Hitting the European PSN store this week, PixelJunk Monsters is the second game in the PixelJunk series from Q-games. The game features simple, real time strategy gameplay based on the popular “tower defence” genre and full 1080p HD visuals. Players take on the role of defender-of-the-forest and have to defend the area surrounding their base from waves of monsters. For a better idea of how the game works check out this video.
One great feature of the game is being able to play it on your PSP via remote play. Players can also team up with a friend and play offline together via a co-op mode for some two player strategic fun.
If you get hold of PixelJunk Monsters any time soon or already have it, let us know your views and opinions of the game. And click through for more images.
First post! WOOT!!! This looks so stupid.
Comment by chuckb — Jan 25, 2008 @ 5:50 pm
Any TD game I’ve ever played is mouse based and you just click where you want to put your towers and money is awarded instantly when your towers kill things. A character that runs around really slowly is an unnecessary complication in the gameplay.
I also kind of miss the sandbox mode where you design your own mazes for the waves to navigate.
I Also feel this game is very difficult for a “casual” level game. And maybe I’m not far enough yet but I think that hte different towers should STAY unlocked when you unlock them, not th at you have to buy them ever game…
Otherwise Im happy with the game, have played it on my ps3 and PSP. I still like it besides my complaints.
Comment by glitched — Jan 25, 2008 @ 5:58 pm
“Email your answer to blog@threespeech.com and if you’re first (or second) out of the hat when we do the draw at midday on Friday, one of the headsets could be yours. ”
http://threespeech.com/blog/?p=836#comments
What happened?
Comment by stephen92 — Jan 25, 2008 @ 5:59 pm
Brilliant game and probably one of the best downloads on PSN. I do wish there was an option or unit you could buy for automatic coin collection but the game is amazing even without that. The ability to use Remote Play should be copied by more devs. I’ve spent far more time playing the game on my PSP than on my PS3 itself.
Comment by Monolith2001 — Jan 25, 2008 @ 6:01 pm
Great game. PS3 needs more games like this. Like katamari was on the PS2, it is a game out of left field that looks inviting and is addictive to play. its a game that you can play with your kids or girlfriend. Easy to learn, hard to master. This is a must buy for anyone with a PS3. Well worth the 7.99 USD price tag.
Comment by Jeremy — Jan 25, 2008 @ 6:03 pm
[...] New Castlevania DS Screens… - 46 views PixelJunk Monsters - Your Thoughts? Jan25 1 views, 25 January 2008, Dean @ 6:09 pm Hitting the European PSN store this week,of defender-of-the-forest and have to defend the area surrounding their base […] Source: PixelJunk Monsters - Your Thoughts? - at Threespeech (No Ratings Yet) Loading … RSS feed for comments on this post.TrackBack URL Write a comment [...]
Pingback by PixelJunk Monsters - Your Thoughts? | GameBlews PS3, XBOX 360, Wii, PSP, DS News — Jan 25, 2008 @ 6:10 pm
Anyword on the headset winnerS?
Comment by JohnSketch — Jan 25, 2008 @ 6:19 pm
I like that you control the character directly, it’s more comfortable than moving a cursor with a gamepad.
*spoiler*
*
Beating the first special stage gives you an upgrade that may help with the slow movement complaint.
*
*/spoiler*
I’ve got rainbows on all the easy levels, it has been surprisingly challenging but if the game lasts and I have that sense of achievement after completing it fully, it’ll be worth it for the countless stage restarts. :p
Wonder what all those other upgrades could be..
Comment by Shin-Ra — Jan 25, 2008 @ 6:28 pm
I agree with glitched, the little guy running around just seems to be a pain in the ass compared to other tower defense games. And I found it hard to tell when there was money waiting for me, not very intuitive.
Comment by Justin Campbell — Jan 25, 2008 @ 6:42 pm
@ Stephen - It’s coming dont worry.
@ All - Have a good weekend. TS.
