Okay, we've seen the ads for Blast Chamber.  Basically, your in a rotating 
cube -- a cube which might have platforms, power-ups, obstacles, etc. -- with 
a bomb strapped to your back.  Hitting blinking arrows on the sides of the 
cube makes the cube rotate 90%, and makes everyone fall to the new floor.  You 
also have a little crystal thingie you need to get.  

There are three modes of play.  One is just single-player, which has 40 
special "cubes".  This is a "puzzle-mode".  In this mode, you must find the 
crystal and bring it back to your "generator".  Throw the crystal in there, 
and you move on to the next cube.  Of course, there are obstacles that can 
blow you up, and a timer for that bomb: it goes down to 0, and you explode.  
Oh, and you have a limited number of lives.  The first few cubes went fast, 
but I'm stuck on (I think) the ninth (it's called "the lab": anyone have any 
hints?). You get to save your place every 5 cubes.  Right now, I'm having fun 
with this, but I'm concerned that I might lose interest after a while.

The other two modes can have anywhere from 1 player to 4 players (with 
multi-tap).  I haven't tried multi-player mode: instead, I've had the computer 
control the other players.  In these modes, each player has a "generator" in 
their color (each player is color-coded).  Plop the crystal in your generator 
and you add time before your bomb goes off.  Plop the crystal in an opponent's 
generator, and they lose time before their bomb goes off.  When a player has 
the crystal, they glow a little bit.  There are three ways to get the crystal 
from the player: "push" them, rotate the cube, or wait until they put the 
crystal in a generator (it then appears at a random spot).  The multi-player 
modes have 20 "multi-player" cubes.  The first is straight elimination: try to 
be the last one standing.  The second has a timer going, and everyone gets 
regenerated after blowing up: the object is, after the timer runs out, to see 
who died the least number of times.  My only problem with this mode is that I 
can't seem to find a way to "block" when another player comes after me and I 
have the crystal.  There is the "where's my guy?" confusion, but that's not a 
big deal.

I heard some people comment that it was difficult to see some of the details. 
The camera views the entire cube, and their is no "zoom".  I'm playing on a 
27-inch TV and I'm using s-video, and I've had no problems with detail.  I 
imagine things would look waay to tiny on small screens, though.  

The gameplay moves fast, and it seems like fun.  I can already sense that 
things might start getting repetetive.  It looks like there's a lot of room 
for multi-player strategy, though.  I kinda like the "cleanliness" of the 
design.  There are only a handful of things to understand before playing, and 
it goes from there.  

My only real complaint: the "story" in the manual.  This is supposed to get 
our blood pumping, get us ready and enthusiastic to play.  It describes how 
we're specially bred to be super-athletes.  All our lives, we've been 
living in "stables", preparing for something called "the game".  Then, we 
discover the truth.  What we call "the game" is called "Blast Chamber" to 
everyone else, and we're to play it with bombs strapped to our back.  Our 
lives are meaninless to the audience, and the owner of the "stable" views us 
as just cattle.  Whoa, bummer!  COME ON, GUYS!  A little more positive a 
set-up, please????

- Animesh Karna