Pixel Junk Monsters Review

.: July 30, 2013.: July 31, 2013.: November 26, 2013Microsoft WindowsAugust 26, 2013Mac OS X & LinuxOctober 1, 2013Wii UMay 19, 2016Mode(s); (local)PixelJunk Monsters is a second game in the series developed by for the. It was released worldwide on the on January 24, 2008. The game was released for the under the title PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe.PixelJunk Monsters Encore, an expansion pack for the game, was released April 24, 2008 in Japan; May 8, 2008 in North America; and May 15, 2008 in Europe.In May 2016, PixelJunk Monsters was released by for. A screenshot of gameplay in PixelJunk Monsters Encore.Gameplay in PixelJunk Monsters has similarities to various titles.

The objective is to build defense towers along the enemies' path to keep them from reaching a hut, or base. Several small creatures dwell at the base. For each enemy that survives the defense towers and reaches the hut, one creature is killed. If all creatures are wiped out, the level is failed.Towers have distinct attributes, such as rapid fire, long range, air-focused, etc.

Jun 22, 2018  PixelJunk Monsters 2 fails to live up to the original, but still presents a delightful take on tower defense. Written by Michael Huber Video Edited by Brandon Jones Reviewed on PlayStation 4. Metacritic Game Reviews, PixelJunk Monsters 2 for Switch, Get ready to defend your Chibis again in this fun and addictive tower defense game.

Destroyed enemies usually drop coins and occasionally give gems, which then can be used to upgrade and research new towers.There are a total of 21 different levels (36 with the expansion pack) at 3 stages of difficulty. There are also 3 special stages that unlock unique abilities for the player character. Several 'Trophy Challenges' were also added to the game after a patch.Unlike more traditional tower defense games, the player controls a character around the screen, collecting coins and building towers. This replaces the standard cursor controls. A second player can also join in and assist in building towers.Encore The PixelJunk Monsters Encore expansion pack includes an additional 15 levels, including layouts inspired by classic such as.

There are also small tweaks to gameplay; for instance, the ice tower is unlocked at the beginning of every level and the Tesla tower is less expensive to purchase.Deluxe A new version of PixelJunk Monsters was available for the. Titled PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe, it has been described by Dylan Cuthbert as the 'ultimate version' of the game. It contains all of the level content from the original game and its Encore expansion pack, as well as new levels, enemies, and towers.

Additional music, videos, concept art, and other special features are also included. Soundtrack Dive into PixelJunk Monstersby. ReleasedMay 22, 2008Length40: 53The music for the game was developed. On May 22, 2008, a soundtrack album for the game titled Dive into PixelJunk Monsters was released via the.

Reception ReceptionReview scoresPublicationScoreN/AN/AAAN/AN/AN/AN/A9/10N/AN/AN/A7/10N/AN/AN/AN/A8/10N/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/A7.5/10(E.) 7/108/10N/AGameZoneN/AN/A8/109/10N/AN/A9/108.5/10(E.) 7.9/109/10N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A8/10N/A8/107/108/10N/AN/AN/ABN/AN/AAggregate score72/3/100(E.) 82/3/100The PlayStation 3 version of PixelJunk Monsters, Encore, Deluxe, and the Vita version of Ultimate received 'favorable' reviews, while the PC version of Ultimate and the Wii U version of PixelJunk Monsters received 'average' reviews, according to the website. Cuthbert, Dylan (January 16, 2008). PlayStation Blog. Mars, Deborah (April 29, 2008). PlayStation Blog.

Sony Interactive Entertainment. McMinn, Kevin (May 18, 2016).

Nintendo News. Archived from on May 26, 2016.

Retrieved April 15, 2019. Cuthbert, Dylan (April 29, 2009). PlayStation Blog. Sony Interactive Entertainment. Retrieved April 30, 2009. Suttner, Nick (February 1, 2008). Archived from on March 7, 2016.

