Interview with Forest Ingram, Producer, and Todd Agnello, Lead Designer, for Merv Griffin's Crosswords on Xbox Live Arcade.
There just doesn't seem to be a lot of thought or care placed into the making of Xwords. There are so many dumb little mistakes. Spelling errors (what could possibly be a four-letter word for pointy "proectile"), inopportune auto-saves (during timed modes as the timer is running) and piss-poor dispersion of clues help bring MG Xwords down. This could have actually been really good. Instead, it's a mediocre $10 offering that lacks avatar support. At least online play is included, though it's hard to imagine many people will get too excited about spending their evenings on this one.
Presentation - 4.0
Graphics - 3.0
Sound - 3.0
Gameplay - 5.5
Lasting Appeal - 5.5
Overall -
Kotaku reports: "It's time for the final Xbox Live Arcade game of 2008, and they've saved the best for last, provided you are a big fan of crossword puzzles, game shows, or the works of Merv Griffin.
Merv Griffin's Crosswords is a game based off of a television game show created by Merv Griffin, deceased media mogul and television host. The show pit players against each other in a quiz-show format, with the answers to given questions filling in space in a crossword puzzle. Exciting? So exciting that the show is currently on hiatus and rumored as dead as its creator, but that won't stop your family from having non-stop fun with the Xbox Live Arcade version, now will it?
It does have more than 1.000 puzzles, plus online multiplayer for 2-5 players, so it could be an interesting diversion for the more casual player at 800 Microsoft points. Just seems like a bit of a let down. What's a four-letter word for something very disappointing?"
There are 12 achievements with a total of 200 points.
