Marvel Puzzle Quest – Dark Reign Review

The rogue’s gallery of Marvel heroes and villains duke out tile by tile in Marvel Puzzle Quest: Dark Reign. The game’s plot, which harkens back to the Dark Avengers storyline, is a bit hokey but thankfully skippable.

The base gameplay resembles Bejeweled, with matching gems to attack a character’s opponent. A strategic layer overlays the action and adds depth to combat, with color matches triggering special moves.

Gameplay

Ported from the free-to-play Android and PC game, Marvel Puzzle Quest: Dark Reign offers familiar match-three puzzle gameplay reimagined with a massive roster of heroes and villains. Each turn, you slide gemstones to create lines of matching colors, draining opponents’ health and triggering special attacks depending on the character and color.

Unlike previous games, which relied on unstoppable cascades of gems, this time, each match counts. Adding to the strategy, some partners deal more damage than others, depending on the characters’ affinity for each color. That gives battles a nice superhero fight feel, as Iron Man lays a blow, and Black Widow follows up with a stun.

Combat takes a while to get rolling, but the game’s a blast once it does. With a rotating list of side-story missions, PvP battles with player-cultivated teams, and the potential to level up characters as you go, there’s plenty here to keep players engaged. The lack of a paywall is a bonus, although it doesn’t negate the grind to get up to speed.

Graphics

Marvel Puzzle Quest is a free-to-play game that takes many iconic Marvel heroes and villains and puts them into match-three combat. The combat isn’t by mashing buttons but matching colored gems on a grid similar to Bejeweled.

Each color of gems on the grid serves two purposes: dealing damage to enemies and generating energy for special moves. All of the characters in the game have a particular affinity with a specific color, allowing them to perform powerful attacks with an excellent superhero feel.

New characters are unlocked as you complete story missions and play the PvP matches. The game is fun to play even if you aren’t playing the story, but the leveling is a bit off; it can take a while to get all of your team up to speed. The game also has a few bugs that can sometimes make playing a bit frustrating.

Story

Assemble a legendary squad of heroes and villains. Choose from over 200 Marvel characters, including Black Panther, Captain America, Iron Man, Moon Knight, Miles Morales, Black Widow, Loki, Hela, Scarlet Witch,h and more! With new characters being added all the time, build your dream team and get ready to fight.

First released in 2013 as a free-to-play game on mobile platforms, Marvel Puzzle Quest: Dark Reign has finally hit consoles. The core gameplay is pretty much what fans of the genre will be familiar with matching colored gems to trigger special attacks on the opponent.

However, adding a storyline that follows various events within the Marvel Universe sets this title apart. These stories also involve asynchronous battles against players online, a first for this particular genre. Recruit the most powerful heroes and villains to your side in a quest for victory. Choose your favorites, battle through various story missions, experience a unique VS mode and unlock new heroes as you level up.

Multiplayer

Marvel Puzzle Quest is a fantastic example of a free-to-play game done right. It’s got a ton of character, excellent combat,t, and addictive gameplay. It’s not without its annoyances, but it’s worth checking out if you’re looking for an entertaining Marvel tie-in game that’s not a complete money grab.

In the game, you control a team of three heroes or villains. Each turn, you match gems of the same color to attack an opponent’s team of heroes/villains. The damage depends on the shadow reached, and each character has unique attacks. This gives the combatant an excellent superhero-fight feel.

The game also features a rotating list of side-story battles fought asynchronously against other players. This adds extra depth to the game and helps you climb the leaderboards. You can skip an action when you’re overmatched, which is good. Marvel Puzzle Quest is a fun and challenging match-3 puzzle game that fans of the franchise and fans of Marvel’s dynamic universe will love.