Diamond Rush
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| Diamond Rush

Ah, archaeology. Is there a more exciting profession? Indiana Jones, Lara Croft: these famous adventurers do nothing but run around all day, collecting precious artefacts from perilous subterranean lairs and fighting mythical monsters.

What's that, you say? In reality archaeology involves squatting in a ditch, lightly brushing the dirt from almost-fossilised drink cans and decaying plastic bags of yore? We don't believe you, especially when a game like Diamond Rush refuses to dispel the myth of epic heroic characters speeding across the globe for deliciously valuable treasures.

Speeding might be exaggerating, however, because despite the Rush in the title, this game is an action-puzzler. Diamond Rush demands you think about what you're doing as you fill the boots of a plucky tomb-trawler, searching for gems and dodging falling rocks.

You'll dodge falling rocks a lot. And we mean a lot; puzzles and trapped jewels require you to push them out of the way, and quickly move aside when perilous stacks prepare to tumble on you, killing you and sending you back to the start of the area you've just entered.

This is the bulk of the game, and it requires forethought and calculation. What rocks can you push out the way or let fall so you can access the jewels and make sure you still have a clear path to progress?

At first this provides a taxing but lightweight challenge, but unfortunately it irritates after a while thanks to its trial and error nature. Or maybe that should be trail and error, because every path you're supposed to follow in the level, and every sub-room in each level, has a single and fixed way to be solved.

This proves more frustrating than, say, thinking your digging implements have struck buried booty when in fact you've unearthed a disused shopping trolley, and it often makes Diamond Rush feel more old-fashioned than it should. There's no leeway for mistakes and you're often forced to reset the area (costing you a life) to have another go. It can make the game fairly wretched, even in its early stages. If you've not played thoroughly, you won't get out of the first area unless you have happened to collect enough of the rarer, hidden red jewels. Ooops.

There is a trade off, however, in the level of variety packed into the game. The further you go, the more there is to do. It's another old-fashioned trick, leaving some of the best action to the end, and as a result it's all the more rewarding to have made it there.

Later on, the environments become more varied, as do the tools you collect, and the puzzles you're asked to solve more fiendish and also more thrilling. And suddenly you're getting, well, a rush.

And that is the key with Diamond Rush: if you persevere and you're up for the challenge, you'll be fulfilled. If you're not made of such stern stuff, you might be left feeling disappointed.

There's no doubt playing it beats being stuck in a ditch in Kent digging up old animal bones for a living. It's just a shame that while it ultimately proves to be something of an excavated treasure, Diamond Rush's flaws mean it doesn't shine as brightly as it might do.

Diamond Rush

A puzzle-head's and perfectionist's dream, but it could do with being a bit more flexible
Score