I'm sure we have all had those frustrating moments in games where you think to yourself 'You have got to be ****ing kidding me!' I just had my latest one in Viva Pinata of all things. I was trying to have a couple of Mushrooms in my garden to help turn one of the sour pinatas into a resident. However to make a Mushroom, you need to plant a Toadstool and then have Bart stroll out to your garden and change it into a Mushroom. Problem is, toadstools are poisonous. And every time I planted the toadstools, my pinatas would eat them and get ill... usually moments before Bart would change them, so he'd stroll back home. And the god damn freaking Macaracoon in my garden couldn't get enough of the freaking things, and was so fast I could never stop him from eating them when he started running over. My solution? Plant 10 Toadstools. Sure enough the stupid Macaracoon ate one and got ill. Before Bart had come to change them, I called the doctor, he fixed the Macaracoon, and in about 1 second he ate another Toadstool and got ill again. I must have called the doctor on the bugger 6 times before I got my requisite number of Mushrooms.

I was in the mood for a shooter last night, and apart from hiring Gears 2 a couple of times to play co-op, I haven't played one for a while, so I tried Medal of Honour : Airborne which has been sitting in my collection. I played it before and put it down because I got a bit frustrated. I only played it for 15 minutes before I gave up on it again. I think it's the second level, and I didn't seem to be able to get a handle on the parachuting, and the iron sights annoyed me. I ended up getting killed in a scaffolding section and put it down in frustration. I could see the enemy above me and had my iron sights aimed towards him but there was only a few pixels giving away his position. Then his muzzle flashed through the barrier and I died. Screw that.

I started reading Without Remorse. I found this tough to get into, much harder than Hunt For Red October, but now that I'm 150 pages in it's starting to draw me in. Tom Clancy has a habit in this novel of characters conversing without defining who is who early in the conversation, which had me confused a few times as to who was talking. After a chat with my auntie, who wanted to share her enthusiasm and know how for succeeding has got me thinking about writing again. I started writing some fantasy novels a while ago, but they sort of fell by the way side. However, I think I want to get back into reading and expand my horizons more before I start writing again, to give me more exposure to different styles and more resources to draw from, if that makes sense. While I had my first one on the back burner I started reading Raymond E. Feist, and his mastery made me look at my work and realise it was a bit crap and generic really.

And to finish, a mini-review of PixelJunk Monsters Encore, and the patch for the original game.

PixelJunk Monsters Encore is exactly what it says; an extension of the original game. It offers more levels, but there is almost no change to the original core concepts. Rather than rehash if you don't know anything about the original game, you can read my review here. The first thing to talk about is the patch that affects the original game as well as this expansion. The biggest feature included is that it introduces different difficulty levels; as well as the normal difficulty that the game shipped with, there is an easier casual mode, and a more difficult hardcore mode. This is great news for anyone who found the level unlocking system too punishing. Certain portions of the map were locked off until you had enough rainbows, and the only way to get a rainbow is to clear a stage perfectly. It is also great that your rainbows count on any difficulty, so if you get part way through on normal difficulty and can't progress, you can drop the difficulty back to casual to clear those levels. There are also a few tweaks to how much towers cost, and how many gems it takes to unlock a couple of towers. While I have not tested the feature, there is also the option to save video of you playing a level, so that you can review your tactics or upload your perfectly executed levels to the likes of youtube.

There are no new enemies in Encore, but there are more maps. Unfortunately many of the maps just don't feel as fun to play as in the original. Tower Defense games usually have levels that funnel enemies along one or two main paths for you to defend against. The original PixelJunk Monsters seemed great in this regard. There were some levels where there were two or more paths, and you may have had to scramble a bit or bolster your defenses at the last minute, but it was usually doable. In contrast in the first level of Encore, enemies come from four directions. Several other maps have them come from multiple directions, and there often isn't any warning as to which direction they will come from. There are a few levels with interesting twists as there were in the first game, such as a level where the enemies move twice as fast, or where they are lined up like a game of Space Invaders. There is an element of trial and error expected in Tower Defense games, but Encore seems to crank this up to frustrating levels.

It also doesn't help that also cranked up is the difficulty. Yes, there are now 3 difficulty levels, but this expansion seems catered to mathematical geniuses. Even the casual setting seems harder than the normal difficulty in the original game. I only got several levels into the game in single-player, and trying levels on casual I still could not earn enough rainbows to progress. Thankfully co-op is still a great way to enjoy PixelJunk Monsters Encore. To lend more credence to my complaints about the difficulty, the game does not scale with more players, and thus the game is easier with two players being able to upgrade towers at the same time and having more coverage of the map. Even so, we had to drop to casual to rainbow some maps, others we had to try several times, and others we still couldn't get rainbows for on casual. I'm sure it is mathematically possible for players to earn rainbows on hardcore for each map (unless the developer is bitterly cruel to the people who will try) but this task is likely to be beyond most players without resorting to video walkthoughs, and probably some luck.

If you enjoyed PixelJunk Monsters, the basics are still the same. Your enjoyment of this expansion will depend on whether you think the increased level of trial and error and challenge will float your boat. In any case, it is cheap enough that even if your enjoyment only last for several levels, it is still great value.

7.0