Its always the way isn’t it? You wait around for a PSN title to grab your attention then two come along at once, first it was Gravity Crash, a addictive retro space shooter and now the even more addictive Pixeljunk Shooter, which is the fourth game in the series from the geniuses at Q Games.

 

Pixeljunk Shooter is a very colourful 2D shooter that sets you the task of visiting all sorts of worlds in your small craft in order to rescue your stranded colleagues. The game can be played all the way through with either one or two players, either way though it’s just as fun. To rescue your fellow spacemen your ship is equipped with a grapping hook, therefore when you see someone you need to rescue you simple point your ship in their direction grab them. Be warned though, your ship is limited to five lives and you will lose one for every colleague you fail to rescue.

 

 

Of course it would be quite a simple game if all you had to do was rescue colleagues without there being any twists, and of course there are, and plenty of them. The first level you will visit is based on fire, therefore you will find yourself facing up to hazards such as hot lava, gaseous clouds, fire spitting creatures and all other manner of obstacles. Thankfully as well as being armed with guns and rockets, the developers have also managed to cram in other ingenious ways for you’re to conquer each level. For example in one part of the world you will need to make your way though the lava, now the only way to do this is to cool it down with water with a sponge like plant grows from a vine, therefore using your grapple you can drop these in water, soak up as much as possible then drop them in the lava and watch it turn to stone. Once you manage to turn the lava to stone you can simply shoot straight thorough it and continue on your way.

 

All in the game has three worlds, with five stages in each and five to six levels per stage. Each level is separated by a locked gate, to pass through these you must rescue all of the spacemen in each one, throughout the levels there are also hidden crystals which must be found, it is crucial that you find these as you require a set amount in order to unlock the next level, the boss level and ultimately move onto the next stage.

 

The latter stages are particularly challenging. The ice based level for example brings challenges of it’s own as you are required to find you way through huge blocks of ice in order to rescue the stranded, thankfully though the games does help you out with some new equipment in the shape of suits. These suits allow you to fire lava and water, with even more interesting suits unlocking later. In the case of the ice level, being armed with lava has its advantages as not only can you melt the ice but you also have a special claw which allows you to pull at certain sections of it, the only thing you do need to be careful with is that you ship doesn’t end up under the flow of lava.

 

Although the game isn’t particularly difficult at first it does get more challenging from the ice level, therefore you will sometimes struggle to figure out how to rescue particular men, though this is all part of the fun. The final level does provide more of the same, with a few new twists, although I would rather you figured out all about that for yourself.

 

Graphically Pixeljunk Shooter is a visual treat, the colours are very bright and pleasing to the eye and some of the effects are excellent to watch, such as when the lava melts through the ice and you see it dropping away to nothing, it really is brilliant. The sound is also perfect, with the sound of your cannons blending in perfectly with the subtle and dramatic background music.

 

 

Outside of the main game Pixeljunk Shooters includes online leaderboards, just so the competitive amongst you have something to aim for. Unlike most games the leaderboards are actually based on how many people you rescue and the coins you collect rather than your kills, so this gives plenty of replay value if you are the type who likes to collect everything. Finally there are also other perks such as the now mandatory trophies, Playstation Home rewards and also PSP remote play, which is a particularly good perk if you ask me.

 

Although Pixeljunk Shooter isn’t a particularly long game, it is still one that I would highly recommend, at just £6.29 this is one of the best PSN titles around, it’s full of innovation and twists and is a real joy to play through, especially when you hook up with someone else and play together.