Doodle Hex - 8.0/10

A Review - By Gaetano Prestia

Let’s be honest, wizards and spells aren’t the coolest of things on this planet, but the fantasy genre definitely has a unique pulling-power. Anyone who has seen Lord of the Rings will know what I’m talking about. A battle of wizards and magic spells can get pretty hardcore, be it on film or in a book. Doodle Hex quite successfully turns fast-paced, hardcore and thrilling magic battles into strategy-based battles that rely heavily on tactics and timing. If you’re looking for a different strategy title that uses the DS stylus in a very positive manner, then Doodle Hex might just be the title for you.

In Doodle Hex, you compete to win a best-of-three series against each opponent, with each victory bringing you a new mechanic or rune (spell). The game relies heavily on strategy and timing. Like any solid strategy title, to complete this game you won’t be able to simply go full-ball and fast-paced for the entire duration. As the game gets more challenging, your moves must be highly tactical and planned out in order to progress. For example, if you’re able to block an opponent’s spell in time, you can counter attack and cause maximum damage. This is of course reliant upon your strategy and whether or not you’re willing to take the time to work up a counter attack. Also, the timing is an important aspect, as spells travel at different speeds, meaning that they don’t necessarily “arrive” in the same order that they’ve been cast.

While this is a strategy title, it sometimes feels like an action-packed strategy brawler, not unlike that of Zendoku. The action is back-and-forth and never really dies down, so you’re constantly on your feet trying to counter your opponents moves. While the gameplay itself is very easy to grasp, the game is difficult to master, which is encouraging for a game of this style.

While the single-player mode is great fun, the game really shines through multiplayer. The game gets far more challenging when you have a human to compete against and you’re not relying on the computer AI for a challenging battle.

Doodle Hex has a very bright and vibrant design as well as awesome character music that adds to the atmosphere. The graphics aren’t going to blow you away, but the ingame battles and audio should make-up for the otherwise decent looking graphical presentation.

Doodle Hex is an impressive, challenging and thoroughly enjoyable strategy-based brawler. The gameplay is simple to learn but the game is difficult to master. The single-player mode is great fun, but the game really shines through in the multiplayer.

Gameplay

8.5/10

Easy to grasp and fun to play. You’ll be playing for hours so as to master it.

Graphics

7.0/10

Colours bounce off the screen for a vibrant and alive presentation.

Sound

8.5/10

A great soundtrack is backed up by cool character music.

Value

8.0/10

A decent single-player length but countless hours through multiplayer.

Overall

8.0/10

Doodle Hex is worth checking out for fantasy, strategy and brawler fans alike.

For more information, head on over to the official Doodle Hex website.

Submitted by Gaetano 17/09/2008 37 49

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More Info:

Doodle Hex

Other Reviews:

• Gaetano Review 8.0/10 by Gaetano

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