PS3 Fanboy hands-on: PixelJunk Monsters
Just like its predecessor, we have an irksome feeling PixelJunk Monsters will have trouble finding an audience. It's quirky presentation won't help it resonate with the general populace -- a shame, considering how much fun we had with it.
You're set in the role of a village chief that must protect his people from an ever-increasingly powerful and deadly assortment of monsters. As they come rushing forward, you must set up defenses by constructing a variety of weapons at key points in each level. Cannons are slow, but powerful. Arrow launchers are much faster, but much less powerful. Anti-air towers are necessary to have a fighting chance against any of the flying enemies. These are but a small sampling of the towers available to the player.
Careful positioning is crucial to victory. At first, swarms may seem quite easy to handle. However, without taking advantage of choke points and cross-fire locations within each level, faster enemies will be able to sneak on by and feast on your delicious villagers. Constant construction is required as the level becomes more challenging. Thankfully, you can upgrade your arsenal throughout the game. Enemies will drop coins and gems when defeated, which can be used to upgrade or purchase new towers. You can also stand in a tower and do a magic upgrade dance, which will upgrade the towers for free. Each level-up a tower receives increases its range and firing capabilities, so choosing which tower to upgrade is part of the strategery involved in the game.
The careful progression of enemies gives the game the charming appeal of classic puzzlers. As faster and stronger enemies pour into the level, one can't help but feel their pulse increase. Will the game have enough depth to warrant a PSN purchase? Well, that depends on both the amount of content included in the game and the price. We'll know for sure when the game comes out early next year.
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