Comment by Three Speech — Jan 25, 2008 @ 6:45 pm
@Shin-Ra
Yeah, I have that and it’s still a pain. ESPECIALLY when playing remote play. Coins get hidden when on my 50in plasma, and then when on PSP its almost impossible to see the coins you need to pick up.
Comment by glitched — Jan 25, 2008 @ 6:50 pm
I love the game. My wife likes co-op games and the fact that we could play this together sold her on buying it.
I like that you have to pick up gold and gems (and in a timeframe before they dissapear). In co-op this led us to do roles. I would run around getting money, she would upgrade towers. I like that you have to rebuy towers every time.. it gives you something to work for (we each have our favorite towers to prioritize).
At first we thought it was confusing, then we thought it was simplistic, then we thought it was easy, then we realized how wrong we were (lots of wrinkles get thrown at you).
In the final analysis, it’s one of our favorite PSN downloads, fabulous game!
Comment by Bret — Jan 25, 2008 @ 6:54 pm
I have never been a TD fan, have seen loads of students playing the flash version on labs. However, the PJM demo (japanese) was enough to get me hooked, so I bought it the instant it was available on the US store.
I liked the game play twist where you play as a character that roams through the map to bluid the towers. This adds a great depth of strategy to the game. It’s not only a matter of building the right towers on the right spot, but planning how to do so. Also, being able to sell towers for coins makes the game very interesting, as you can change your plans according to the enemies appearing and the towers you can build.
The only drawback to the game is that to turn it to a console game, a fixed level design was imposed (at least on the first stages). Enemies won’t have some random behavior and getting a perfect score is a matter of remembering the enemies patterns to plan accordiblgy.
It’s a surprinsingly fun game, not a perfect game, but something well worth the PSN price. This should get you playing for a good while.
Comment by Paulo V W Radtke — Jan 25, 2008 @ 6:59 pm
Just saw you comment in other section
“@ All - Just to let you know that the Jabre draw will now take place on Monday with the winners announced the same day. Thanks, TS.”
http://threespeech.com/blog/?p=836#comments
(comment 28)
After all this I probably got both answers wrong.
Comment by stephen92 — Jan 25, 2008 @ 7:19 pm
EPIC FAIL!
i think that sums my feelings up nicely about this ‘game’ now Sony can we please stop with this type of dross and make some decent small games utilizing the power of the PS3 and not stuff that would look poor on a PSX. more Fl0w and Everyday Shooter, even those weird ps3 eye screensavers top this offering. and least they have imagination and are different enough to get people interested even if they don’t do much honestly.
HAPPY(3rd degree) BURNS NIGHT EVERYONE.
*goes off to get drunk*
Comment by mobiletone — Jan 25, 2008 @ 7:21 pm
One of my favorite downloadable games already this gen, it’s great. VERY ADDICTIVE, good work Dylan.
Comment by Kittonwy — Jan 25, 2008 @ 7:37 pm
SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET
PS3 - 32,938 + 47,536 + 61,578 = 142,052
360 - 4,128 + 70,769 + 54,002 = 128,899
we outsold the ex360 AGAIN this week *happy dance*
that’s worldwide sales not just Urp either.
3 weeks straight since 2008.
selling more since the start of Dec last year.
plz don’t do anything STUPID Sony!
Comment by mobiletone — Jan 25, 2008 @ 8:00 pm
Stop moaning about how this game is different to the PC version. Play the PC version by all means, this is on the PS3 and so be grateful, if you have nothing constructive to say, don’t say anything.
Comment by FunkYellowMonkey(PS3 tag) — Jan 25, 2008 @ 8:04 pm
I purchased Monsters yesterday morning after our suprising early store update.
For £3.49 I’m really impressed. and it wasnt untill reading this article when I realise dit’s playable on the PSP.
Graphics arnt amazing, But I feel the overall gameplay is a gem,
yes it’s difficult, But plenty love Ninja Gaiden & Devil May Cry and they’re far from Easy.
It’s nice to see some difficulty injected into an otherwise stale genre (RTS) especially on PS3.
