As you can see, the last five towers are somewhat irrelevant, and this is where the first problem with PixelJunk Monsters lies. Nineteen out of the twenty maps can be done by using a combination of the first five turrets. You never actually need to ever use the Tesla, Ice, Lightning or Hive towers, and you only need Mortars for one map. This really is a shame, because they could have added just a little bit more complexity to these towers and changed a great game to an epic one.
Another mild annoyance is that on occasion you will need to destroy a tower and build a different one in its place. This is achieved by using the same radial interface as upgrading the tower. Unfortunately, if you destroy a tower and move to another tower intending to upgrade it, you need to remember to manually set it back to upgrade mode. It's extremely frustrating to either destroy a tower by mistake, or upgrade a redundant tower, simply by pressing the button just a little too fast.
There are twenty maps to complete, some of which have special themes such as "creatures do not drop gold", where you start with 2000 coin and have to build as you go. There's also "creatures do not drop gemstones", which will have you doing the best you can with the default towers, and "only one type of creature" which is a level with only spiders. There's even "every type of creature" where you're given every tower at the start and have to place the right ones at the right time to stop a constant wave of every sort of creature across the map! And if all that gets boring, you have special events which will earn you the fast move ability, remote mines, and the lightning tower improvement. Phew!
If any of this sounds overly complicated, fear not - there is a gradual learning curve, with a tutorial map and about half a dozen easy maps before the really hard stuff starts. You need to unlock the "medium" and "hard" settings by getting "rainbows" - these are gained by finishing each level having lost not a single villager. Sounds easy, but the first two or three maps will lull you into a false sense of security before you quickly realise that simply finishing the level with any villagers alive is a good achievement.
The sounds are fantastic - from the shrill "yelp" the blobs make when they explode in a shower of coins, to the strange robot-like chant the enormous bee creatures emit when killed. Even the laser tower makes a convincing "zap" sound, which must have been sampled directly from a bug zapper.
PixelJunk Mosters has a great two-player mode, with each player assuming a turtle-Indian creature of their own. It's absolutely essential to work in harmony however, so you'll find yourself barking out orders and letting your partner know exactly what your intentions are for each wave. You will also experience on more than one occasion the pain of losing a level because you both have 95 coins each and no way to build even an arrow tower.
Your scores can even be recorded and shared with the rest of the PlayStation Network with an online leaderboard.
This game is hugely addictive, and fantastic after-dinner entertainment. I'm willing to bet it would make a brilliant baby-sitter as well. Speaking as someone who managed to get 20/20 rainbows, it will have you coming back for more, and for the unbelievably low price of $10 you get literally dozens of hours of entertainment, and quite a few new grey hairs!
Oh, I almost forgot - those of you who get hooked on this, and there will be a few, will invariably come up against the map "Double Team". Here's a YouTube video showing how to do it and get a rainbow. You can try it first yourself, and spend about ten or fifteen hours trying to get it right, and then have a look at it to see where you went wrong.
PixelJunk Monsters is available for download on PlayStation Network now.
