Fortix PC & PSP
Fortix by Nemesys is a fast puzzle game designed along the same lines as the ancient game Qix with a box in style arcade game with a new story line.
Ratings:
Graphics & Audio: 15/25,
Gameplay: 15/25,
Creativity 10/25,
Fun 15/25
Total: 55/100
With Qix you had this moving line you had to box in that created an unpredictable and fast paced game that was highly addictive with its simple fast paced action. Fortix is trying to bank on the simple game style using an almost identical but not close enough gameplay style but with more of a story behind it.
The basic elements of Fortix are almost identical to Qix except for some different gameplay features like catapults that shoot at you. The premise in Fortix is simple, draw boxes to block off areas of the playing field using your Knight, or tiny dot cursor.
During your gameplay a cannon will shoot at you and a dragon will fly around trying to touch your uncompleted block or you to kill you off. The catapults are simply part of the defense that the game has against you while you can capture the cannons for extra points.
Your main objective is to capture the castle in the middle of the screen by blocking off a majority of the playing field with the dragons and catapults are playing against you. There is also a couple of extras with being able to block in certain objects to gain lives or terrain that slows you down like ice and water.
Fortix comes on the PC or PSP and is available for download for only $5 and has 12 levels with three difficulty settings so it does not come with some value. The first few levels are pretty easy but it gets tough rather quickly, then suddenly your done, and just when things started to get interesting.
Once you finish the first round you unlock the second difficulty level and after the second round the third is your final so there are 36 levels on the three difficulties. Fortix plays pretty much like the original Qix and you can even figure out a technique for easily finishing off the game once you have played it a few times.
The game plays pretty well and really does not even need any kind of story line but they made one anyway with the knights and castle with dragons and bats to boot. Some of the dragons are different as made apparent using colors with some dragons ignoring you while others actively try to catch you.
The gameplay is simple with you trying to box in areas and the dragons acting to defeat you as well as the catapults which pop up after the first few levels. After you get the hang of things, which will probably take only the first level you will wonder how things could be so easy, but then the game gets really tough but not all that hard.
The game looks fine with its medieval theme and sounds okay with appropriate sounding music that lends itself to the game well but the game is just too short. Fortix is a pretty decent game for a few minutes diversion but that is about all, with only 12 levels in each difficulty the gameplay will be short.
If your into the quick pick up and play games for a cheap price Fortix might be worth a look but your game time may be limited due to the lack of levels beyond 12 but with three levels of difficulty you might have some fun.