Puzzle Quest: Galactrix Preview

GameSpy is next in line with a hands-on preview of Infinite Interactive's puzzle/RPG sequel, Puzzle Quest: Galactrix.
In Galactrix's world, the light of scientific progress has apparently allowed humanity to shuffle off superstitious notions of renewable magical energy. But that doesn't mean you won't be matching gems to make meters get bigger, and power special attacks. The different gem colors in Galactrix correspond to your ship's different systems: weapons, energy, and computers. Upgrades to your ship take the place of spells: they deplete your stores of different-color energies when used, and many have reuse timers and such. Matching blue gems will replenish your ship's shields (think of them like "Wall of Fire" spells that everyone gets by default), and white gems give you an intel boost, which is essentially experience for your pilot. Purple gems, meanwhile, net you psionics, whose functions weren't quite made clear during the demo earlier this week. Mines, finally, take the place of skulls, and matching three or more will do damage to your opponent.