For £3.49 theres nothing on the PSN Store that can rival this, most of the store downloads are £4.99, and many of those don’t touch this for gameplay.
as for Playstation classics, I’m not a big fan of those anyway, I got Syphon filter 3, Destruction Derby & Wipeout, But have hardly played any of them as Theres far better games ont he PSP & PS£ I own,
with pixel junk monsters there’s the differance, It’s original enough to stand alone as a quality game and the low price make sit even better
Highly recommended
Comment by Godfather Obie — Jan 25, 2008 @ 8:12 pm
Ignore the haters, PixelJunk Monsters is a very fun and addictive game, and it’s a steal at such a low price.
Comment by VG Aficionado — Jan 25, 2008 @ 9:26 pm
@funkyellowmonkey. I paid for the game and played it all night and I like the game, what i said here was my constructive criticism of the game. basically YOU said if you have a complaint with this game we dont want to hear it.
Im not a hater, I love the game, i just have some constructive criticism that i wanted to share.
Comment by glitched — Jan 25, 2008 @ 10:43 pm
Great game but can anyone or TS help me. I’m playing and occasionally the sound cuts out for a second and this message appears for a second about unsupported sound or something.
Thanks for any help.
Comment by anon — Jan 26, 2008 @ 3:00 pm
never heard (ha ha ha) of that happening. sorry. Erm, no, not experienced that. Though I wish we were allowed to pick our tunes from the HDD. Good game, though I wish it were faster. A bit more like the vector towers game on the wrigleys site. http://www.candystand.com/uk/play.do?id=18048
Thats cool. So simple to start… Then canes you! Yeah nice.
Comment by LordOfRuin — Jan 26, 2008 @ 11:21 pm
Not played it, as there is no demo…
However there is a demo on the japan store, why is there no WORLDWIDE DEMOs??
Pixeljunk Racers + Toy Home have no demos on the UK store, but do in the US store,
So even if a game does make it to the EU store, MONTHS later we also have to to buy “blind?”
well done sony…
Comment by Mr. Monkey — Jan 27, 2008 @ 12:19 pm
Just to add to my comment (above),
I am aware the PJ-monsters came out the same day on the US & EU store
but the “Months later” was referring to titles like street fighter puzzle fighter, which still is not out yet, but IF it does I doubt there will be a demo, unlike the US store…
Comment by Mr. Monkey — Jan 27, 2008 @ 12:27 pm
seems I managed to sort out the problem I think it was a loose HDMI, though the picture was never affected.
Comment by anon — Jan 27, 2008 @ 7:49 pm
what i think is the free playable demo is available -in english- in the japanese psn store. and i like this old school game.
Comment by Liz Vicious — Jan 27, 2008 @ 9:40 pm
i love it!
Comment by Gastro — Jan 27, 2008 @ 10:14 pm
I would give you my thoughts on it but we were not (in the EU) supplied with a demo for it therefore I will not be purchasing it as I do not want to waste my money on something I might not like although SCEE wants me to even though other Sony areas are supplied with demos.
Comment by Ton Capone — Jan 28, 2008 @ 12:36 am
@28 just make a JPN account, it takes about 4 minutes at best, they have had a demo up for over a week now.
The game is awesome if you love tower defense games. Been playing it since I downloaded the Japanese demo, which was actually done in english, oddly enough.
Comment by Josh — Jan 28, 2008 @ 5:49 am
Awesome game, I sat up until 3 in the morning playing PJM trying to perfect one of the “easy” levels, and every time I lost I thought -Just one more go, it’s so addictive =)
And then you have local co-op which just adds to the value.
Comment by FluBBa — Jan 28, 2008 @ 7:39 am
Ton Capone your loss really. There is a trailer, which shows you exactly what the game is like, I based my decision on that. And £3.49 is hardly a large amount of money, even if you don’t like it. I wasted that on Feel Ski and I’m not losing sleep because of it.
Comment by John — Jan 28, 2008 @ 8:18 am
Got the game after being impressed by the demo on the JAP store. I really like the simplistic stratergy of the game…I like RTS but sometimes you just want something lighter, like PJ Monsters! Plus it plays really well via remote play on my PSP!
