Game: PixelJunk Shooter 2

Developer: Q-Games

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment

Available on: PlayStation 3 Only

The PixelJunk series by Q-Games has seen a steady stream of excellent games hit the PlayStation Network, starting with Racers, then Monsters, the marvelous Eden then Shooter. Fans of the PixelJunk Shooter felt slightly aggrieved that the title was so short and was so clearly left open for a sequel, which is where PixelJunk Shooter 2 comes in.

With the addition of competitive multiplayer and another three episodes, should fans of the first game jump straight back in, or would they be better waiting for the game to go on sale?

STORY: Literally picking up right after the end of the first PixelJunk Shooter, you are still in the little ship and you will still need to save scientists, collect treasure and explore. This time however, rather than exploring a planet, you start inside the belly of a beast!

As usual the scientists reveal tidbits of vague information about what might have been going on in the past, and you’ll move into an icy underground area before finally making your way into the very depths of darkness.

AUDIO: The audio for PixelJunk Shooter 2 is best described as satisfying. Once again High Frequency Bandwidth return with another solid soundtrack. Most of the sounds are reused from the previous title, which is to be expected given that the story continues directly on from the previous title. There are new sounds for the new suits and enemies, of course, and these are of the same high standard you have come to expect from Q-Games.

GRAPHICS: If you have played PixelJunk Shooter (and you should have, it’s excellent) then not an awful lot has changed graphically. Everything still has a colourful and charming feel to it. Of course, with the additions to the gameplay, there are new visuals to see, such as gastric acid and some strange fly type creatures that buzz around.

It’s hard to find any glaring faults with PixelJunk Shooter 2 in the visual department, it achieves everything it sets out to do. Whilst not mindblowing to look at, everything feels just right.

GAMEPLAY: Due to the game literally picking up where the previous one left off, you start in Episode 4 and, as such, the gameplay feels a little more trickier than before. Straight away you are thrust into an area full of acid that you have to negate, and in general the game feels as though it takes a bit more getting used to that before.

At it’s core, PixelJunk Shooter 2 is a twin-stick shooter and you will fly around shooting enemies as well as saving stranded scientists with your grappling hook. The game is much more than that though, as there are also some light puzzle elements at play too. For example, when using the hungry suit you can’t shoot, so you might have to eat away at the underneath of a rock to make it fall on an enemy and kill it. It’s all very Dig-Dug when you are in the hungry suit! Sadly, the hungry suit isn’t actually as much fun as it could be. Limiting movement to just up, down, left and right means it’s just not as fun to control as the standard ship, nor is it as fast to manouvre.

The water and magma suits are fun to use as ever, but more is made of the puzzle elements this time around, for example, you might have to use a timed bomb to open up a passageway or (later on) have to traverse a dark area which is very reminiscent of parts of the Gears of War series, whereby if you enter the dark, creatures attack you! You can stave off the creatures by opening passageways, illuminating plants with lava or just by carrying around a glowing item! Late on you will also be able to use the light suit, which is another new suit and in turn yet more enemies and tricks are introduced.

The basic premise from the original game remains, which means that you have a handful of levels per episode and within each level there are 4-5 individual maps. Finding treasure and scientists unlock further levels to allow you to progress and each episode culminates in an end boss of sorts. Speaking of the bosses, special mention goes to the end of the fifth episode (second in this game) which is an absolute work of genius. Without spoiling too much, it pays homage to the bullet-hell shooters such as DeathSmiles, although nowhere near as crazy (or hard). Most of the bosses are conquered simply with pattern memorisation and won’t pose most players much of a problem. However, the final boss has potential to be very frustrating due to it’s length, without any checkpointing. Moreover, don’t expect any kind of ending unless you are prepared to find all of the treasures!

PixelJunk Shooter 2 is just simply fun to play, partly because the controls feel so good but also the mechanics change enough to keep you interested throughout. If you so choose, you can even record yourself playing the game by the handy built in video recorder which even allows you to directly upload to YouTube. If you don’t want to use YouTube you can just save video (or videos) to your PlayStation 3 hard drive.

New for PixelJunk Shooter is multiplayer! Made up of leagues (though you can just play against friends), you have a fairly unique experience whereby you have to stop your opponent rescuing people by using one of three skills which you “buy” before the match! On the other hand, when it is your turn to rescue, your opponent will use those skills to stop you. Be it stealth-radar, missiles or any number of the (plentiful) items you can use, this mode is excellent fun and definitely worth a look. One thing is for sure, it is certainly not an afterthought!

LONGEVITY: Fans of the first title who felt upset about the length of the game may well feel just as let down this time around, containing another three episodes, PixelJunk Shooter 2 isn’t much longer than the prior title, though at times feels a little more difficult.

This time though, there is a decent multiplayer mode (co-op is also present in the campaign) which can sustain itself via its ladder style league system. If you really enjoy the PixelJunk Shooter games, there’s every reason to keep coming back for the multiplayer! Additionally, there is a decent amount of replayability in just collecting all the treasure and survivors, especially in the later levels which are shrouded in darkness.

VERDICT: PixelJunk Shooter 2 builds on its predecessor with new suits, puzzles and areas whilst adding an entirely new multiplayer mode, all the while retaining it’s charm and fun. Fans of the first game that played it to death need not be concerned that this outing retreads old ground too severely.

Good old fashioned fun, with charming visuals and a cracking soundtrack, PixelJunk Shooter 2 should be regarded as a definite purchase. This is yet another fantastic downloadable title to add to the already buldging PlayStation Network portfolio.

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