Quarrel (XBLA) Review
Posted by Adam Larck on 02.02.2012
Make words and war with Quarrel. See how this XBLA game plays inside.
Title: Quarrel
Publisher: UTV Ignition Entertainment
Developer: Denki
Genre: Word strategy
Players: 1-4
Rated: E for Everyone
I had never checked out Quarrel on iOS, but the premise had always intrigued me.
In short, it basically sounded like Risk meets a Scrabble tile rack. Honestly, after playing the game, that's still the best way to describe it.
Up to four people randomly get land and people put on territories on the island. You then take turns trying to invade each other’s territories or moving troops around, like in Risk. Keep in mind that moving troops around will lock both territories from being used for the rest of the turn.
The Scrabble part takes over during the combat. Each time combat starts, both players get the same rack of eight tiles to try and spell the word with the most points.
The catch is that you can only spell a word that is as long as the amount of people you have on the tile. This makes it so that people can't just try to find the eight-letter anagram each time. It also adds in a strategy level of who to attack. Like Risk, you want to attack the guy with less troops on a territory to make sure they can spell a smaller word.
However, this game also awards people with a large vocabulary. A person with 3 troops stands a good chance of beating a person with four if he knows how to make a smaller word worth more points. Like Scrabble, letters are worth anywhere from 1-15 points. So, spelling "Races" may look good against a guy with three troops, but if it comes up against "Jay" you'll be in trouble for points.
One thing to note: if you both spell words that have the same point totals, the winner will be whoever spells quicker. So, you not only need to have a strong vocabulary, but be quick as well.
The time also factors in by forcing you to think of a word quickly. You have a time limit to think of a word, or else you’ll put up no defense. In addition, if two words are spelled that are the same points, the quicker speller gets the win.
Wins and losses have different effects as well. Winning against a defender will obviously give you territory, while winning on defense will kill all but one of the offense's troops. What also can happen, though, is taking prisoners. If you have fewer troops than your enemy and win, you can take troops that you don't kill over. So, if a three troop team beats a five, they will get a few prisoners along with the territory.
Finally, there's two ways to increase the number of troops you have, besides taking prisoners. The first is to just end your turn. By during this, every territory you own gets at least one troop. You can also get more troops on a territory by taking over multiple territories with the same battalion. Keep in mind that this is a risk/reward multiplier. Lose with the battalion just once and you'll lose all the extra troops you built up.
The other way is to call in reinforcements. You can earn reinforcements by spelling words that are worth more points and taking over territories. A circle around your name shows you how close you are to earning reinforcement and how many you have. You can only activate reinforcement once per attack.
So, now that I've broken down what you can do during a turn, what happens when it's not your turn? Don't worry, you don't just sit there and do nothing. If you're not defending, you get a chance to spell the biggest word you can think of using the same set of letters as everyone else. They catch is that you have to spell it before the attacker and defender spell their words.
There is a reason for participating in this spelling. Spelling words here will also add points to getting more reinforcements, which can be key later on in the game.
There’s also a good variety of modes to go through in the game. In the single player mode there are Showdowns, which is a 1v1 match against an AI, Domination, which has you trying to capture all territories on an island with up to three opponents, Quick Match and Challenge, which gives you different tasks to do, like trying to take all the territories with one piece of land left.
One thing to note in the single player mode is the AI. The AI starts off fairly simple, but by the upper levels can get downright diabolic. They’re both quick and near-perfect with the words they choose. When you try to beat some of the final Dominations and Showdowns, be prepared to retry it a lot.
On the multiplayer side, the biggest change from the iOS version is the inclusion of online multiplayer. Unfortunately, with the inclusion of online multiplayer on XBL is the inclusion of Microsoft’s weird language filter. The filter’s in place to keep racist and lewd words from being spelled online, but also end up blocking words like “train” and “spice.” It doesn’t look hopeful for this being fixed in the future, either.
Pros
The addition of online multiplayer.
Game is great fun with friends.
Good amount of strategy in who to attack and when to use reinforcements.
Cons
Microsoft’s language filter blocks legitimate words.
Enemy AI can get cheap later on.
Only have short amount of time to get word out.
The 411: Overall, both Risk and Scrabble fans will find something fun here. There’s a layer of strategy to be seen, yet your word skills will be tested at the same time. Even with the AI and language filter, the game is a lot of fun. Plus, it’s only 400 Microsoft Points, which is rare to find anymore.
Graphics
8.0
The graphics are lighthearted and cartoonish, but the characters and land are easily distinguishable from other players.
Gameplay
8.5
The unique twist on the Risk formula is great and a blast to play online. It’s even fun offline, just beware the AI.
Sound
7.0
Keeping with the lighthearted feel, the sound is simplistic yet easy on the ears when trying to think of a new word.
Lasting Appeal
9.0
If you have a few friends that like Risk or spelling words, this game can have a huge longevity as you try to see who the best at strategy and words is.
Fun Factor
7.5
I had a bit of annoyance with the AI and common words not being accepted, but otherwise I had a great time with friends online.
