Puzzler Collection

In today's technologically advanced society you'll often hear folk bemoaning the abandonment of old traditions and pastimes due to the relentless advance of modern gadgetry. Given the remit of this site, you probably wouldn't expect us to be one of these people but having spent a fair amount of time with Ubisoft's Puzzler Collection, we're starting to hanker for the good old days.

You see, this cheap and cheerful PSP release aims to supplant the trusty pen-and-paper puzzle with something a little more up to date. It's ironic then that Puzzler magazine – the publication from which this title takes its name – could be relegated to the Dark Ages by such digital offerings.

Comprised of over 2,000 different conundrums, this quizzical complication aims to keep you glued to your handheld in a kind of delirious, brainteaser-induced stupor. The puzzles contained within are affiliated to one of four different quiz disciplines: fitword, crossword, wordsearch and Carol Vorderman's personal favourite, sudoku.

Puzzler Collection uses these four different game types as the foundations for its myriad play modes. For example, you can choose to just play a random crossword puzzle when you have a spare few minutes, or if you find yourself with a larger block of time on your hands you can participate in the more protracted Puzzler Tournament, which makes use of all four flavours of puzzle.

Elsewhere, the Quick Blast mode takes inspiration from Nintendo's Brain Training series; you select a puzzle type and time period over which you wish to play and the game will then generate a series of bite-sized mini-challenges. Your performance is recorded for posterity so that you can repeat it later on and compare how well you've done, with the ultimate aim of improving your score.

Fast & Fun mode is also aimed at those of us who find we just don't seem to have enough spare time; here, the player is faced with a range of partially completed puzzles which must be solved before the clock runs down.

However, should you be a more organized individual and not suffer from crippling lack of leisure time then Simply Puzzle should fit the bill; as the name suggests, this mode merely presents a challenge and then leaves you alone to get on with it, with no pesky time limits or bothersome high scores to worry about.

Many of these modes showcase a progressive difficultly system where the player is required to achieve success in each rank to unlock the next, more taxing, rating. This is a particularly effective way of extending longevity and granting the player something to aim for in what could have easily been an entirely unconnected series of puzzles.

To cap it all off there's even a multiplayer option, which is broken down into two sections: Sprint mode assigns lives to each player, which are lost when incorrect answers are given, and Marathon utilizes a time limit which depletes until the player solves the puzzle.

However, all the game variations in the world won't count for anything if the core game itself is a pig to play and sadly Puzzler Collection doesn't exactly distinguish itself in this regard. Although the appeal of the four different puzzle types is beyond dispute, the control system is hopelessly rudimentary, with onscreen options clumsily being selecting via the D-pad and fascia buttons. Problems immediately become apparent.

For example, in the crossword and fitword games, you have to cycle through the available blank spaces before you can assign a word, yet it follows no discernible logic; you'd think that to move the cursor to a blank space to the left, you would push left. However, nine times out of ten, pushing left either does nothing or moves the cursor in entirely the wrong direction. When you're trying to solve a puzzle against the clock, this can be unbelievably frustrating.

Perhaps the biggest issue we had with Puzzler Collection is how to justify its existence. As mentioned, this game is attempting to muscle in on territory usually occupied by those cheap puzzle magazines you buy from you local newsagents. While Puzzler Collection undoubtedly offers a robust challenge and a possibly more portable experience, we couldn't help but hanker for the old-fashioned feel of pen against papyrus.

Puzzles of this variety are tactile activities and only from spending a few hours with this game does it become clear just how therapeutic the paper-based method of doing things is. Plus, it's worth remembering that you could buy several copies of Puzzler magazine for the same amount of doubloons you'll be expected to hand over for this game.

You could argue that it's hard to pick fault with a product that has such modest aspirations; Puzzler Collection certainly isn't trying to compete with the likes of God of War or Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core in terms of interactive thrills and spills. However, the fact that it fails to offer an authentic reason for relinquishing the more traditional (and, you could argue, more enjoyable) pen and paper way of solving puzzles makes it hard to convincingly recommend, even to the most enthusiastic quiz-fanatics out there.