Puzzle Quest fans, D3 Publisher brings the expansion pack Revenge of the Plague Lord to the Xbox Live Arcade. This robust add-on features a tremendous amount of new content including four new hero professions. Revenge of the Plague Lord is a great excuse to spend a few more hours with one of the most captivating titles in the arcade.

'Puzzle Quest' has gained a lot of praise since it debuted on the Xbox Live Arcade in October of last year. Puzzle Quest is a cross-breeding of gaming genres merging the statistics and drama of a role-playing game mixed with the action of a 'Bejeweled' styled puzzle game. Puzzle Quest is easily one of the most innovative titles to be released last year on the Xbox Live service. This Playstation Portable, Nintendo DS versions port has really come to life on the Xbox 360 which brings us to the review of 'Revenge of Plague Lord,' the latest download for Puzzle Quest.

Gamers who have purchased the original 'Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords' will likely be very excited to get their hands on this new download. This new expansion pack is filled with content including four new player classes along with a whole new area of the map to explore. In total 25 new quests will be available along with a boat load of new spells and items to use in combat. The only draw back to more content for Puzzle Quest is that 'D3 Publisher' marked the price a little high at 700 MS Points, however compared to the original game that clocked in at 1200 MS Points, 'Revenge of the Plague Lord' looks appropriately priced.

'Revenge of the Plague Lord' introduces Lord Bane’s brother, Antharg the Lord of Plague. The trek to find and defeat the diseased Antharg opens up the south-eastern area on the map. This activates as soon as you download the pack and load the game. What this also means is any other campaigns that you have been playing will be able to jump into the action with access to all the new goodies in the expansion. The new quests will be filled with the same type of scenarios from the original game with a mixture of leveling up battles to all out wars with new monsters and bosses.

The four new hero professions in Revenge of the Plague Lord feature a Bard, Rouge, Ranger and a Warlock. Each new profession will be able to use their own unique skills to get them through the quests that await. The Bard profession is one of the more challenging professions. This songsmith is an expert at using yellow mana and is armed with songs that can inflict fear on your foes. The Bard wouldn’t be my first choice for new gamers to Puzzle Quest, however if you start off with the Bard expect to use your mind a little more than brute force. Following the Bard is the Rouge who is a cross between a warrior and a thief. Using the Rogue means you will get to use both force and magic to out skill your enemies. The Rouge levels up fast so it’s a great character to get some instant rewards quickly.

Next up is the Ranger. This archer is also good with magic and combat using green magic to boost their skills. The ranger is a good starting point for new gamers that will help you get through the game by using both firepower and brains. Sniping away at your enemy is a synch as you chip away at the health of your enemies point by point. Finally the Warlock profession is available which has been blamed for being too overpowered. Well, that is good news if you want to be asleep at the wheel or having troubles being quests in the game. The Warlock has a lot of destruction skills that likes to crush his enemies.

Finishing up the 25 quests in 'Revenge of the Plague Lord' will not last as long if you already decide to tackle the quest with a high level character (50 being the cap). The best way to experience the Lord is start fresh by taking one of the new characters for a spin. Starting fresh the quests will run about five hours, which also grants you another ten levels to max out your character(s). This will no doubt come in handy for all the gamers who enjoy the online multiplayer aspect of Puzzle Quest. Heading out to the gaming pastures with a maxed out character from an older game will only give your ego a boost. 'Revenge of the Plague Lord' doesn’t adjust its difficulty according to your playing level so defeating some enemies are down right laughable.

'Puzzle Quest: Revenge of the Plague Lord' adds a tone of replay value to an already addictive game. The price might be a little steep for a "add-on" package, but when you think about how much fun you’ll have exploring the new region on the map, it feels justified. Since, 'Revenge of the Plague Lord' doesn’t change up the gameplay elements; the new pack isn’t going to draw any new players in. Revenge of the Plague Lord is worth the purchase if you loved the original run of Puzzle Quest and want more of the same puzzle-matching action. There is definitely some value in the hunt of for the master of the plague.

Final Score: 8.0

Reviewed by Downtown Jimmy | 08.08.08

	New Quests, Items and Spells Four new character professions Level Capacity increased Great excuse to play more Puzzle Quest
	No challenge to high level characters Price point is a little high A few glitches have appeared

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