PixelJunk Monsters 2 is straightforward enough to be enjoyed by casual gamers, but trying to perfect it on the highest difficulty will provide a worthwhile challenge to the hardcore gamers.
After waiting all these years, it’s absolutely wonderful to see PixelJunk Monsters back once more, but the more I played it, I couldn’t help but feel a looming sense of disappointment at the lack of content and new ideas. It’s a game I hoped to love but walked away only liking, and that’s a shame for what is a follow up to my favorite tower defense game of all time.
PixelJunk Monsters 2 is exceedingly similar to its predecessor. The core mechanics remain simple with deep, nuanced strategy, but the short length and lack of multiplayer innovations are a letdown. It’s an easy game to recommend for fans and newcomers to the tower defense genre, but it lacks the impact of the original.
PixelJunk Monsters 1 was a great tower defense game, and its sequel is exactly that. The claymation layer is impressive, but the game is haunted by a clumsy camera and limitations in co-op.
Pixeljunk Monsters 2 does the original great justice by lifting the core experience and spreading it across a big, bright, three-dimensional playing field. But it feels like a typical tower defense game from the 2007-08 boom. It fails to incorporate ideas from genre contemporaries who have moved the mark as far as agency.