Cubixx HD (PC) Review
We liked?
- Addictive puzzle action that keeps you coming back for more
Not so much?
- Online multiplayer not supported
Cubixx HD is a fast-paced and fun puzzle game that will leave you susceptible to the need for “just one more go”
oes playing your puzzle games on a single screen feel too limiting? Do you long to break into the third dimension? If so, then maybe you’re ready to try The Cube. Jump into your Cubot and start cutting out portions of The Cube’s faces – but beware, for if an enemy catches up with you, it’s all over!
Readers of a certain age may remember Qix or one of its similarly-named clones – a game in which you moved round the edge of a screen and used a laser to cut out parts of the centre without getting hit. Cubixx moves the action into 3D, as you get six faces of a cube to move across, not to mention all manner of hazards. There are enemies on the cube faces, enemies that patrol the edges, and even asteroids that bombard the cube faces – touch any of these, and you’ll lose a life.
The core of the game is Arcade Mode, 50 levels which have to be cleared in batches of five. The first half of Arcade Mode slowly introduces all the various foes and gimmicks of the game, with every fifth level offering a difficulty jump as an equivalent to a boss level. If you lose all your lives, you have to start again at the beginning of the current set of five levels – a formula guaranteed to have you swearing at the screen and vowing to have just one more attempt.
Should you exhaust Arcade Mode, there are of course plenty of challenges for you to test yourself and while away the hours. Challenge Mode offers 50 different challenges, which encompass all the expected things, from clearing a certain amount of each cube face to completing a level within a time limit. And, if for some reason that’s not enough, you can also try to get a record score, time or length of line in any of the Arcade Mode levels with the additional Attack modes.
Finally, there’s also a multiplayer mode in which up to seven people can either play co-operatively or show down against each other in a deathmatch. Unfortunately, Cubixx HD only supports local multiplayer – and whilst you might face off against online players for a quick, fun, game, it seems unlikely that anyone is going to invite six friends over to crowd around their PC for a Cubixx party. Thus, what could be quite a fun game mode is something that most people are unlikely to ever touch.
Visually, Cubixx HD goes for a bright, futuristic look in keeping with its space theme. The screen can get quite busy in the harder levels, but fortunately this doesn’t cause any slowdown. The music is the typical level of fast-paced techno tracks designed to keep you playing at top speed.
Final Thoughts.
Cubixx HD is a fast-paced and fun puzzle game that will leave you susceptible to the need for “just one more go”It’s great to pick up for a quick ten minutes of play – except that before you know it you’ll have just lost the best part of an hour.