Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords for PC Reviews by Gamers

"The game cheats!" Yes it's a phrase many gamers have used at some point. Sometimes we say it when we suck at a game but sometimes, it is actually true. In the case of Puzzle Quest, it just might be. The thing is, you and your computer enemy take turns switching gems to make 3 or more similar gems match up. If you get 4 or more, you get another turn. Unfortunately, the enemy can do the same thing. The gems fill a grid and the grid is always full, with new gems taking the place of ones that are destroyed by matching. The gems drop down from the top and are supposed to be random and are invisible until they drop in. Here is where the "cheating" aspect comes into play. When an enemy makes a match, often times the gems that drop down from the top will match up with gems already there to give the enemy even more extra turns. For me, on several occasions of every fight, the enemy got 4 or more turns in this way. I have never gotten "lucky in this manner. Not once! Also, as soon as a fight starts, it seems that every time the first turn has a good layout that can be taken advantage of by whoever goes first, the enemy gets the first turn. Whenever the first turn doesn't hold an advantage, you do! In this manner I've had the enemy do 10 or more damage (out of around 60 hit points) to my character on the first turn alone! The main thing that leads me to believe the game "cheats" is because these things don't just happen every now and again. They happen very VERY often and always to the advantage of the enemy! Yes, you can still win the fights if you are good enough and make the right choices, but it doesn't leave room for many mistakes. If you are an experienced player of these types of games and want to very carefully pick and choose the right moves the entire game, it might be fun, but I was looking for a casual game to keep me interested while I relaxed and this game required a bit too much concentration and careful planning for my taste.