Downloadable Game Review: Chuzzle Deluxe

Chuzzle brings a surprising combination of 80s arcade style with the standout flops of the 70s: shag carpet and disco. Like many puzzle casual games of recent (including Bejeweled, Zuma and Cubis), the aim of the game here is to create chains of three or more in an attempt to clear the board or advance levels. Only, in Chuzzle, instead of grouping jewels, blocks or orbs, we are grouping what can only be described as cute little shag carpet hairballs with eyes (apparently named “chuzzles”)!

We are taken right into her quest as a restaurateur as Flo herself; an energetic, enthusiastic owner who fulfills every role from hostess to server, bartender and busboy (thankfully, cooking is provided by a overworked dark figure behind the counter).

Chuzzle provides several game modes including classic (what we’re used to playing), Speed (where you must make a combo every few seconds in order to continue on), Zen and Mind Bender. All modes seem to be endless, as after an hour I reach level 24 with no end in site (and officially, as far as we know, there is no limit).

The sound track is particularly interesting and unique. It’s a disco-techno feel beat with, what I swear, is the Aflac duck quacking to the music (think John Travolta meets Donald Duck)!

However, the best part (by far) is the inclusion of trophies. Several dozen trophies are available in the Trophy Room for all types of achievements ranging from “Triple Combo” to “Speed Freak” to “Chuzzle Bingo”. This feature, along with the morphine-like, hour wasting addicting gameplay (customary for PopCap games) delivers more then enough excitement time and time again to warrant full version purchase: one hour is not enough, I must pop more shag carpet hairballs!

Navigation

Thanks to obvious special consideration, PopCap has come up with a sliding row/column grid navigation which proves easy-to-use and yet allows challenging gameplay. Players slide rows and columns of chuzzles left and right or up and down in order to line up combinations which record themselves (over half of my combo’s when playing came from accidental lineups recorded while attempting another, more obvious, lineup).

Ease of Use

Regarding ease of use, the navigation and gameplay are self explanatory at the get-go. And just in case you find yourself a little clueless as to where to begin, PopCap has included many tutorial and in-game assistance tips to aid you along the way. Additionally, in exchange for a hit in points, hints are available to get you out of those “what the heck do I do now?” moments.

Playability

With dozens of trophies, multiple, very challenging game modes, and tons twists and quirks along the way, Chuzzle is one of the few casual games that seems to never get old or boring! It kind of reminds me of the old commercial with the tagline “once you pop, you can’t stop!” To sum up…

MUST POP MORE SHAG CARPET HAIRBALLS!

Full Version Features

The free trial include unrestricted access and allows 60 minutes of gameplay. Enough to get you started and on your way at least one game mode as well as time to try out the other three. The full version allows you to feed your addiction (you’ll see what I mean when your trial expires).

Pros/Cons

Pros:

• Very addicting
• Doesn't get old or boring
• Seemingly unending
• Easy to use, navigate

Cons:

• No multiple player support

Bottom Line

I never thought popping little shag carpet hairballs with eyes could bring so much excitement and satisfaction… but it does! This game never gets old, boring, and seems to never end! The inclusion of trophies for particular achievements catapults this arcade/puzzle game above the traditional Bejeweled, Zuma and Cubis. My #1 Puzzle Game of the Year!

Editor's Rating:

Storyline:  9

Ease of Use: 9

Playability: 10

Overall: 8.3

Game Specs:

• Publisher: PopCap Games
• Full Version Price: $19.99
• Windows 98/2000/Me/XP
• Processor: PIII 500 MHz
• 128 MB RAM
• Free hard drive space: 8 MB
• 16 bit Video Card 16MB DirectX 7
• DirectX-compliant Sound Card

Downloadable Game Review: Chuzzle Deluxe

Chuzzle brings a surprising combination of 80s arcade style with the standout flops of the 70s: shag carpet and disco. Like many puzzle casual games of recent (including Bejeweled, Zuma and Cubis), the aim of the game here is to create chains of three or more in an attempt to clear the board or advance levels. Only, in Chuzzle, instead of grouping jewels, blocks or orbs, we are grouping what can only be described as cute little shag carpet hairballs with eyes (apparently named “chuzzles”)!

We are taken right into her quest as a restaurateur as Flo herself; an energetic, enthusiastic owner who fulfills every role from hostess to server, bartender and busboy (thankfully, cooking is provided by a overworked dark figure behind the counter).

Chuzzle provides several game modes including classic (what we’re used to playing), Speed (where you must make a combo every few seconds in order to continue on), Zen and Mind Bender. All modes seem to be endless, as after an hour I reach level 24 with no end in site (and officially, as far as we know, there is no limit).

The sound track is particularly interesting and unique. It’s a disco-techno feel beat with, what I swear, is the Aflac duck quacking to the music (think John Travolta meets Donald Duck)!

