What can I say? I do love me some puzzlers. Puzzlers, first person shooters, RPGs, strategy, I do love them when they’re good and Luxor is good as an addictive puzzler slash shooter (because part of the game requires constant shooting of things as you’ll soon see).

So did you hear the one about the dead hot looking Songstress who walked into Eternity to see her Egyptian God judges over weighting her heart and judging her worthy for Paradise or Damnation? And how the god Thoth told her she can skip the pre judging weight in and go straight to Paradise? And then proceeded to tell a rather long tale that basically ends with the Egyptians gods totally condoning the separation of loved ones (even if the one in question happened to bust his hump for the Gods and stop a plot by Set (the Egyptian god and not the many headed serpent demon god of creation) to cast his bro Osiris into darkness so he could take his brother’s job as ruler of the Underworld (the Egyptian underworld and not the movie franchise about Vampires vs. Werewolves -- though I suppose the franchise couldn’t be harmed by allowing an actual god to develop and direct the series after it’s last outing with the whole Rise of the Lycans thing))? Did you? Well… you just did, so there.

It takes half the “story” before your character (the little winged icon that does all the ball shooting) appears, but it goes into how you

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were ready to get Second Death (because apparently it would be a few thousand years before someone would offer Second Life on the internet… Second Death totally sounds like something depressing to download though, doesn’t it) when he meets up with Isis and gets into the quest to save her and her husband from Set’s trechery… and to do that apparently you must shoot down rolling spheres set by Set to invade a pyramid (pushed relentlessly by his little scarab minions who self destruct the minute the last of the spheres is smashed… hmm… apparently they have an almost Orion Raider mentality about not being caught “alive” by the enemy -- I didn‘t know Set was a Original Series Trek fan). Basic game, clear all levels and bonus levels to move on and complete the game, but then again as you’ve seen sometimes the most simple of games are actually the most fun games (lest we forget the little wonder that is Puzzle Quest some years ago).

This is actually a nice, most addictive puzzler/shooter combo as you puzzle over how best to wipe out the long chains of rolling spheres, whose numbers and colors grow the deeper into the game you go ending with Black with Casual mode, Orange-ish in Gamer mode and… well… I still have to dig into the high end mode to see what new color you get then -- oh, and then you shoot the ball into the chains to begin breaking them up as you

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match 3 or more spheres making them pop and vanish in nice little explosive boomphs. Can’t get much more addictive than this. The match 3 and up gameplay of Bejeweled or Puzzle Quest, a uniquely original way to do it (rolling spheres set along a pre destined path… except in Luxor 3 where some free roaming sphere action can be had -- more on that in the Luxor 3 review, and a game that really works the atmosphere and setting of Ancient Egypt to the nine. Level maps that are beautifully done (and true to the Ancient Egypt locale), a nice musical track (though I do wish the game supported a wider variance of music for the game), epic power ups that really do rock (and power up upgrades which increases the power of your abilities as you go further into the game, and remain with you the longer you play meaning by the time you get to the highest level of gaming difficulty you have a ton of powered up powers which makes everything even as you play the most difficult setting (which means you can go through all three settings without ever feeling totally frustrated or feel the need to give up from lack of progress).

Besides the nice solid gameplay (each board offers up unique challenges in sphere paths, the best ways to lay down your spheres to make matches and how best to use your power ups to your advantage) the game also features a set of

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bonus rounds with two objectives (shoot the spheres using the Pharoah’s dagger upgrade and catch the falling gems as the scarabs run across the field dropping them off). Speaking of which that makes me ponder something concerning this and Luxor 2... Well actually this IS Luxor 2 (it’s port) but how come the XBox360 incarnation of this game (see on the Xbox Live Arcade compliation disc that came with the Arcade version of the 360) is so watered down in comparison to this PSP version! No story, no upgradable powers, half the bonus content games? Why!

Otherwise the only game with more upgrades and depth is the newest Luxor 3 (available for purchase over at Gateway Games for only $20, a must have for any fans of puzzlers or the Luxor series in particular). This game, and it’s other companion piece, are great additions to puzzler gaming on the PSP and should be on your short list for pickup off any good stocked bargain bin ASAP (a pity the same can’t be said of the Food themed puzzler genre, but I’d like to see that change soon hopefully though I know it’ll always be better served on the DS).

So, with that all said, we’re giving Luxor : Pharoah’s Challenge a nice solid high five score of 5 Egyptian Dramas (not presently showing on TNT) out of 5 (aka the Gold Standard). But still people! Come on! Did you have to whammy him at the end?!? Sheesh you suck Egyptian gods you!!