PixelJunk Monsters: Ultimate

 PC
User Score
7.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 28 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 28
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 28
  3. Negative: 4 out of 28

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  1. goodterling
    Nov 20, 2013
    2
    If you like this, you haven't played good tower defense games. PJ Monsters is super minimalistic, not in a cool way, but in a lazy way. The sprite variety is extremely limited, and they have no death animations. The towers have no graphical indication to being upgraded. There is a huge priority to earning a perfect score by taking no hits on your base, but there is no way to "earnIf you like this, you haven't played good tower defense games. PJ Monsters is super minimalistic, not in a cool way, but in a lazy way. The sprite variety is extremely limited, and they have no death animations. The towers have no graphical indication to being upgraded. There is a huge priority to earning a perfect score by taking no hits on your base, but there is no way to "earn back" a hit on your base, which results in a frustrating need to restart from zero.
    But the biggest negative by far is the paths the enemies follow to attack your base. The whole point of tower defense is to devise a strategy from what you know about the enemy types and the terrain they must follow. But for half the maps in this game the field has an "open" design that leads the monsters right past your base in the middle of their attack path. This makes a mockery of tower defense strategy, since the baddies are arbitrarily "deciding" not to kill you, rather than falling to your strategy. Overall, this game makes me appreciate Kingdom Rush and Fieldrunners, and the effort their developers put into them.    … Expand
  2. malcolmm
    Feb 7, 2014
    4
    It seems that this game is one of those love it or hate it games. I come down on the side of hate it, or at least I don't understand what makes this game worth playing. However, I don't like the idea of rating a game you dislike a zero unless the game is not only poorly designed but also extremely buggy. The only bugs I found in this game are the ones you are suppose to blow up with yourIt seems that this game is one of those love it or hate it games. I come down on the side of hate it, or at least I don't understand what makes this game worth playing. However, I don't like the idea of rating a game you dislike a zero unless the game is not only poorly designed but also extremely buggy. The only bugs I found in this game are the ones you are suppose to blow up with your towers, so I'll give it a four.

    Graphics are poor and sound is very annoying and repetitive. As others have mentioned, the game places a huge emphasis on getting a perfect score (loosing none of your villagers). It is important to get a perfect score because you need to do this on most levels to progress through the game. That's a truly idiotic game design decision, it should be up to the player to determine how close to perfect they want to get on a level. The iBomber tower defense games get this right by rewarding you with stars that you use to purchase upgrades.    … Expand
  3. BigFatDog
    Oct 24, 2013
    8
    It's a fantastic package, picked this up and bought the expansions on PS3 and had so much fun in single player that I got my friend to come round and session it coop. It's great fun and that dope below, gyokzoli, is really embittered by the fact that he hasn't got a friend to play this game. It is tricky but cracking each challenge requires a tactful approach which, judging by his reviewIt's a fantastic package, picked this up and bought the expansions on PS3 and had so much fun in single player that I got my friend to come round and session it coop. It's great fun and that dope below, gyokzoli, is really embittered by the fact that he hasn't got a friend to play this game. It is tricky but cracking each challenge requires a tactful approach which, judging by his review style, he lacks. Safe to say this is a very polished TD game with the unique approach of having a character that you move to upgrade/sell towers. For those of you struggling with the game, the base towers are almost all you need to finish most of the levels the flamethrower tower is VERY useful and I never needed to use the ice tower, good luck! (Also there are secret levels if you get enough perfects)… Expand
  4. Kichigairisu
    Aug 26, 2013
    10
    It's not just 'yet another tower defense game'; it's the best on the market. Only thing holding it back is online co-op is a little less than stellar (sometimes laggy and will kick you back to the menu after every level clear).
  5. Swiftpaw
    Nov 12, 2013
    9
    As with all my reviews, this is for the Linux version, but it should be the same for all desktop platforms.

    Pixeljunk does an excellent job with the game play of both this game and Shooter. The music, graphics, sound, and ability to have co-op are all great! The only reason I'm rating it a 9 instead of a 10 is that I feel some of their music should have been slightly less repetitive    As with all my reviews, this is for the Linux version, but it should be the same for all desktop platforms.

