After unveiling Bejeweled Twist at a recent event in Seattle, PopCap presented press and industry people with the chance to get their hands on the follow-up to the immensely popular puzzle game. We gave it a spin -- pun intended -- to give you our impressions.
I've always enjoyed poking at the older Bejeweled titles in my downtime, as they never required much brain power to enjoy. Even though Bejeweled Twist has a totally new game play mechanism, at first glance, I did not think it would be any more difficult or challenging than its predecessors were. Boy, was I wrong.
If you've mastered Bejeweled, you should be warned that you'll be starting at the very beginning again with Twist. You'll have to be mindful of the position of four jewels, always thinking about how the clockwise rotation of the cluster will affect the surrounding gems for the next move and several after that. The goal is still to line up three like jewels vertically or horizontally, but combos and patterns aren't as open or obvious to new players.
To be fair, the game does feature a Zen mode, letting you space out and get your spaced-out gaming on. The only thing you'll lose in this mode is free time, as you cannot fail. The other three game modes, Classic, Blitz, and Challenge, will have you own your toes, though.
Classic has new bomb gems that randomly appear on the game board. Each features a counter that decreases in numbers every time you spin. If you don't clear it by way of matching gems before you get to zero, you'll lose. A special disarm spinner can bail you out if you land on a saving slot in the wheel, but chances are that you won't, and the bomb will explode. This is the default game mode for Twist.
Blitz is this game's version of Time Attack. It was the first mode I tried. I was challenged with clearing 250 matches in five minutes. I failed miserably. I was told it was something I had to work up to!
Challenge is Twist's problem solving mode. It offers twelve separate puzzle worlds, with seven levels of difficulty. This is a mode that has to be unlocked by playing the other modes.
As we mentioned before, game play is quite different in Bejeweled Twist. Players rotate a 2x2 block of gems in an effort to create a line of three or more gems of the same type. For the first time, you don't have to make a match with every move. You're free to spin gems to set up larger combos if you wish. There is a benefit to clearing with every move, as a multiplier counter increases your score with every successful clear. It's ultimately up to you on how you want to play.
They've thrown in a few new gems to mix things up. Flame Gems are created by matching four gems of the same type. Matching this Flame Gem to others creates a large explosion, clearing many other gems in its wake. Lighting Gems are made when you clear five of the same kind. When matched, they clear everything on the same vertical and horizontal line. And although I never was able to make one, Fruit Gems are Twist's holy grail. By maxing out the multiplier/chain meter, this Fruit Gem will appear, allowing you to eliminate all like-colored gems.
The production values for Bejeweled Twist are quite a bit higher than that of the past two games. The soundtrack is nice and ambient, and the sound effects are exciting. The game has you flying in a ship to square planets, where it's your job to clear gems and then move on to the next. Believe it or not, these in-between level sequences are actually rendered in 3D. Of course, game play takes place on a traditional 2D board, but it all still looks great. Higher powered moves are accented with nice visual effects, like fire and lightning.
As you can see, there are a lot more strategic options to Bejeweled Twist. Spinning one gem in a cluster of four into two others of a like color seemed to be the only obvious move at first. It took awhile to see that I could really think ahead, strategically placing other gems around an unspun cluster to make multiple clears. It's not as quick and easy as the past Bejeweled games, but pulling off big combos is pretty rewarding. Just don't expect to "get it" right away.
Where past Bejeweled titles were used for passing time, this new version has me thinking strategy, coming back whenever possible to try new ones out. This new *cough*... spin makes Bejeweled Twist a solid, mature puzzle game that is quite a bit deeper than it first appears.
Contest:
5:02 PM on 10.29.2008 | 
Decided to stay away after that.