Originally, PixelJunk Shooter and Shooter 2 were made for Sony by our friends at Q-Games. As Q-Games are a very tech savvy developer, (like us) Shooter was born from gameplay experimentations, using a very clever fluid simulation technology they had written. As the gameplay evolved, so did the story. Four years on from Shooter’s first release, we met the guys at Q-Games and as fans, started talking about what this edition would be!

We ended up doing a number of cool new things in Shooter Ultimate (discussed here ) and with it releasing tomorrow it’s a good time to give you an idea of what to expect!

Exploration, action and strategy

Ultimate unites PixelJunk Shooter and Shooter 2 into one continuous experience, with a host of enhancements. Take all those things as a given and let’s go a little deeper…

What drives all that is a massive physics engine that features a powerful fluid dynamics system. While making your way through the game you’ll quickly notice that the interplay between states of matter (solids, liquids, and gasses) is key to getting by.

The beginning starts of easy; blast some rock, unleash a flood of water – and rescue the stranded scientists.

Scientists aside, surviving in Shooter Ultimate is all about managing your ships temperature.

You can’t fly through magma since you’ll burn up, but unleash a flood of water and when it contacts, magma will cool and turn into solid rock – which you can blast your way through!

You’ll find that magma melts ice, ignites gas and as you play through will discover more fluids and their unique interactions!

In the scenario above you’re trying to collect a diamond protected by ice at the top of the level. One way to get the diamond is to drop a water bomb on the magnetic fluid that creates gas. There’s a timed magma release from an above pipe and that will ignite the gas. So you need to get the timing right between letting the gas rise to the level of the ice and the down pour of magma. When the gas ignites it will take the ice out with it, allowing you to collect your diamond. (Just a note, you don’t want to be inside the gas when this happens.) Collecting hidden diamonds is key to unlocking more levels and venturing into the depths of Apoxus Prime.

Earlier I mentioned you couldn’t fly through magma; strictly speaking, that’s not true. Later on you can equip your ship with an inverter suit that allows you to fly through magma, but water will now burn your ship up – just to keep it fresh.

Online battles

Online is where you undertake ship vs. ship battles, more akin to a game of hide-and-seek than run-and-gun. Particularly as you can customise a load-out of upgrades on your ship that will completely change your tactics.

The upgrades list includes better weapons; but the power ups, disruptors and hazards really make the battles. The camouflage power-up disguises you as a scientist so your opponent may pick you up and take you back to their base, allowing you to steal their scientists. Disruptors can reverse an opponent’s controls, make them stick to walls, and more.

Hazards, allow you to unleash a flood of water across the entire level.

The folks at Q-Games developed online battles by playing it over and over. They started with just shooting at each other and over time developed capture the flag style mechanic along the way. The upgrades were thought up as they were playing, to allow players to develop their own battle strategies

Great news about vs battles is that they work with Cross Play. So while on your PS4 you can play against someone sitting next to you, or online on a PS Vita!

So there you go folks! If you’re a fan of the originals we hope you enjoy what we’ve done with it and if you’re new to the game, best advice? Invite a friend over, plop down on the couch, and prepare for some great times.