Review: Bejeweled Live Plus (XBox Live)

Score:
81%

Author: Nokia / Electronic Arts

Version Reviewed: 1.0.0.0

Buy Link | Download / Information Link

For those of you who haven't seen the game in the last twelve years, Bejeweled was one of the first match-three games that really caught the public's attention. In a grid of gems that measures 8x8, you would switch a pair of adjoining gems (horizontally or vertically) to get a line of three, four or five matching gems - which would then vanish, gems would fall down, and a smart player will have a chain reaction lined up to maximise their score as the gems fall.

From such basic concepts are games developed and empires made. When you get to this level and this maturity, there's a lot more that can be added to the core product to create new challenges. Bejewelled Live Plus has this classic game mode available, but adds a number of variations. Lightning and Diamond Mine have been carried over from Bejeweled Live, while the two new modes in this 'Plus' version are Zen and Butterfly.

Lightning mode is a timed version of the game, reminiscent of Bejeweled Blitz on other platforms, asking you to score as many points as possible in a short time period; Diamond Mine asks you to dig into the ground and reach a certain depth through the destructive power of the gem matching.

Zen takes away all the scoring and danger, leaving you with the pure gem switching and nothing else; while Butterfly will see the cute winged critters climb up the game grid until you include them in a match-three to set them free. If they reach the top, the spider eats them and it's an instant game over.

While these additions are nice and don't change the style of the game too much, I would regard them as variations on a theme, rather than new games as such. Nobody who doesn't like Bejeweled is going to be swayed into buying the game because there is a variant with a butterfly eating spider that looks like a jewel. Even if that sounds creepily wonderful.

 

Controls are as polished as they were on the previous app, with a good solid swipe needed to trigger a switching of gems, so it's unlikely that you'll switch two by mistake (and if it's a move that doesn't result in a match, it gets reversed at no cost to the player apart from the time taken).

The artwork on show in the background never quite matches the spinning diamond jewels used for the menu option. It's a bit reminiscent of the fantastic watercolours you would get on a sci-fi novel, and seems a touch out of place in a puzzle game. I'm not sure if I'd prefer something a little more abstract behind the options and game screen.

There's not much you can say about Bejeweled Live Plus that's not been said. The controls work, everything is as clear as you would expect from a game concept and look that's been polished over twelve years, it's all rather clinical... yet the game itself is still horribly addictive, full of 'just one more go' moments, and continues to draw me in to this latest version.

 

How much value for money is on offer here is an interesting question. Bejeweled fans already established on Windows Phone will likely have the vanilla version of Bejeweled Live downloaded already, and even with the two extra game modes and another 200 gamer points on offer for the achievements, I think the price is a little too much to ask, even if it is slightly cheaper that the original title.

But for anyone who's not played the first XBox Live version - and with the explosion of Windows Phone devices, especially WP8 devices, that could be a lot of people - going straight to Bejeweled Live Plus makes a lot of sense. The two extra modes add to the game, and the achievements are slightly easier to complete.

The title is a Nokia exclusive at the moment, and it's a no-brainer to recommend it under the above circumstances. Assuming the exclusivity period expires after six months, I'd recommend it to everyone else as well.

Reviewed by Ewan Spence at 23:51 UTC, February 20th 2013