Our Time in Eden- A Review of PixelJunk’s Latest


On September 20th, 2007, a little-known company
released an eponymous slot-car racer to little fanfare. The game was a nominal
diversion that could be remembered for its simplicity- players moved a small car
left and right along a looping track. Four months later, critics and fans took
notice of the next release, PixelJunk Monsters. This game was a recreation of
the popular freeware game, Desktop Tower Defense, where players build a
collection of defense turrets to stop a stream of marauders.  Lately, acclaim was been steadily building for
the company’s newest release- PixelJunk Eden

In the game, players control a small shrimp-like character
called a Grimp that has the ability to jump through the level with a double tap
of the ‘X’ button. The other move in the protagonist’s repertoire is the
ability to swing in a circle, not unlike the main character in Wik: Fable of
Souls
for PC and 360. Players, however can only make two revolution (or
encounter an enemy) before their delicate line snaps. By jumping and swinging,
player break open pollen pods, whose particles float and open nearby plants.
Once these plants grow, players can reach the games objective, touching ‘spectra’;
glowing icons placed near the top of the playfield.


As complicated and abstract as gameplay sounds, Eden’s objective-based
gameplay quickly becomes clear after a few minutes. In fact, one of the title’s
greatest faults lies in its reliance on arcade game trappings- from time limits
to pesky enemies. For a game as visually and conceptually unique as Eden, running
out of time to complete a stage can be a frustrating experience. We wonder why
Pixeljunk didn’t offer gamers the ability to play without such restrictions.  

Still, it would be a shame to pass the title up; we have
spent hours completely engrossed in some of its early levels. The game has the
ability to support up to four players, which can be frustrating for a player
thrown off-screen, but it’s absolutely captivating to watch when all players are
spinning. The ability to view player rankings, and upload a Youtube gameplay video
is only icing on the cake.


While some gamers may be turned off by the frustration of
the Eden’s latter levels, there’s enough content of manageable difficulty to warrant
a ten-dollar purchase for any PS3 player. We can’t wait for Pixeljunk’s next
release; the company has grown from a creator of typical downloadable software
to one of the most promising firms in our industry.

About Robert Allen

Since being a toddler, Robert Allen has been immersed in video games, anime, and tokusatsu. Currently, his days are spent teaching at two southern California colleges. But his evenings and weekends are filled with STGs, RPGs, and action titles and well at writing for Tech-Gaming since 2007.

61 comments

  1. I heard it great. Sadly, though there’s still not enough really good PS3 games to make my buy the system.

  2. Sounds interesting. If I had a PS3, I’d buy it.

  3. Hahaha, 10,000 Maniacs reference? You guys sexuality in now officially in question!

  4. Nice review, guys. I hope I win SC4. Play, I must says Yoda.

  5. Looks very interesting. Wish more things like this were supported.

  6. Bought it and love it. My 5 word review.

  7. Ya really fun, have it and love it

  8. Pixeljunk don’t make no junk. I love the game. I’ve put more time in it then MGS4!

  9. Game looks fantastic. Great article.

  10. I really enjoyed the game but I agree that the levels get pretty difficult near the end.

  11. Excellent review. I bookmarked this site!!!

  12. I heard a lot about this game. I’ll try the demo and give it a shot. BTW awesome article!

  13. Looks fun.
    Nice review!

  14. This game looks to be good, hopefully I’ll actually like it.

  15. This seems like it couild be one of those sleeper hit like Katamari Damacy. I may have get this…

  16. Very nice. I’ve been looking at this game on and off, deciding whether or not it was worth it. It seems so artistically unique.

  17. I would buy from Pixeljunk- Monsters was fun.

  18. I checked out the demo, but it didn’t really grab my attention.

  19. Like Alan, the demo didn’t do much for me either…

  20. This game looks interesting but I haven’t tried it yet. I might have to get the demo.

  21. Interesting idea, I’ll have to give PixelJunk a look now.

  22. Bourhan Moghrabi

    For the price of this game, I would buy this game just to support the creator, too bad I do not own a PS.

  23. Nice concept, and the price is not steep for a PS gamer.

  24. That second pic looks really trippy when I scroll up and down O_o

  25. Game looks and sounds amazing from what I heard, but don’t have a PS3 like everyone else here. If I had one, I’d get it, but yeah >_>

  26. weirdest game i’ve evar seen.
    although I’ll probably download it if I get a ps3

  27. This game sounds good and all, I love games that really change up the artistic direction of their game. But ten dollars? Kind of an iffy price.

  28. Can’t agree with the review more; great game, but later levels kind of wreck it.

  29. There’s something about it that reminds me of Yar’s Revenge (2600).

  30. Haven’t bought the game yet. Looks fun though!

  31. Just played the demo this morning. I didn’t know what I was doing at first, and thought it sucked, but it started growing on me as I got the swing of it. I’ll play the demo a bit more before I decide if it’s worth a purchase or not.

  32. that looks fun

  33. That is one awesome game but yeah need a ps

  34. i want this game BAD! i loved the monster one, well designed and HARD AS NAILS…

  35. i’m completely addicted to this game. it’s very time consuming though.

  36. this and pixeljunk monsters are one of the reasons i want a ps3

  37. This should come to the 360.

  38. At first, I didn’t think this game would be anything more than something nice and artsy to look at. But after I tried out the demo, it got me hooked. Great game.

  39. Oooh … I can see the music.

  40. When my PS3 comes in the mail, I’m going to buy its. It looks so…peaceful

  41. hmm, interesting

  42. Interesting and creative game but I don’t think it’s for me. I’m looking forward to Little Big Planet though. Anyway, Soul Calibur 4 is a lot more attractive….. (haha, I am desperate).

  43. I loved PJM, and have tried the PJE demo a couple of times, but cannot get into it.

    However, enough positive reviews, and friend recommendations, and I may purchase it.

  44. loved the original, hope this is as good.

  45. This looks very interesting and innovative.

  46. Man they are really pumping out this series. I liked the first 2 so eventually I will give this a try.

  47. i’ll try out the demo and see if i regretted buying this for $5

  48. Seems Like people are starting become creative with making games for the ps3
    cuz to me the ps3 seems like
    it has a lot of potential just
    being waiting to be used

  49. I bought this too. I used to hate the idea of DLC type stuff but I keep getting suckered in.

  50. DLC is allowing these smaller companies to actually publish games in the first place, otherwise it would be too expensive. That is a win for everyone.

  51. Looks great. Will defiantly try it out.

  52. I played the demo for Eden, and it was moderately amusing. I’m still having way more fun with Monsters, though, so I probably won’t be buying Eden anytime soon, especially if it stays at $9.99.

  53. My friend keeps telling me this is fun, I definitely want to try it out.

  54. I will look into it as soon as my ps3 is back from rehab.

  55. Interesting. I have never heard of these folks myself, but I did enjoy playing desktop tower defense (and it’s numerous clones)

  56. I love the aesthetic the rest I am not sure about.

  57. *co-signs*

  58. Wow the art in this game is amazing to me. Its funny to look how fast video games have progressed in such a short amount of time. I might jus thave to try this out now.

  59. Sounds like an awesome game! Look forward to picking this one up.