PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe Co-op Mode

Those lucky people who have been to E3 should have already made a beeline to the Sony booth to play PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe for the PSP, right? I hear the booth attendants are having trouble pulling people off it. You know what it’s like – just one.. more.. try..

What’s not on show at E3 however, is the internet co-op play we have implemented so I thought I’d spend a little time explaining what we have implemented as it is pretty cool.

To begin with, in order to meet up with friends (or strangers) you need some kind of lobby or chat room system so we have implemented that – you can create rooms freely, bookmark rooms to go back to easily, set up your preferences for what maps you want to play so people can search for your room more easily etc., all the standard stuff. There is a cross-translated menu for saying simple things no matter what language the other player understands and of course you can type messages in freely. Each room can have up to 8 players in it.

However, we’ve gone a little bit further with a feature we haven’t seen implemented before; when two people start up a co-op game a little running “ticker tape commentary” starts scrolling across the top of the chat window, so the people who aren’t playing yet can read a blow by blow account of what the two players are up to in their game. It’s surprisingly entertaining to watch while you are waiting for someone to start up a game with you. I’m hoping this gives the chat rooms a warmer, more community-like feel so people will enjoy just hanging out in their favourite rooms.

Within the game itself, you can talk to your partner-in-crime by using a new ring menu that gives you a set of simple icons you can string together that are surprisingly effective at conveying what you want your friend to do. It’s a lot of fun running around and directing the other player while you dance on towers.

I’m not sure when it will be going on sale, but when it comes out this game is a must-have for all law-abiding PSP owners everywhere, it’s dangerously addictive and now it has gone mobile you can play it everywhere!