4/5
Comment by elephant.stone — Jan 28, 2008 @ 8:26 am
It’s excellent, and very addictive. Also loving the Remote Play feature, managed a few games last night while the Mrs watched TV and it works superbly. For £3.49 it’s a steal, more stuff like this please Sony.
Comment by uber1337 — Jan 28, 2008 @ 11:18 am
Bought this on Thursday, showed it to Mrs Kevling, and now I have no access to my PS3. Thanks a lot PJ.
Well, not entirely true, we’ve been playing co-op, and at least I get to go on Burnout when she’s gone to bed!
Really enjoying it, but it does get tricky quite quickly. Took about half a dozen goes in co-op mode last night to do one of the Easy levels (the one where you’re stuck with the money you start with) - cracked it in the end though.
Great value for money - already played it more than some of the other ‘bargain’ games on the PSN and it’s not even been out a week yet.
Comment by Kevling — Jan 28, 2008 @ 12:18 pm
Drum roll for the impending competition results.
Btw, if you are working on a PSN game idea using the competition’s development tools, will Sony still be interested in the game? Who should one contact?
Comment by Savage — Jan 28, 2008 @ 1:02 pm
Bought it on Friday. and played ater getting home from the Pub. not the best of idea’s! But still a great game all the same. hoping to get in and play it with my flat mate before I go off and DJ tonight.
We need more games like this.
Comment by KillingNine — Jan 28, 2008 @ 3:31 pm
I bought this game and Rampart last thursday… At first I was really disappointed in PJM, I thought “this is far too simplistic, there is no AI to speak of and its not really that fun…”, I turned it off and whittled away on the addictive but oh-so-frustrating Rampart (in the retro range) for the rest of the night…
Friday I decided to give PJM another chance… I couldn’t be bothered playing any of my full blown blu-ray games so I loaded it up… and absent mindedly played away… all of a sudden I realised the complexities of the game… Id finished all of the easy section, special 1 and the first medium stage before I even realised that you could purchase other towers from the settlement… or upgrade your towers by dancing in front of them (and is it just me or do they level faster if you shake your controller in time to the drumbeat?)….
Playing through the later medium stages I found myself pulling my hair out trying to figure out which towers are most effective against which enemies, with new enemies turning up in later waves and pwning my base every time… but I kept coming back for more, this game’s too addictive!
one gripe I personally have though, which seems to isolate me in some regards, is the music… a lot of people have praised the music in the numerous conversations that cropped up about the game on the official UK forums, but I find it far too repetitive and… annoying, to be frank.
That said, when in that zen-like monged-out state of mood that this game can put you in your mind tends to wonder in rather abstract way, or mine did anyway, and random chunks of backchatter and dialogue streamed through my head… odd indeed…
in any case… this game is well worth checking out, though I do wish a demo had been released here too…
I also hear that PJM is only at the discounted cheap price for a limited time… I kinda hope this becomes a regular feature with certain items in the store coming under offer each week (”joust for a pound, next week only… thy game is over, noob!”, that kind of thing…)…
Comment by exion — Jan 30, 2008 @ 7:11 am
uummm. holy crap. this game is beyond addicting! I am WAYYY loving it. thanks to the PixelJunk crew because this is an AMAZING game and so worth the price.
Comment by illegalprelude — Jan 31, 2008 @ 6:34 am
Thankyou for the best PSN game ever! I have spent hours totally involved in this game I have 4 more levels left This game is beyond amazing I really hope there will be sequels and expansions. Thankyou to Pixel Junk and Sony for this amazing game MOAR PLZ!!!!!
Comment by cg — Feb 18, 2008 @ 8:51 am
[...] We told you about Pixel Junk Monsters a while back - with its addictive gameplay and 1080p visuals it’s one of our favourite games at the moment. [...]
Pingback by Three Speech » Pixel Junk Monsters: News And Reviews — Feb 18, 2008 @ 4:07 pm
Hi!,
Comment by name — Sep 1, 2008 @ 6:50 am
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