PixelJunk Monster's Review-PS3

A Real Beauty
When I picked up my PS3 I knew that the Playstation Network that Sony offered its customers was far inferior to Xbox Live and it's Marketplace but what I did not take into account was the quality of the games that Sony offers compared to the quantity of games that Microsoft offers. Now don't get me wrong, the 360's Arcade has a few great hits but none of them can hold a candle to the PSN's PixelJunk Monsters.

What's This?
PixelJunk Monsters is an exciting strategy game that pits you, the turtle, against wave after wave of enemy creatures all hellbent on consuming your precious offspring. What separates the game from most in the arcade lines of both consoles is that instead of actually shooting the bad guys yourself, you build towers anywhere on the map to do your shooting for you. Well you can't build the towers just anywhere as that would be too easy, the path that the monsters take is lined with trees and by running to a tree and clicking a few buttons you can transform that tree into the tower of your liking. If a band of flying bugs comes in from the entrance where they spawn you would build Anti-Air Towers, if a huge number of creatures came at you but were all slow movers you would build Cannons. The game proceeds down this path the entire way, waves and waves of enemies come and its up to you to decide how to defend you base.

Graphics & Sound?
There are some Arcade games out there that are really easy on the eyes and while there are some that look as if the designer's secretary threw the graphics together while he was out to lunch. PixelJunk Monsters doesn't necessarily go to either one of these extremes but the game does look good. On my 1080i HDTV it looks smooth and colorful and it is really a joy to watch and play. There aren't a vast amount of colors since we all know that grass is, green, and trees are, green, but the colors are vivid enough for me to be happy while playing as every map has roughly the same grassy-forested theme. The creatures and trees are all cell-shaded which gives the game a very nice and clean look. The sound is really disappointing as it pretty much had my ears bleeding from the start. Like many Arcade games it seems as if they just threw the sound in the game because all games need sound but when the game's pace quickens the sound does also which adds a nice touch when playing. There is nothing like a band of fast spiders coming at you as the sound puts you in the mindset that you have to hurry up and build or all your little babies will bite the dust.

Overall Review
Developers make arcade games different from standard console releases. A good arcade game is one that you can pick up and play anytime without having to get all caught up in a long drawn out story. It needs to be able to play quick when you have just a few minutes to do so and it needs to be fun and interesting. The only thing I want to see is a multi-player add-on which would pit you against others on the PSN network but it has all the traits which makes it a MUST BUY for anyone who is looking for a good game on the PSN. The mix of strategy and fun game play is unparalleled on either console and for $7.99 it is a steal to purchase.

This article was originally posted on February 16, 2008 on our previous gaming blog.