Popcap games have become a driving force in the casual games industry, and after launching their site in 2000 they have expanded by providing demos on their site, to selling incredibly well to the general PC gaming market through the innovative digital distributor Steam. Now Popcap have decided to take on the console market, and one of their most eagerly awaited products of recent months has been Peggle which went on sale through the Xbox Live Arcade.

Peggle for Xbox Live Arcade

A lot of people will immediately dismiss casual games, saying that they don’t have the immersion and longevity of a more deeply developed game. Despite this, it is clear from the first time playing Peggle that it is actually very, very addictive. The basic premise is simple, you use a pinball-like system in order to clear the screen of coloured “pegs”, using different skills provided to you throughout the game to achieve the highest score. The only catch is that even if you don’t clear all the pegs, you must clear all the orange pegs using a limited amount of ammo to clear a level.

With the gameplay, Popcap has gone for a simple, clean-cut approach which has served them well in the past. This continues to work wonderfully here. The game never loses itself in an overcomplicated system, and the learning curve is ingeniously constructed to ensure that the game is challenging without ever being too frustrating. The pinball physics are well-tuned and the controls are so simple that they can be picked up even by someone not familiar with an Xbox controller.

The graphics in Peggle are in a league of their very own. When so many games are choosing post-apocalyptic greys and browns, Peggle freshens up the field, assaulting you with the full range of colours. The characters are unique and funny, with just the right injection of subtle self-mockery to appeal to both children who will simply like the cute animals, and adults who can appreciate the subtle humour worked into each individual levels character.

Although Peggle is not the most in-depth or story driven of games, it is definitely one of the most fun. Anyone thinking of giving this game a miss for the simple reason that it is a “casual” game should seriously reconsider, as Peggle is a game that everyone should experience at least once.

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