    Pixeljunk does an excellent job with the game play of both this game and Shooter. The music, graphics, sound, and ability to have co-op are all great! The only reason I'm rating it a 9 instead of a 10 is that I feel some of their music should have been slightly less repetitive and a little more complex, and because I felt the menu system for co-op games could have been made simpler.

    Do other TD games have better graphics? Yes! But does this art style work and is this game enjoyable too? Yes! Plus, it's the only TD game for Linux right now! Highly recommended!    … Expand
  6. gyokzoli
    Oct 1, 2013
    1
    Well, it's one of the worst TDs on the market. The sound effects are bad, the music... what music?! The horrible noise which is called music in the game is so bad, you want to kill yourself after listening to it for 5 minutes straight, and you cannot even mute the music and sounds! The graphics are mediocre, the gameplay mechanics are mediocre at best. And the game is freaking difficultWell, it's one of the worst TDs on the market. The sound effects are bad, the music... what music?! The horrible noise which is called music in the game is so bad, you want to kill yourself after listening to it for 5 minutes straight, and you cannot even mute the music and sounds! The graphics are mediocre, the gameplay mechanics are mediocre at best. And the game is freaking difficult which would be a good thing if the game itself would be good, but it's not. Although it might be still a good purchase if you can buy it in an Indie Bundle for 1 USD. Don't pay more than that for this horrible TD...… Expand
  7. Humboldt1337
    Mar 26, 2018
    10
    I have played this game so much! I just keep coming back to it. Excellent game, with a great aesthetic and feel. Get this for all ages!
  8. kirbman101
    Jan 29, 2015
    7
    I'm not a big fan of the tower defense genre, but PixelJunk Monsters has a unique appeal that kept me coming back for more.

    The system of unlocking, building, and upgrading towers is simple, but not so much that it becomes boring. All necessary information is clearly conveyed to the player, which is very helpful. In addition to currencies and remaining villagers, you can see upgrade    I'm not a big fan of the tower defense genre, but PixelJunk Monsters has a unique appeal that kept me coming back for more.

    The system of unlocking, building, and upgrading towers is simple, but not so much that it becomes boring. All necessary information is clearly conveyed to the player, which is very helpful. In addition to currencies and remaining villagers, you can see upgrade statuses of all towers, and their ranges. You can even see which type of enemy is attacking next, and how long you have until they do.

    Unlike many tower defense games, enemies never attack your towers, they only go after your villagers. This makes the game less stressful than other tower defense games.

    Towers get experience from kills and from you dancing under them. This experience will upgrade them over time, or you can pay gems to skip to the next upgrade level. Each tower starts at green, and upgrades to yellow, red, purple, and finally black.

    The campaign is fairly long; it took me around 20 hours to complete all levels on the three main islands. Replayability is decent, with challenges, Steam achievements, higher difficulties, co-op mode, and a fourth island that includes randomly generated maps.

    The downsides are the occasional difficulty spikes and the clunky tower selection spinner. The game also doesn't do a good job of explaining how towers are upgraded, which is why I explained it here.

    Don't let the cute characters and pleasant music deceive you, this game can be tough.    … Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
72

Mixed or average reviews - based on 8 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 8
  3. Negative: 1 out of 8
  1. DarkStation
    Dec 9, 2013
    80
    For what it brings to the table, PixelJunk: Monsters Ultimate is a great package. Tons of content, engaging gameplay, and a cute look really set it apart from other entries in the genre.
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  2. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Nov 25, 2013
    40
    It's possible to make a tower defense game differently but "differently" doesn't necessarily mean "better". This HD version is a proof, despite the qualities of the original game. [Issue#236]
  3. Games.cz
    Nov 21, 2013
    60
    Overcome the initial skepticism, and let yourself be tempted by the game's debonaire stylization along with its fast pace. As soon as the game comes into blossom, and Tikiman starts to dance, you'll hardly bail out from its never-ending battle series.
    Read full review
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