Tower defense games have been a big deal in PC gaming for the past year or so. Now that genre is being established on consoles, with the very user friendly PixelJunk Monsters. The game’s cartoony style, easy control scheme and fun gameplay are a great introduction to the genre for those that have never played any tower defense games. Here is a breakdown of some of the facets of PixelJunk Monsters for the PS3:

Presentation and Graphics: PixelJunk Monsters has a very unique 2D hand-drawn graphical style, reminiscent of the early days of console gaming. However, it’s all in lush 1080p, which looks beautiful. The simple layout of levels and character models is easy on the eyes. The only real issue I had was having to set the screen size at startup, with could use a bit more tweaking. You can only adjust the screen size, but not position. In some instances, this will result in black bars on the edges of your TV to ensure the entire game window fits on screen. 8 of 10

Sound and Music: Like the graphics, the background music in the game is also reminiscent of classic gaming, which may be great for some and annoying for others. Personally, I enjoyed it and found it fitting to the overall style. Sadly, it gets repeated often, so you might get tired of it quickly. Sound effects from each enemy type and each tower weapon type are done very well, with each weapon having a unique sound depending on what enemy it strikes. 7.5 of 10

Gameplay: Tower defense gameplay is fairly simple, using your head to figure out what to do is the hard part. To create a tower, you walk over to any tree in the game and hit X to pull up the tower menu. Select a tower type you have unlocked and it will be built. But default you have and arrow tower, a canon tower for ground defense, and an air cannon tower for air defense. The use and placement of each tower type is what will grant you victory on each stage. As you defeat enemies, you will earn coins which will allow you to build more towers. If you find you don’t need a tower anymore, you can sell it back for a reduced cost. Enemies will also drop jewels, which you can save up to buy more tower types or increase the strength of current towers. But fear not, jewels aren’t the only way to increase tower strength. You can stand next to any tower for a period of time and it’s strength will be increased.

There’s a good deal of trial and error involved with success in PixelJunk Monsters. You need to place each tower type in good locations to destroy enemy waves. You also need to make sure towers are strengthened properly, so that less towers do the job for you. Once you learn how to best attack each enemy type, you’re off and running. 9 of 10

Multiplayer: The game features a two player co-op mode, where you can tag team your way through each stage setting up towers and upgrading weapons. It works very well and provides even more fun that single player. Sadly, the co-op is offline only, of this would have been a higher score. I’m not sure why online play isn’t a priority for these types of games. 8.5 of 10

Lasting Appeal: With the multiple stages and difficulties, you’ll be coming back to PixelJunk Monsters for a while, especially playing with friends via co-op. The gameplay is very addicting, even if this is the first tower defense game you’ve ever played. 9 of 10

Final Word: For $7.99, you get a lot for your money with PixelJunk Monsters. If you enjoy any type of strategy games, definitely pick this one up. You won’t be disappointed.

Overall: 8.5 of 10

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