The Curse of Montezuma Review

Written by: Keri Kunaschk Published: June 25, 2008 In The Curse of Montezuma from Friday's Games and Alawar Entertainment, you play as Cathie Jones, granddaughter of famed archeologist Emily Jones from The Treasures of Montezuma, as she searches for the legendary Fountain of Youth and tries to stop the spread of a deadly virus. As you venture forth, you'll meet interesting characters and face various challenges. Curse is a colorful match-three game in which you must match at least three colored gems in a row, thus destroying them and allowing others to fall onto the game board. Some of the gems contain a jewel, which you can collect by destroying the gem. A counter at the top of the game screen shows how many jewels you need to collect during the current stage. As you complete the levels, you earn gold coins that can be used to purchase power-ups and totems with special powers. Some of the power-ups include Blast, which blows up nearby gems; Time, which gives you more time to complete a stage; and Color Drain, which destroys all of the gems of a particular color in the surrounding area. You're also awarded with several trophies as you reach certain goals. The game board is interesting and a different take on your typical match-three grid. Each level is made up of a unique lattice-like or web-like design, making it more challenging to match gems as you get into the more difficult levels. I really liked this feature of the game. I loved Treasures, playing it for hours at a time, so I was very excited to see this sequel. Curse was just as entertaining, although I missed hearing “Score Frenzy!” when I made a really exceptional match! What I love about both games is that you can make a move without having to wait for the results of your last move to finish. This is a great feature, especially in later stages, as you won't waste precious seconds waiting for the new gems to fall into place. Overall, The Curse of Montezuma this is a very good game. If you like match-three games, you'll enjoy it. Scoring (out of five stars): Graphics: Ease of use: Gameplay: Challenge: Sound effects: Music: Final analysis: Click here to download the free trial version of The Curse Of Montezuma.