Retrieved April 16, 2019. Liang, Alice (October 6, 2009). Archived from on May 26, 2016. Retrieved April 16, 2019. North, Dale (October 6, 2009). Enthusiast Gaming. Retrieved April 16, 2019.

Edge staff (March 2008). 'PixelJunk Monsters (PS3)'. P. 101.

Reed, Kristan (January 25, 2008). Gamer Network. Retrieved April 16, 2019. Herring, Will (May 28, 2008).

Archived from on January 6, 2009. Retrieved April 16, 2019.

VanOrd, Kevin (January 30, 2008). Retrieved April 15, 2019. VanOrd, Kevin (June 20, 2008). CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 15, 2019. Walton, Mark (October 13, 2009).

CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 15, 2019. David, Mike (February 7, 2008).

From the original on February 10, 2008. Retrieved April 16, 2019. Platt, Dylan (October 21, 2009). From the original on October 27, 2009. Retrieved April 16, 2019.

Miller, Greg (July 30, 2013). Retrieved April 15, 2019. Clements, Ryan (January 29, 2008).

Retrieved April 15, 2019. Clements, Ryan (May 12, 2008). Retrieved April 15, 2019. Miller, Greg (October 1, 2009). Retrieved April 15, 2019.

Chambers, Evan (June 14, 2016). Gamer Network. Retrieved April 16, 2019. Iwaniuk, Phil (September 6, 2013).

Archived from on September 8, 2013. Retrieved April 16, 2019.

'PixelJunk Monsters'. PlayStation Official Magazine – UK. P. 108.

'PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe'. PlayStation Official Magazine – UK. February 2010. P. 111. Mastrapa, Gus (February 18, 2008). From the original on January 13, 2009. Retrieved April 15, 2019.

^. CBS Interactive.

Retrieved April 15, 2019. ^. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 15, 2019. ^.

CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 15, 2019. ^. CBS Interactive.

Retrieved April 15, 2019. ^.

CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 15, 2019. ^. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 15, 2019.External links. at. at.

at. at.

Beyond the ubiquity of annual sequels, the industry has weakness for rebooting and remastering games that are only a few years old. As such, the arrival of PixelJunk Monsters 2 feels like an anomaly, with the follow-up trailing its predecessor by a full decade.

During that duration, developer Q-Games could have mused over the mechanics of the original game, potentially building on the gentle changes offered by the game’s expansion, PixelJunk Monsters Encore, which arrived a mere four months after the original release.But save for a visual overhaul and some gentle mechanical tweaks, PixelJunk Monsters 2 rigidly adheres to the formula of its predecessor. For many games, that might be a kiss of death, with antiquity damning the follow-up to flounder. But gallantly, the sequel succeeds, demonstrating the quality and execution of the original game. Monsters 2 might not be the best tower defense game out there (Hidden Path Entertainment’s Defense Grid 2 retains that honor), but it’s undoubtedly more enjoyable and polished than ninety-five percent of the genre.As least some of the enjoyments stems from PixelJunk Monsters shirking of milieus filled with heavy machinery and rendered in drab colors. Instead, the game feels organic, imagining a quint tribe of chibis living peacefully in a tree-lined locale. Colors lean toward the vibrant, with grassy hillsides edged by lines of green flora.

Tiki, which arguably deserves a much larger presence in gaming, is still the core aesthetic, with the Polynesian carvings used in the representation of the protagonist (“Tikiman”) as well as the boss characters hellbent on testing the strength of your defense network.Following tower defense tenet, each stage issue waves of different types of attacker, who emerge from off-screen and follow a pattern toward your chibi’s protective hut. To repel the onslaught, players use currency to build various turrets that attack any antagonists who shamble by, gradually witling away their health.

