Bejeweled Blitz Live - 02/23/11

Pure Apathy

Pure Apathy

CAGiversary!
Feedback
130 (100%)
I haven't seen much info on this, but Destructoid just posted an article on Bejeweled Blitz Live, and I have to say I'm very interested in this game.

191150-1.jpg


Bejeweled is always fun, but it's a different kind of fun when you're playing it as fast as you can up against 15 other players in 1 minute matches.

I...I didn't know. I just saw some Bejeweled action from across the room and walked up to it. I picked up a controller and started playing. The countdown timer started at the bottom. Bubbles with heads in them were blowing up on the left. People were laughing. At me, maybe. All of the sudden, PopCap senior Producer Kirk Scott was watching over my shoulder. I panicked. I moved the cursor around aimlessly and made some unmatched moves. I couldn't find any moves! I lost.

That was my first run of Bejewled Blitz Live's Party Live mode. A party has 16 players going at it at the same time, working to make matches on a board as fast as they can in 1 minute rounds. Their score is tracked in a graph that uses bubbles with avatar heads in them to track progress. Those doing well will float to the top of the graph. Those like me will drift toward the bottom. In these parties you can pop in and out at any time, but you'll want to hurry back from that paused pee break, as after three minutes your "balloon" will start to slowly drop. You want to be the life of the party, right?

Bejeweled Blitz Live has this Party Live mode, online and local battle modes (splitscreen), and a single player mode in both classic Bejeweled and Bejewled Twist versions. Both modes have 50 levels, and both support leaderboards online. I watched Scott go at it against others at the event in Twist in Party Live. Unlike the original PC version, you can twist a cluster of four gems both right and left to match three in a row. Between this and using the bumper to get hints for the next move, Scott was firing off matches like a madman. I absolutely could not roll with the speed he was keeping at Twist. Intimidating? Let's just say that I'll have to practice a bit. I was still a bit nervous from that first round.

Back in classic mode, I felt more at home and was more mindful of how the focus of the game changed for competitive play. I was doing better. In this format, working to set up multipliers is key. It's just hard to do that when you're up against people and a clock. When you do cause explosions on your board, the head bubbles on the leaderboard graph will also display a corresponding graphic, like a small fire around your bubble. Between these visual and other sound cues, you feel like the pressure is being put on you to keep going. Faster! More matches!

This is puzzle gaming at its most competitive. Scott called this PopCap's Call of Duty. I could see that. It was already easy to see that getting a group of friends in on this is going to be a blast. The game even has a combined Friendscore, which totals your score with everyone on your list. This scoring combined with the realtime leaderboards and achievements for top rankings is going to make this a huge game for competitive gamers on Xbox Live. I'm going to practice. See you at the top.

Bejeweled Blitz Live will be released soon as part of the Xbox House Party series.
Click to expand...
 
I stink at Bejeweled. My brain isn't wired right in seeing patterns to actually get anywhere. For the 16 person online mode, I'd come in 16th place everytime.
 
This version sounds like a lot of fun. I'm sure it'll be $15, which is too bad. I'd buy it right away at $10.
 
[quote name='eastx']This version sounds like a lot of fun. I'm sure it'll be $15, which is too bad. I'd buy it right away at $10.[/QUOTE]

I agree, I'm waiting for a sell if it comes out at $15.
 
[quote name='eastx']This version sounds like a lot of fun. I'm sure it'll be $15, which is too bad. I'd buy it right away at $10.[/QUOTE]

Which is a shame since it's free (without party mode) on facebook. Though I realize they are hyping the party mode addition.
 
And only like a $2.99 or something on iOS, and I got it for 99 cents, I believe. It doesn't have the Party Mode, but I'm still not sure I'd pay even $10 for it. Bejeweled is just too much randomness. Blitz on Facebook/iOS, is mostly just a matter of persistence. Keep playing until eventually you have a good game. Then the next game will be terrible again. Maybe others have figured out a way to add more strategy to this game, but I've never been able to find it. Mostly the deciding factor is what happens to fall in from the top, especially with regard to "chains". Big chains happen purely by chance, at least for me.
 
[quote name='Big St3ph3n']GF and I are buying this wednesday. We are bejeweled FIENDS.

Cant wait to crawl up my Friends List leader boards.[/QUOTE]

is there two player coop / split screen?
 
After having just tried the demo, I believe it's a pass for me. I enjoy playing the original Bejeweled from time to time, especially in Endless Mode. I enjoy just being able to sit back, relax, and not worry about that heinous timer counting down.

Bejeweled Blitz is like Bejeweled on crack. The whole game has been sped up, which is a welcome addition, but the fact that both gameplay modes opperate on a major time clock really had me wanting to withdraw from the game.

Thanks, no thanks.

Edit: I should probably admit that I'm not the kind of gamer to play multiplayer experiences, so really, this game isn't designed for me.
 
Played the Facebook version when it was in beta and I have no problem giving 10 bucks to PopCap. Great presentation, online play, leaderboards, and achievos.

True Bejeweled is random and it does depend largely on the grid but you'll train your eye to pick things up. I think Bejeweled 3 is a lot better but then again that's got plenty of modes to keep you satisfied. This is like a speed run for Bejeweled fans haha but no there are a lot of features added with this version (local and online battle/party mode). The Facebook version has powerups (purchased with an in-game currency which you collect swapping gems with a coin attached) which would have been nice to see here but possibly DLC lol.

There are strategies to Bejeweled Blitz:

Quick) Try to get matches in succession as fast as you can to gain a speed bonus. You'll know you're about close to achieving it when you hear the fire sfx.
Multiply) Multipliers will drop onto the grid after making good chains or massive explosions. Try to get as many of these special gems to boost your score.
Observation) This falls under the easy to learn, hard to master statement. While making matches in one area of the board keep your eyes on alert for other matches across the board. Plan Ahead
Go Big or Go Home) Aside from multipliers getting you big score, making those hypercubes and lightning/flame gems really help. 5 Gems = Hypercube 4 Gems = Flame Gems T or L Pattern = Lightning Gems (classic mode)
The Sky is Falling) Since gems only fall from the top sometimes you want to make matches at the top and other times at the bottom in order to make long chains or to keep your speed bonus target.

I doubt this will sell very well on the Xbox, not being a shooter as a biggie, but it's nice that Popcap decided to bring over a tweaked version which originated as a social game on Facebook.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Facebook version and iOS version (which also has Bejeweled 2, and I got for 99 cents when it went on a sale a while back), will do more then enough for me with regard to Bejeweled. Certainly 99 cents for *more* gameplay, and uber portable too, is a win over this ridiculously overpriced, and gimped, rendition of the game.
 
[quote name='Big St3ph3n']Loving this game so far, very fast paced and love the leader board system. Super addictive, anyone else pick it up?[/QUOTE]

split screen?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top