Throughout gaming chess has never really taken off on consoles, mainly because you’re targeting a different audience. Casual gamers who are interested in the thinking mans game may dabble with it, but ultimately their attention will soon wander and look to greener pastures, whereas the hardcore chess players will opt for the far more powerful chess programs available on the PC. With that in mind its hard to know which line to pick, between comparisons with chess games that are available on consoles, virtual board games or all chess games and programs in general.

Putting that conundrum on hold for the time being, Fritz offers up gamers some interesting takes on the game aside from what is a pretty solid core chess engine. Adventure Mode is at the forefront and attempts to appeal to a larger audience. The story behind the mode is that two monarchs of the kingdoms, The White Queen and the Black King are holding a Chess Masters Tournament that takes place every ten years and its your job to enter the tournament and defeat all before you. You’re presented with a short comic-style panel before each match, giving you a quick look at the opponent you’ll be facing and then battle commences, so to speak.

Some of the matches follow the basic principles of the game and as you progress there are various changes adopted to help keep things fresh. There are various puzzles, for example, that require you to decide which move would be best on a predetermined board, while others see you looking for checkmate in just one move. There are also a couple of matches, where your power pieces on the back row are shuffled around to try and confuse you, and one where the aim of the game is to have all of your pieces taken before your opponents, with the catch being you must take one of their pieces if the move becomes available, meaning negative tactics must be called upon.

They’re all nice additions, yet the mode is agonisingly short, and if you’re a half-decent player it can be blown through within half an hour, depending on your skill level. It’s a shame, because just as you’re getting into things it ends and you’re left thinking, is that it? And as far as progression is concerned it is to an extent. There is a puzzle mode that gives you more of what was glimpsed on in the main portion, and an option to view 2000 of the greatest chess matches of all time, which is a novel idea, but after that you’re essentially left with a chess program that allows play against the computer on various difficulties, or local multiplayer.

The computer can be a tough adversary, especially when you ramp the difficulty up to 2100 or higher, but anything below that and you can beat it with a five move checkmate every single time, which is a little silly. On the higher levels it does make for a good learning tool though and the fact that this is a Fritz title means you’ll be given a damn good challenge, which is what you’d expect from a team who have been making chess games since the 1980s.

The menus and the overall presentation feel bare and do nothing to enliven the experience, and the game suffers from occasional freezing issues when loading in and out of matches. The graphics are adequate and feel somewhat polished, recreating the board and the pieces nicely, but sometimes it can get a little confusing as to which piece is which and that’s when switching to the retro 2D view comes in handy. The background music is pleasant enough, but as you can imagine becomes a little grating after prolonged play.

If you’re looking for a game to rush through and platinum with minimal effort on your part then this may be a game to rent for a day or two. If you’re looking for an in-depth chess experience that allows you to take your experience online against the best in the world, then downloading a free, yes free, software package for the PC is undoubtedly the way to go. Fritz Chess isn’t bad per say, but doesn’t have a rich enough single player experience to feel wholly necessary.

Craig Bryan, NoobFeed
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