Bejeweled 3

It’s been almost six years since the last Bejeweled and considering that it was a smashing hit during all this time, PopCap decided that it’s  time to raise the stakes even further with the new Bejeweled 3. Even World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has been specially rigged with a Bejeweled 3 mini-game, both the expansion pack for WoW and the PopCap game being launched on the same day.

Packed with tons of new features and the same addicting and fun gameplay, Bejeweled 3 hits the scene in style, setting out what could only be described as a match three mania.

The Story

There really is no story behind the game because let’s face it, how can you justify matching three gems together by adding a story to it? It’s like saying that I enjoy playing a classic Snake game because I find a lot of myself in the main character.

Still, there’s no reason to consider this as a downside or a complete deal breaker when it comes to the overall gameplay experience. Bejeweled 3 is anything but boring and has a lot to put out, by being fully stocked with more game modes that you can possibly imagine.

The Gameplay

If you’ve lived on planet Earth for the past decade, you know what a match tree game is all about and I don’t need to explain to you in detail what you should do. Then again, some of you “aliens” might have been too brain washed by FPS’s or RPG’s to even begin to understand the addictive simplicity of the game.

As mentioned before, four game modes have been incorporated, each of them ranging from a very relaxed gameplay (Zed mode) to a highly engaging and time pressuring event (Lightning mode). In fact, you could say that each of these game modes is suited to the level of experience and ninja-skills you possess in matching the gems.

Classic mode is probably the most well-known of all, you goal being to simply make sure that you avoid the ever so irritating “No More Moves” message. Even the in-game God-like voice that says it has a certain gloat in its tone.

PopCap has even introduced some groundbreaking audio stimuli that aim to alter your mood and concentration as you play the game. You’ll notice that you can turn on and off some really nifty ambient sounds and even use the binaural beats to selectively alter your state of mind. Don’t worry, it’s not like hypnosis or anything, these are supposed to have the same effect as visiting your friendly neighborhood massage parlor. Zen mode is supposed to be all about relaxation and trust me when I say that you’ll get plenty of it.

Lighting mode is extremely fast-paced and if you enjoy torturing yourself for sixty seconds (or more, depending on how well you do) this is certainly not for the faint hearted gamer. Your goal is to smash as many Time Gems as you can so that you can add more seconds to your countdown bar. It’s like a survival game where you’re continuously being harassed by an angry mob and that time bar looks more and more like the fuse on a dynamite stick.

Quest mode is probably one of the most diversified of all. Not only that you get to play multiple variations of the previous modes, but it also increases in difficulty as you progress. Collecting all the lost relics (the main goal of the mode) is a matter of skills meets patience.

If I were to pick out my favorite, I’d probably go with Poker, mostly because it has a certain strategy to it. You have to plan ahead two or three moves so that you can achieve a pair, a spectrum (five different types of gems), two pairs, three of a kind, full house, four of a kind and even a flush (if you’ve got what it takes).

Butterflies and Ice Storm are basically the same, you have to prevent the butterflies or the ice from reaching the top of the eight by eight board. The difference is that the former is not time based and the latter is.

At the end of it all, if you get tired of gem matching, you can check out the Records menu and feast your eyes on the various badges that you’ve earned and also view the high scores for each mode separately. I’m pretty sure that it’s going to take you a lot of time to get all the achievements in the display case, but I don’t think that time is what you should be worried about; after all, gem matching skills are far more important.

Although the game comes with pretty low hardware specifications, the visual effects are stunning, considering that this is a mere match three puzzle game. Everything is polished and smoothly shaped; even the exploding and lightning effects are a real treat to look at.

If you’ve got a decent PC configuration, you can even crank it up and set the resolution to Ultra (1920x1200). The explosion of colors and effects will surely cause a few gasps, adding to an even more addicting gameplay experience.

As for the audio part, the only noticeable difference lies in the voice acted comments that greet you when you launch the game and when you run out of gems to match. This deep and loudly spoken Odin-like voice also congratulates you when you achieve chain matching events which kind of reminds me of the same Unreal Tournament evil voice (unstoppable and god-like comes to mind).

I’ve also found that the background soundtrack could have used a bigger loop interval, having to listen to the same tunes every thirty seconds or so can be a bit too much at times. The only real improvement lies in Zen mode, where you can pick out ambient sounds and the previously mentioned binaural beats.

The Good

The Bad

Conclusion