although new hex grid is a good move, the combos on it isn't. Except for the old frustration when your enemy blindly manages to get combo after combo from new games dropping in on the board (And this has been cranked up, get used to 5-10 combo moves) there's one real problem: While hacking gateways which is a timed mini-game, the game will happily waste your time dropping useless after useless combo while you frantically try to click that gem you need to move. Even if it isn't for the time stress you'd still be clicking in frustration because there's no clear indicator of when the game releases the control back to you. I'm going back to the PS3 version of the original game, at least that I can play with the game music turned off and enjoy it (which is a shame because both games have really great background tracks).

Ricky S gave it a9:
I am a big fan of the first puzzle quest, and after a few hours of one on one time with Galactrix I can safely say the new iteration does not disappoint. At first I was a bit shaken by the new puzzle game mechanics, but after some time I grew accustom to them, and began to under stand why they changed the setup. The new system is provides the player with more options for strategic moves, not only can the piece move in 6 directions rather than 4, the way the pieces fall also changes. The big WOW moment was the first time i opened my galactic map, the number of systems is truly epic, each system with 3-6 'planets'. The only gripe I have with the game is the system to open jump gates. It requires you to match certain colors in a certain order, with a limited amount of time. Because of the time limit, it feels more like luck than skill. I found myself restarting the puzzle two or three times until I found one where the first 5 colors were easily matched.

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Puzzle Quest: Galactrix

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