Once they are defeated they leave either money or gems that are used to bolster your network of towers, which are needed for faster and more formidable foes.Variation arrives in enemy form and pattern. Beyond the aforementioned bosses, there are speedy spider-like enemies, airborne antagonists who don’t have to follow trails, and large hordes that can overwhelm slower-firing turrets. At the beginning of the stage, their trajectory will be highlighted for you.

But over time, the opposition advances, emerging from multiple fronts, and generally abandoning prescribed pathways. As such, you’ll need to closely monitor opponents across each wave, watching for a red icon that shows where they’ll enter the field and using the right analog stick to scan the area.Unlike most tower defense games, you don’t stand by idly while your turrets do all the work.

While towers evolve in stages by eliminating enemies, Tikiman can encourage them to evolve by being in their vicinity. But given you’ll have a multitude of turrets spread out across the map, and the masked lead is must pick up coins and gems while avoiding opponents, the poor protagonist doesn’t have it easy. Unfortunately, some of PixelJunk Monsters 2 visual effects don’t make his job easier. Eliminated enemies disappear in a plume of thick smoke, which can make navigation a bit too tricky.The original PixelJunk Monsters often felt like a hybrid of tower defense and puzzle game, since there was a pretty specific way to complete levels with all of your chibis intact.

Often this entailed the use of a specific type of tower or a turret placement that could strike at multiple lanes. Although, this is still present, especially on the higher difficulty levels, there’s substantially more equifinality in the sequel, with the integration of fruit bombs that can be used to eradicate a group of foes and boulders that can pushed down paths, injuring packs of antagonists. Additionally, Monsters 2 permits you to bring in three additional cooperative online partners or another local companion to help battle the hordes, scaling the level of challenge appropriately.

But at the time of this writing, either the matchmaking or a diminutive players base was making finding mutuals difficult, especially on the Switch.Another change to Monsters 2 is the inclusion of three-dimensional playfields. Filled with valleys and hills, Tikiman is given the ability to jump to navigate the topography. But in execution, it can be a bit frustrating, since stages are designed so that some knolls can only be accessible through specific angles. This can make moving Tikiman challenging, especially in areas where a procession of enemies is filling up a pathway. The upside is that Monsters 2 integrates a physics system into the proceedings, and it’s intensely satisfying to amass coins rolling downhill after your turrets slaughter a swarm of foes.Q-Games has traditionally developed two-dimensional games, so it’s intriguing to see the team taking PixelJunk Monsters in the third dimension.

Most of the time you’ll be using an overhead view of the action, but a button press changes things to a third-person perspective, behind the back of Tikiman. Play isn’t easy with this viewpoint, but it does show the reveal Monsters 2’s beauty, extending a depth of field perspective that makes the game resemble Claymation. Remarkably, the game’s framerate is unfailingly fluid, outputting sixty frames per second on the PlayStation 4 while the Switch receives thirty. Additional visual variety arrives in the form of a multitude of different masks for Tiki to wear, and the obligatory cosmetic DLC.‘If it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it’ embodies the design philosophy taken by the Q-Games team.

While that might disappoint those hoping for revolution in PixelJunk Monsters 2, the developers wisely opted for evolution, retaining many of the core mechanics. Sure, some of the adjustments are lateral, bringing in both nuance and a few new issues, but none of changes spoil what’s an exemplary entry on the tower-defense genre.PixelJunk Monsters 2 was played on the PlayStation 4 with review codeprovided by the publisher. A Switch version was purchased independently.

Beyond the ubiquity of annual sequels, the industry has weakness for rebooting and remastering games that are only a few years old. As such, the arrival of PixelJunk Monsters 2 feels like an anomaly, with the follow-up trailing its predecessor by a full decade. During that duration, developer Q-Games could have mused over the mechanics of the original game, potentially building on the gentle changes offered by the game’s expansion, PixelJunk Monsters Encore, which arrived a mere four months after the original release. But save for a visual overhaul and some gentle mechanical tweaks, PixelJunk Monsters 2 rigidly adheres to.