Bejeweled 3

So, our fear was quite reasonable as Bejeweled 3 turned out to be not a reinvention of the captivating puzzle formula that had worked so good for the past years. The title is still about matching three like-colored stones to remove them from your game board. There are eight main ways to play this game, a few of which are borrowed from the previous installments. Of course, classical mode is as addictive as ever, the new ones are fun and innovative.

Nevertheless, the last and the most advertised in-game Zen mode looks there rather odd. This is an endless mode that help players relax from this fast-paced gameplay. According to the developers idea, Zen’s pleasant music, bubble-texts with different compliments must calm down and make you still. But none of them performs this or that function. The so-called “ambient” music is too repetitive and positive messages sounds mawkish. Well, the idea of a relax mode is not bad at all but to our mind is absolutely useless for Bejeweled 3. Why?! Because this one of those gameplays where we wait for and wish for challenging dynamic game modes.   

The artwork is polished but the jewels are the same shapes and colors as in the earlier Bejeweled installments. If you feel like yearning for this “new” title, it means that this is not as new as this was promoted. Yes, this game will take some hours of your life but give you no pleasure or satisfaction. It seems the place of huge hit is still vacant.