Bejewelled 2
| A review of: Bejewelled 2 by: Etali |
| Platform: PlayStation 3 | Publisher: Sony |
| Rating: 8.0/10 | Bejewelled has been a staple of casual gaming, and flash games web sites for a long time now. Some people even play it on their mobile phones! And now, even console gamers can join in the casual gem-matching fun, since Bejewelled 2 is available for download on the Playstation Network. Bejewelled 2 is, at its core, Bejewelled — a simple, but addictive matching game. It’s made the transition to the console very well. The gems look clean and crisp even on a large HDTV, and the colours are easy on the eye — unlike some similar games which have headache inducing gem designs that mean even a puzzle freak like me (I once played a handheld Tetris game from 8AM until 10PM, clocking it several times in the process) just can’t play them. There's plenty of eye candy, in terms of sparkle, flashes, and jazzy effects - especially in Action mode, but it's all well done and easy on the eye. I’m used to clicking on the gems in Bejewelled with a mouse, so the “select with X then > move the analogue stick to switch the gem” mechanic took a little getting used to. I got around this by playing in an un-timed mode until I re-trained my muscle memory. Of course, if you’ve never played Bejewelled before that won’t be an issue for you. Moving around the board during timed modes is a little frustrating, but I think the developers have handled the port to the console very well. There are eight modes in total in the game, although only four are unlocked at the start. To begin with, there’s the original Classic Mode, and Action Mode — which offer the traditional Bejewelled gameplay, along with Puzzle Mode and Endless Mode, which are new in this release. Puzzle Mode requires you to clear a pre-designed grid to move to the next level — and adds bombs and rocks to the board, which adds an extra dimension to the gameplay, while Endless Mode offers exactly what its name implies, timer free, non-stop gameplay. The other four ‘secret’ modes are Twilight Mode, Cognito Mode, Finity Mode, and Hyper Mode. These modes offer a greater challenge for the more hardcore gamer — with each mode offering an extra layer of difficulty — for example hints costing you, gameplay being faster, or bombs appearing during normal play. Personally, I think these modes are a little gimmicky. Classic Bejewelled is where I spend most of my time.  The selection of music in Bejewelled is rather limited. I turned down the music, actually, because it got repetitive quite quickly. The sound effects are nice though — and aren’t annoying, so you can be playing Bejewelled while other people are around, doing other things, without annoying them. At it’s core, Bejewelled 2 is a great game. It’s addictive, and fun in both bite-sized chunks and long sessions. I mention this because I’ve found that with most other puzzle / matching games I own, I find it hard to justify booting up a console to play them. I have a huge collection of XBLA games that I haven’t played in months because I can’t be bothered to boot the console to only play on it for fifteen minutes — my PC is on 24/7, so it’s easier to play the more ‘casual’ games on that, and leave the console for a marathon Test Drive Unlimited or Too Human session. Bejewelled 2 is one puzzle game that I do enjoy playing in longer sessions (Not Endless Mode, just several games of Classic Mode!), so it’s worth booting up the console for. What’s the benefit of booting up the console instead of playing Bejewelled on the PC? Well, the Playstation 3 is plugged into a large HDTV, and uses a wireless controller. While I’m gate camping in Eve Online, I boot up the console, turn down the sound, and play Bejewelled 2 — keeping one eye on the PC, and listening to Teamspeak. This is better than playing on the PC because it means that if anything happens in Eve I don’t have to worry about hitting Alt-Tab to get back in game. Bejewelled 2 on a HDTV is much nicer than in a small window on the PC screen, with graphics from another game in the background distracting me. If multitasking doesn’t sound like a benefit to you, how about persuading others in the household that the Playstation 3 belongs there? Bejewelled 2 can be enjoyed by everyone, so you can claim “But the PS3 isn’t just for me to play Killzone on! Little Sis plays on it too!”. I’m impressed with how well Bejewelled 2 has made the transition to the console. Even if you already play the game on another platform, it’s well worth considering if you own the PS3. |
