Hexic HD
Posted January 26, 2006
Designed to work those brain cells, Hexic HD is a strategic based puzzle game adapted for the Xbox 360 in-house by Microsoft. Included with the premium system or the purchase of a hard drive for the core system, Hexic is packaged as a bonus to introduce new owners to the wonders of Xbox Live Arcade. For those concerned with precious hard drive space, the arcade puzzle game takes up 55 MB of space.
Gameplay:
Similar to the addicting nature of Tetris or the more recent Lumines for the PSP, Hexic's gameplay can hook you into staying up that extra hour to finish out the puzzle board. The board is broken up into 90 multicolored hexagons which can be rotated clockwise or counterclockwise. The objective of the game is to group similar colors together to clear the board and ultimately create intricate designs for higher scores. In addition, blocks with stars occasionally drop which can be used to create special formations that can decimate all similar colors on the board and rack up major point totals. On the opposite end, bombs will begin to drop that have to be cleared in a certain number of rotations or the game is ended by the count of zero. While a simple premise, the three different modes available put a spin on the basic structure of the game.
The three modes available are marathon, survival, and timed. Marathon mode provides unlimited time to make rotation decisions in order to rack up the best score possible via the combo meter. Games can take anywhere from twenty minutes to an hour depending on what speed you like to make decisions. It's a laid back approach that's molded around choosing the best moves to set up the board for more complex formations. In survival mode, players continue through 50 rounds attempting to clear all the pieces off the board. At the end of each round, pieces that remain on the board are locked into place and unable to be rotated the following round. Using special combos or just matching up color combinations will unlock those pieces and continue the game. Finally, timed mode is a gut reaction method of playing that imposes a fifty second timer upon the player. Ineffective rotations will take time off the clock and successful ones will do the opposite. Attempting to create special formations within this mode will increase the total amount of time allotted for each round.
Ranging from normal to expert, the level of difficulty can be adjusted for every mode. While increasing the level of difficulty can be dangerous, much higher scores can be accumulated if you plan on competing on the leaderboard. By looking at the leaderboard, you can compare your scores from each mode to the rest of the Xbox Live community or just the folks on your friend's list. Beyond score comparisons, there are a total of 12 achievements for 200 gamerscore points for the taking. Completing all of these achievements will take hours upon hours and are mostly for the hardcore Hexic addicts. There is no multiplayer mode included within the game which is disappointing, but understandable.
Graphics:
The smooth lines around the shapes and title screen are similar to vector graphics seen in flash animations. This design characteristic makes the title is visually clean and defunct of any noticeable defects on high definition televisions. The colors are wonderfully bright and easy to differentiate between each other. Special combos will bring about a total screen flash and the falling blocks from that successful move is certainly a fun sight to watch.
Audio:
The included music is average and unmemorable, so it's best to load up your own tunes when playing a lengthy round. The sound effects are appropriate and distinctive to certain combos. The timed mode will give you an audible click for the time elapsing from the clock to create a further obligation to finish quickly.
Conclusion:
The most attractive quality of this game is that it's incredible easy to pick up. Any novice to the world of video gaming can play this title with minimal instruction and a bit of strategic thinking. On the downside, the addictive nature of the game can send Xbox 360 owners into fits while their significant others who previously disliked video games start up yet another round of survival. This Xbox Live Arcade freebie is an excellent choice for the pack-in game and should be played at least once by every Xbox 360 owner that has a hard drive.
Gameplay:
Similar to the addicting nature of Tetris or the more recent Lumines for the PSP, Hexic's gameplay can hook you into staying up that extra hour to finish out the puzzle board. The board is broken up into 90 multicolored hexagons which can be rotated clockwise or counterclockwise. The objective of the game is to group similar colors together to clear the board and ultimately create intricate designs for higher scores. In addition, blocks with stars occasionally drop which can be used to create special formations that can decimate all similar colors on the board and rack up major point totals. On the opposite end, bombs will begin to drop that have to be cleared in a certain number of rotations or the game is ended by the count of zero. While a simple premise, the three different modes available put a spin on the basic structure of the game.
The three modes available are marathon, survival, and timed. Marathon mode provides unlimited time to make rotation decisions in order to rack up the best score possible via the combo meter. Games can take anywhere from twenty minutes to an hour depending on what speed you like to make decisions. It's a laid back approach that's molded around choosing the best moves to set up the board for more complex formations. In survival mode, players continue through 50 rounds attempting to clear all the pieces off the board. At the end of each round, pieces that remain on the board are locked into place and unable to be rotated the following round. Using special combos or just matching up color combinations will unlock those pieces and continue the game. Finally, timed mode is a gut reaction method of playing that imposes a fifty second timer upon the player. Ineffective rotations will take time off the clock and successful ones will do the opposite. Attempting to create special formations within this mode will increase the total amount of time allotted for each round.
Ranging from normal to expert, the level of difficulty can be adjusted for every mode. While increasing the level of difficulty can be dangerous, much higher scores can be accumulated if you plan on competing on the leaderboard. By looking at the leaderboard, you can compare your scores from each mode to the rest of the Xbox Live community or just the folks on your friend's list. Beyond score comparisons, there are a total of 12 achievements for 200 gamerscore points for the taking. Completing all of these achievements will take hours upon hours and are mostly for the hardcore Hexic addicts. There is no multiplayer mode included within the game which is disappointing, but understandable.
Graphics:
The smooth lines around the shapes and title screen are similar to vector graphics seen in flash animations. This design characteristic makes the title is visually clean and defunct of any noticeable defects on high definition televisions. The colors are wonderfully bright and easy to differentiate between each other. Special combos will bring about a total screen flash and the falling blocks from that successful move is certainly a fun sight to watch.
Audio:
The included music is average and unmemorable, so it's best to load up your own tunes when playing a lengthy round. The sound effects are appropriate and distinctive to certain combos. The timed mode will give you an audible click for the time elapsing from the clock to create a further obligation to finish quickly.
Conclusion:
The most attractive quality of this game is that it's incredible easy to pick up. Any novice to the world of video gaming can play this title with minimal instruction and a bit of strategic thinking. On the downside, the addictive nature of the game can send Xbox 360 owners into fits while their significant others who previously disliked video games start up yet another round of survival. This Xbox Live Arcade freebie is an excellent choice for the pack-in game and should be played at least once by every Xbox 360 owner that has a hard drive.