The Digest: For those who think Tetris is a bit boring, look no further then Decapod Studios’ “Murphid.” 3 game modes and power-ups will make any bored Tetris player more enthusiastic.

THE FACT SHEET

RELEASE DATE: May 13th, 2010
DEVELOPER: Decapod Studios
Price: 240 Points
GENRE: Strategy and Simulation

PRODUCT OVERVIEW:

70+ levels of addictive block bashing and strategic planning. Full version of this great looking, progressively more challenging dynamic puzzle lets you play to survive the longest, beat a highscore, complete full Campaign, or unlock all powerups and awards. Hours of heavy-duty fun delivered to you by the proprietary FunQuantization technology.

PRODUCT FEATURES:

• Powerups
• Over 70 Levels
• 3 Game Modes

No, that’s not Tetris. As much as you’re convinced that it was, it’s not. It’s called Murphid and it looks a lot like Tetris, but it’s more of a Tetris mod then anything. Yes, I’m aware that I’ve  said Tetris four times at this point, but it feels like Tetris (that’s seven times). What Decapod Studios did though, was make Tetris their own game.

Tetris, was no more then stacking blocks. It was simple and addictive. Murphid takes that formula and makes it more exciting even though it’s still the same game at it’s core. You’re provided with 3 game modes:  Campaign, Arcade, and Survival mode. Campaign will have you playing through 12 stages, each with multiple levels. Arcade mode is your standard play and Survival will have you trying to last as long as possible.

So as you start to play, there are several objects around your playing field. The basics are there such as score and current level. There are also some additions such as multipliers, lives and a progress meter at the bottom of each screen. The progress meter is the most interesting aspect. Rather then just keep playing, you’re goal is to fill up this meter by clearing out the blocks or “marbles” as they are called in this game. Once the meter is filled, the level is over.

Gameplay is essentially Tetris. Clearing out the marbles is still the goal of the game. There are some obstacles in your way though. These metal “Xs” can not be destroyed by connecting blocks. They are there to stay unless you use one of the games various power-ups. You have more in your arsenal to help aide you in the block massacre.

The addition of powerups makes the game more enjoyable for those who do not care for Tetris style games. There are only a few different types, but they’re all very effective. A chainsaw or lightning bolt will cut through several blocks, bombs will clear out a large area of blocks, and paint drops will change a large amount of blocks to one color.

The problem with these is that you do not know what these power-ups do. They game tells you a description of a select few, but leaves the rest for the player to discover. This would be a great idea, if the blocks were not moving towards the top of the stage. Rather then choose a strategic area to use the attacks, you could potentially waste them. For example, there’s a power-up that fires horizontally. Since you’re not informed of that, you could potentially use it incorrectly and cost yourself a life. It was a chance at making power-ups exciting, but becomes more of an annoyance at first.

There are in-game achievements as well, which is slowly becoming a requirement for indie games. It’s a nice addition, yet some of these are fairly hard. Survive an hour in Survival mode for example. That will be no easy feat. It does add some replay value to the game which is crucial for a simple game like this.

Like most indie games, the price should be fairly cheap and not cost more then 8o Microsoft Points. Murphid does not follow this trend. The game cost 240 Microsoft Points and is very steep. For something that does not completely change a classic game, there’s no reason as to why it’s not 80 points. The price of the game is a flaw, yet one of the biggest flaws doesn’t show itself until it’s too late.

In Tetris, you have the ability to change the rotation of the blocks to fit in tight areas. That is not available in Murphid. You have the ability to switch between the next upcoming set of blocks, but you can not rotate these blocks. That creates a huge problem. There will be countless times that rotating the blocks could prevent you from losing a life and not having that is a bit mistake. On a side note, there is also no music in the game. It makes the game seem dull at times. For something as simple as block stacking, a soundtrack would be helpful.

Conclusion: Murphid is not a bad game, it just doesn’t stand out. It’s essentially Tetris with a twist. Power-ups do bring some needed variety to the Tetris (14 times!) formula, but doesn’t make that big of an impact on it’s experience.

Single Player: 3/5