However, the best part (by far) is the inclusion of trophies. Several dozen trophies are available in the Trophy Room for all types of achievements ranging from “Triple Combo” to “Speed Freak” to “Chuzzle Bingo”. This feature, along with the morphine-like, hour wasting addicting gameplay (customary for PopCap games) delivers more then enough excitement time and time again to warrant full version purchase: one hour is not enough, I must pop more shag carpet hairballs!

Navigation

Thanks to obvious special consideration, PopCap has come up with a sliding row/column grid navigation which proves easy-to-use and yet allows challenging gameplay. Players slide rows and columns of chuzzles left and right or up and down in order to line up combinations which record themselves (over half of my combo’s when playing came from accidental lineups recorded while attempting another, more obvious, lineup).

Ease of Use

Regarding ease of use, the navigation and gameplay are self explanatory at the get-go. And just in case you find yourself a little clueless as to where to begin, PopCap has included many tutorial and in-game assistance tips to aid you along the way. Additionally, in exchange for a hit in points, hints are available to get you out of those “what the heck do I do now?” moments.

Playability

With dozens of trophies, multiple, very challenging game modes, and tons twists and quirks along the way, Chuzzle is one of the few casual games that seems to never get old or boring! It kind of reminds me of the old commercial with the tagline “once you pop, you can’t stop!” To sum up…

MUST POP MORE SHAG CARPET HAIRBALLS!

Full Version Features

The free trial include unrestricted access and allows 60 minutes of gameplay. Enough to get you started and on your way at least one game mode as well as time to try out the other three. The full version allows you to feed your addiction (you’ll see what I mean when your trial expires).

Pros/Cons

Pros:

• Very addicting
• Doesn't get old or boring
• Seemingly unending
• Easy to use, navigate

Cons:

• No multiple player support

Bottom Line

I never thought popping little shag carpet hairballs with eyes could bring so much excitement and satisfaction… but it does! This game never gets old, boring, and seems to never end! The inclusion of trophies for particular achievements catapults this arcade/puzzle game above the traditional Bejeweled, Zuma and Cubis. My #1 Puzzle Game of the Year!

Editor's Rating:

Storyline:  9

Ease of Use: 9

Playability: 10

Overall: 8.3

Game Specs:

• Publisher: PopCap Games
• Full Version Price: $19.99
• Windows 98/2000/Me/XP
• Processor: PIII 500 MHz
• 128 MB RAM
• Free hard drive space: 8 MB
• 16 bit Video Card 16MB DirectX 7
• DirectX-compliant Sound Card

James Cameron's Dark Angel: The Video Game Review for Playstation 2 (PS2) and XBox

The pathetic attempt to create a Dark Angel video game ended in unparalleled disaster. This game made a mockery of the once popular television series, basically rubbing the fans faces in the dirt. If you can’t do it right then don’t do it at all. This was one of the least imaginative games that I have ever seen and truth be told I could have more fun playing an old odyssey game than this crap. The Dark Angel series may have been canceled and public interest for anything Dark Angel may have been slim, but that is no excuse for this kind of debasement.

There is basically no story line going on here, Max attempts to rescue her siblings with the help of Logan Cale, blah, blah, blah. What else is new? The dialogue between the character Max played by Jessica Alba and the character Logan played by Michael Wheatherly sounded less like people than something robotic. I know they can do better than that so what’s the problem here? There is no excuse for doing a half-ass job have some self-respect this is your career.

The graphics for the game were horrendous, the same cop cars and trash cans will show up in nearly every section. You can’t tell one section from the next because they reuse all of the same graphics. The graffiti looks the same on each of the walls, the characters all look the same, but with different gear on. Max and Logan look similar to the actor and actress that played them, but Original Cindy doesn’t even come close. The boss characters, Beetle, Gecko, Bear, and Stingray (how original) are the most pathetic things ever to appear in a video game.

The gameplay has a rigid feel to it, there is a set path to follow with no room for deviations. The character Max must find a way to get past each section by either using a keycard that she gets from killing a guard or setting something up to explode. If Max is detected by the guards a timer begins and you have only minutes to kill every bad guy you see before it is game over for you; this is the most difficult part of the game. Max has a few moves that they have given her, but they are the same moves that she uses throughout the entire game and they aren’t even that good. Logan pipes in from time to time to let Max know what’s going on around her, usually at the beginning of each section, but sometimes in the middle of a battle which throws you off.

The camera for Dark Angel gets caught in walls or you can’t see down when you are on a second story to see if there are any bad guys down there, not that if they fixed it it would make much difference in how well received the game was. There was just not much fun in playing this game, it would have been a hit when the first Nintendo game came out, but video games have progressed so much farther since then. If you are a fan of the Dark Angel series your best bet is to buy the boxed set and the books; playing this will just let you know how far it fell when people stopped watching it.