Join Jane as she unlocks the path to a hidden Aztec city in “The Treasures of Montezuma”, which was developed by Alawar Games.

Story - Regretfully it seems the developers didn’t put much thought into the story for this title. You assume the role of Jane who works in a museum in the 1930’s. While working she uncovers a magical game with brightly colored gems that when moved in a certain order the gems suddenly disappear and new ones appear. Sounds a bit like “Jewel Quest” to me. Even the same old tired storyline of lost cities & hidden treasure. While the storyline might not be up to par this title isn’t without merit.

Audio - The sound effects were average at best, the typical clink of the gems as you score a row of three or more all the while an African style of music thumps away in the background. The only break in these otherwise overly-used sound effects are the sounds of one of the many power-ups you can purchase throughout the game. These sounds still only give this catagory an average rating but they do help. Laser blasts, bomb blasts, even a male voice yelling “score frenzy!” do help to break up the routine sounds but not enough to make the game standout.

Combat - There is no combat in this title, which is a shame I would’ve loved to have seen a “Jewel Quest”-esque title with some combat in it.

Artificial Intelligence - I didn’t notice any actual A.I. in this title, more or less once you set the colored gems into rows of three or more that row will suddenly break and more gems will randomly drop from the top of the screen.

Replayability - Much like “Jewel Quest”, and I cannot stress that enough, as you get into the higher levels of this game the challenge does get greater but there really isn’t enough reason to go back and play this game once you’ve beaten it. Only true puzzle gamers will find this title entertaining long enough to play it twice.

Final Thoughts - If you love puzzle games like Jewel Quest or Bejeweled than you will probably enjoy The Treasures of Montezuma. But at $19.99 I feel your money can be better spent elsewhere. Download the trial first I say and go from there. Personally I say skip this one since it’s already been done a million times over.

Technorati Tags: Alawar Games, The Treasures of Montezuma, PC Game Review, Casual Game

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