Sugar Games claims that Edges is highly addictive. However, while I wasn’t too bored with it, I wouldn’t call it the puzzle game of the season.
How many games have you played or heard of that requires you to match three or more colors, which then disappear or explode? I can think of two right away off the top of my head--Collapse and Zuma. Edges tries to take this old idea and make it fun and exciting, but this version isn’t as enjoyable. There’s no real innovation, and there is little that makes the game stand out among others.
You play Edges on a square game board. There are four sub-boards on each side of it containing two rows of colored chips (red, blue, yellow, green). From those smaller boards you can pick any chip from the front row and move it to the main board. You have to connect three or more of the same color chips either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Once you do so, the line disappears. But here’s the "twist". After you make a move that doesn’t explode chips, three more chips appear randomly around on the board. This is a good effort by the developers to try to make the game fresh, but the idea just doesn’t cut it.
In Easy Mode, you can know the positions and colors of these mystery chips before they arrive. Normal Mode is the same except you don’t know the colors. And in Hard Mode, you know neither the positions nor the colors, and have to rely on pure skill (or luck, for some of you out there). I thought Easy and Normal were acceptable, but Hard was ridiculous. I wasn’t too happy when I was preparing for a yellow chip combo when suddenly a green square came out of nowhere, ruining my big point opportunity.
It took me a long time to get into Edges, and even when I started liking it a little, I was still pretty uninterested in the game. Many of my sessions ended with me losing my concentration and giving up. And get this--in some games I clicked on random squares without thinking and ended up with a higher score than when I actually tried and thought about my moves. Puzzling.
The only fun and challenge I had was trying to figure out how to get more points using combos or strings of explosions. Yes, those gave me a bit of a harder task, attempting to decide where each new chip would go. However, I didn’t like the fact that you aren’t allowed to move chips already on the game board. That’s such a shame, because if you could, Edges may have been more interesting.
I didn’t hate this game, but I didn’t like it either, and I wouldn’t recommend it to many people. If you’re a puzzle fan, you might find this game enjoyable, but the vast majority of gamers will want to stay away from Edges.
Presentation-7.0
Not too shabby. When you first see Edges, you probably won’t be thrilled by it immediately, but you can’t hate it right away either, unless you have a strong distaste towards puzzle games.
Graphics-7.0
How the heck are you supposed to give a graphics score to a game like this? Well, it was tough, but I think I figured it out. The game board and chips of Edges are crisp and clean, but its sidebar and surroundings make it look kind of cheap. You could say that the game looks as if it could have been made quite a few years ago.
Sound-7.5
The music of Edges reflects its gameplay--slow-paced, easy-going, etc., but strangely doesn’t seem to fit the game. However, there is a nice, catchy tune to it as well that repeats over and over (I’m fine with that). I have to add, though, the song got stuck in my head, and I could swear I heard it in my sleep one night. I also thought you should know that the music volume is very low, even if you turn your speakers to the max.
Gameplay-6.0
Edges provides a bit of fun here and there, but will mostly make for a dull, slow, thinking man’s game. A while of shuffling around colored chips will probably make anyone tired of it.
Value-5.0
Most likely, you won’t be playing this game for long; many people don’t have the patience Edges requires. Additionally, if you don’t like using your full brainpower, or dislike slow-paced action, don’t try this game.
Appeal-5.5
I have to admit that I never looked forward to playing this game. I stayed open-minded and was ready to have fun, but Edges just didn’t deliver.
Overall
Casual players will definitely want to stay away from this title, and even puzzle fans may want to be cautious. If you absolutely have to play this game, I suggest downloading the demo version first, then seriously thinking about not buying it.
