PixelJunk Eden Updated Hands-On

Given the success of PixelJunk Racers and PixelJunk Monsters on the PlayStation Network, another game in the series was pretty much inevitable. PixelJunk Eden certainly isn't your garden-variety platformer, with a unique setting, gorgeous visuals, and quirky story that sets it apart from other games in the genre.

After seeing Eden at E3 2008, we got a chance to sit down with the game in the comfort of the GameSpot UK offices to play through its first three gardens. Eden is deceptively simple yet challenging at the same time, and while it eases you in gently, things get tougher once you've passed the first couple of levels.

As we've mentioned in our earlier previews, Eden is a platformer at its heart, and you'll need to help a cute little critter called Grip find spectras with which to decorate his private garden. Spectra aren't easy to find, however, and to reach them you'll need to collect a sizable amount of pollen, which allows new sprouts to burst to life. Sprouts are visible by a thin outline, and they will gradually fill in with pollen as you collect them. It helps that they're attracted to the nearest sprouts, and when a sprout's shape is filled in, you can activate it by touching it. You'll then be able to use these new sprouts to climb higher and higher to explore previously unreachable areas.

The challenge comes from the oscillator, which is essentially a time gauge that slowly decreases over time. You can refill it by touching pollen prowlers with yourself or your silk strand, but if you run out of time you need to restart the level. The first stage goes by the odd name of 637 Volpe, and it eases you into the world of Eden. You use your silk to swing, collecting pollen and sprouting new platforms to jump on. Volpe has a deep, cool mood with dark blues, purples, and lavenders, all presented in crisp high-definition. The visuals in Eden really set the game apart and, combined with its groovy electro beats, serve up an eclectic feast for the senses.

Eden's levels seem to have an almost aquatic vibe, and not just because of the chosen colour palette. Plants sway effortlessly to and fro, almost as if to the movements of an unseen current--or perhaps the electro beat of the music. At first, timing your jumps from platform to platform takes a bit of getting used to, but before you know it you'll be pre-empting the movements and swinging around with ease. You need to find only one spectra to complete each stage and advance to the next level, but each level has a number of spectras to leave you coming back for more.

The controls are straightforward, with the left analog stick used to jump or swing in a certain direction and the X button used to jump. Grip will automatically deploy a strand when you jump, but if you don't want to be tethered down you can press X to detach yourself before you reach the end of the strand, allowing you to jump free. Holding down shoulder buttons will retract your silk strand, bringing you back to where you jumped from. Each strand only lasts a short time, and you might only get three to four full rotations before it snaps, so you can't be greedy in your pollen collecting.

The second garden, dubbed Bord de Lac (which translates to "edge of lake" in English), has a more vibrant theme with deep, dark shades of red offset with bright pink. The third garden, They Said, steps up the difficulty and requires you to collect more pollen than before to sprout new branches. You'll also need to hunt down more pollen prowlers in order to avoid running out of time while searching for new sprouts.

It's in this third level that you'll be introduced to a new predator, which floats around seeking you out. If you're struck, you'll be flung back in the opposite direction. If this happens while you're out on a wire, you might find yourself all the way back on the ground. Fortunately, this new, unnamed menace can be defeated by a spinning jump. Doing so breaks it into six distinct parts, which can then be defeated in the same manner as prowlers.

PixelJunk Eden looks as though it will be a fun, refreshing addition to the platform genre when it launches later in Q3. The game's controls and gameplay feel solid, and the unique design and look of Eden is infectious and cute. We look forward to getting our hands on the final version when it comes out later this year.