PixelJunk Eden Demo Impressions

It's interesting, but lately I have been finding myself playing a disproportionate amount of downloadable games compared to actual disc games. Of course this will change when Soul Calibur IV launches tomorrow, but it goes to show that the quality of downloadable titles has much improved over rehashes of old games.

This weekend I spent a fair amount of time with PixelJunk Eden, a game that has to be one of the most relaxing and visually interesting games I have played in quite a while. The controls are simple and only involve two buttons and the thumbstick. The basic gameplay is as follows: You are a tiny little monster (or "Grimp") living in a garden where the ultimate goal is to find the "Spectra," a flower that resides somewhere high at the top of the level. By using your jumping and swinging abilities you can cause flowers to grow thereby allowing you to climb to higher areas in the level. Placed around the level are various "seed pods" which can be activated by creating pollen from the various flowers floating through the air. You make your way through the level by jumping, spinning or by attaching yourself to various plant life with a slender spiderweb-like thread. All this is tempered by the fact that you have a clock that is counting down while you play. Grabbing various crystals placed around the level will allow you to add time on to your clock. Interestingly, despite the time constraint, you never feel rushed or tense when playing.

PixelJunk Eden is one of those games that you just have to play to really get the gist of it so I highly suggest you download the free demo and check it out. The graphical art style is intriguing and not what you normally see in games these days. It is more akin to say Patapon than Super Stardust. The music is fairly innocuous and relaxing although some will probably prefer to use their own soundtrack (if that is possible, I'm not exactly sure). The game also includes three player co-op play, trophies and the ability to upload gameplay videos directly to YouTube.

If you are a fan of games like fl0w you will definitely want to check out PixelJunk Eden. At a budget price of $9.99 it's well worth the money and provides lots of replay-ability. The full version of the game will be available on the PSN Store this Thursday.