Fanboy QuickTake: Hexic
Our friends over at Joystiq have already reviewedHexic HD, the Xbox Live Arcade puzzle game that comes preloaded on the 360's hard drive. Posing the best value for money out of all arcade games (provided you have the hard drive), it's an excellent starter into the world of Xbox Live Arcade and the concept that the 360 can be used for things other than expensive store-bought games.
The gameplay is deceptively simple. Rotate triplets of hexagons to form clusters of three or more of the same colour, which vanish from the board. New hexagons drop in to replace them, repeat ad infinitum. It's like a psychedelic episode of Blockbuster. There are three game modes: Marathon has a gradual difficulty increase and is the most fun, while Timed mode provides those adrenaline rushes, and Survival mode is for patient nitpickers who like their boards kept clean. There are no real changes from the PC version, but somehow playing it on an Xbox 360 makes it more fun.
Graphically, it doesn't exactly showcase the advanced capabilities of the 360, but it looks clean and integrates well with the console. It pauses when the Guide is summoned, and you can play your own soundtrack to replace the in-game background music, which is just as well given that said music is fairly dull. The Live integration is deceptive, as it automatically shows you your friends' scores on the leaderboard, leading you to play "just one more game" so you can beat them -- Hexic is addictive, and the Live aspect only adds to the sticky factor.
Overall it's an excellent foray into the world of casual gaming and you may just get your non-gaming friends interested as they wonder why you're not shooting at things, driving things or playing a simulated sport. It also keeps your brain busy but leaves you free to chat away, so it's a nice companion to a one-on-one chat session.
Achievements
There are 200 points up for grabs, spread across 12 achievements. Some are easier to gain than others:
Star-Gazer: Create a bonus star cluster. Easy.
Cluster-Buster: 25 total combos. Easy.
Flower Child: Make a starflower. Fairly easy.
Oyster-meister: Make a black pearl. Medium-to-tricky.
Big Cheese of the South Seas: Make a black pearl cluster. Tricky.
Grand Pearl Pooh-Bah: Make a black pearl flower. Very tricky.
Hexic Addict: Play 100 games. Easy.
Collapse Master: 5000 total combos. Follows from Hexic Addict.
Survivalist: Beat Survival. Slightly tricky, requires patience.
Tick-Tock Doc: 75,000 points in Timed mode. Slightly tricky, depending on your reflexes.
Marathon Mogul: 150,000 points in Marathon. Hard.
Millionaire Extraordinaire: 1,000,000 total points. Not too hard if you play a lot.
Pros: Easy to pick up, hard to master, free, addictive.
Cons: Takes time away from non-free games, addictive.
Verdict: Play it!
