February 12, 2009 - Fans of Puzzle Quest will once again find themselves addicted to puzzle/RPG gameplay soon after beginning their journey with Galactrix. While it definitely feels like its own game, the flow of gameplay will be familiar to anyone who played PQ. Players jet around the galaxy completing mini-quests, improving their hero and ships, and matching a lot of gems. We consider ourselves to be Puzzle Quest connoisseurs, so allow us to break down some of the differences we've found between the first game and Galactrix.
* In Puzzle Quest there was a slew of characters and classes to choose from, but Galactrix offers only two -- a male and a female. There doesn't seem to be any difference between the two, other than cosmetic.
* The game world in Galactrix is much, much bigger. It can be a bit daunting the first time you gaze at the galaxy map, with dozens and dozens of systems each containing missions, shops, its own economy and government, and mini-games.
* In order to gain access to new areas of the galaxy map you have to complete mini-games. Basically, you have to hack a leap gate by matching gems in a specific order within a time limit. Hacking challenges increase in difficulty as you progress.
* Like Puzzle Quest, you can add members to your party in Galactrix. But instead of giving you a small boost in battle, they unlock complete game features. Adding the character Lydia to your party, for example, will allow you to mine asteroids for valuable cargo, which can be sold around the galaxy.
* In Puzzle Quest you could lay siege to any castle you visited, take control of it, and add it to your empire. From then on it would pay taxes to you whenever you passed through. Sadly, this feature appears to be missing from Galactrix.
Another major difference is that you do all your attacking and equipping with your ship. In Puzzle Quest you could capture monsters and use them as mounts, but here in Galactrix your vehicles are much more involved in gameplay. There are over 30 ships you can collect and customize. Below is a breakdown of some of the general classes of ships and their most common uses. You can only have three vehicles in your fleet at any one time, so you'll have to make tactical decisions about which to use. Reading the benefits each class provides gives you an idea of just how big this game is. Ships can be bought, or built if you find the plans.
Warships
Trident Battleship, Vortraag Destroyer, Trident Gunship, Vortraag Cruiser, Trident Warship
These ships have large reserves of Red Energy, useful for outfitting with lasers and missiles. They focus on directly damaging an opponent. It's always good to keep one of these heavy-hitting ships in your fleet for when you find that inevitable boss fight. Be careful with some items like Mines and Minelayers though, because they can sometimes do as much harm as good.
Vortraag Destroyer
Fast Ships
Acheron Ghostship, MRI Blade, Cy-Tech Botship, Cy-Tech Needle
These are useful ships to have if you plan on spending a lot of time running away from encounters or smuggling contraband. Of course, PSI Power will also let you escape your enemies so you may choose to concentrate on that instead. Keep in mind that many of the fast ships are also small, so you may be in trouble if you get caught. If you can manage to obtain an Acheron Ghostship though, you should be able to outfit it with quite a bit of equipment.
Science Ships
Lumina Archive, MRI Science Station, Lumina Warship, Lumina Cruiser
These ships have a large amount of Green Energy, representing the massive computer systems they have on board. Green Energy is useful for buffing up your own ship, so Science vessels are often good defensive ships to keep around when fighting some big enemy capital ships. A science vessel with auto-repair functionality can last a very long time in combat.
Cargo Ships
Elysian Ferry, Jahrwoxi Homeship, Standard Hauler
If you want to make your fortune mining, then it is worthwhile to reserve one or more slots for these behemoths. Your cargo capacity is determined by adding together the capacity of each ship in your fleet, so it is never a waste to keep Cargo Ships around. Although these ships are not good in combat, they will save you the effort of constantly visiting distant stations to get the best prices for your cargo.
Long Range Ships
Cy-Tech Missile Array, Quesadan Lightship
These Ships have a high reserve of Yellow Energy. This is very useful for manipulating the board and can be a great way of denying a specific enemy the energy he needs to activate his most powerful items. In fact it is often worth keeping a long-range vessel and occasionally customizing it on the fly before a battle with a tricky opponent. Keep an eye out for Thrusters, Waves, and Transformers that can be outfitted to these ships to target various gem types in play.
Capital Ships
Lumina Archive, Trident Battleship, Gamma Sphere
These ships have eight item slots and can be literally filled with all sorts of items. They are often slow, but also have good cargo capacity, so you probably want as many of these in your fleet as possible. However they are very expensive to buy, and even if you can find the plans it is very difficult to build one yourself.
Well-Balanced Ships
MRI Mindship, All Soulless Ships
These ships are obviously very versatile. Your biggest problem is locating one or finding all the cargo necessary to create one yourself.
Puzzle Quest: Galactrix ships at the end of this month. Look for IGN's early review next week.
