Ok here we go again. I’m going to probably keep this one short(er) than some of the others due to the fact that I have to go to work (ugh) and that this game was more of a distraction to me than a game that I invested significant time in. Unfortunately I will once again go into the reason behind these blogs. This mainly has to do with the fact that I cannot typically make a proper game of the year list as I don’t have the money to buy ten new games in a given year (well I may have the money but don’t want to casually spend it when I have other concerns). So instead I pick up slightly older games more within my budget. I am going to talk about them because you bombers are such a good outlet for videogame related nonsense (who would have thought?). Anyway lets jump into PixelJunk Monsters!

Here goes my customary “how I found myself playing this game” explanation. So in the past other than Beyond Good & Evil HD (which I HAD to have) and some ME2 dlc (only bought Arrival the rest came on PS3 copy hell yeah!) I have never really used PSN. It was not even so much the fear that my credit card number would be stolen (which I guess is a valid reason) but rather that I couldn’t justify playing these short (in my mind fairly expensive compared to disc games which have been reduced in price and are normally longer) games instead of a retail game. So I guess I have the PixelJunk games to thank for breaking through my rock hard skull and opening me up to downloadable games. PSN had one of their (in my opinion) few and far between decent sales. In this case all the PixelJunk games were like half off (why don’t they do group discounts more often? Also why don’t they have developer DLC sales? Been waiting for cheap Dragon Age DLC forever! Anyway..) and I could justify my purchase. It also helped that my friend (the Twisted Metal one) had played Eden and really liked it so I tipped him off and we both took part in this sale. I picked up Shooter, Eden and Monsters, while he grabbed Shooter, Monsters and Racers. I still have not yet played Eden (to my discredit) but I played Monsters right away thinking it would be the one that appealed to me the most out of the three…it wasn’t ha ha.

I’ll preface everything I say after with PixelJunk Monsters is not a bad game. I honestly do not think that this game was made for people like me. I am in no way much of a casual gamer where I can play something like Angry Birds for hours on end. I typically need more of a story and substance to keep me going. I am definitely not directly comparing Monsters with Angry Birds I am just saying that games where you are defending your tower or doing passive moves are not really up my alley (in this way I am saying with Monsters you plant your weapons and then just wait, whereas in Shooter you are moving around attacking etc.) I know some people will disagree but Monsters was a little boring for me too much waiting leveling up your towers while occasionally collecting coins/pins(I think). Plus I didn’t really care if a dude hits my base I was just like whatever. I realize I am probably asking too much from this simple tower defence game but I’m just trying to justify my personal feelings of boredom with it. Even the upgraded towers while giving some decent powers felt like more of the same to me. I did enjoy the art style in the game, the sort of cutesy, colourful design of the whole thing. However, this did not prove a good enough distraction while I was standing (dancing) on my towers waiting for them to level up.

Short is what I’m aiming for with this one and short it SHALL BE!! On to the trophies for this one. I can’t believe I’m going to say this (as an idiot completionist) but I sort of doubt I will be returning to Monsters…probably not forever, but at least in the foreseeable future. Mostly because if you didn’t have fun why play it (I mean other than OCD right? RIGHT?) although it is hard for me to say that as I believe in playing the shit out of my games so I can get most bang for my buck. However, the trophies that this game has I didn’t really enjoy attempting to get as they require patience and skill I am not prepared to invest in getting. One trophy for completing a level using only arrows and cannons I played like a hundred times and only got close like twice. I refuse to resort to videos to figure out how to get the trophies for such a simple(ish) game and as such will probably not get my standard 50% for games I am not obsessed with. There it is bombers on the record. I feel relieved ha ha. But seriously for the tower defence hardcore you will probably love the challenge of getting these interesting trophies as for me? Not so much.

If you read this and are like umm why did he say that PixelJunk started him on buying PSN games when he disliked Monsters, then you are not only intelligent but perceptive as well lol. The truth is that after Monsters I needed a break from small games and moved onto BATMAN!!! The next PixelJunk game I played is what made me enjoy the short easygoingness of downloadable games. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves here and will have to wait until after Arkham City to discuss Shooter.

In the parlance of the cryptkeeper (dunno I’m feeling like weirdo) til next time kiddies ( never really thought about what a creepy statement that was until now). Oh and as an endnote thanks to all you duders who read my Rayman blog (was wondering which game would get the most notice. Good to see Giantbomb loves Rayman) and to ZombiePie who included me in the community spotlight, what an honour :D. BAAAAATMAAAAAN NEXT!!