Saving scientists underground
PixelJunk™ Shooter puts you in a spacecraft that has to work its way through a series of cavernous environments. The goal is straightforward: reach the scientists who are stranded down there and get them out. Standing in your way are swarms of enemies, hazardous substances, and the caves themselves, which are built as puzzles rather than simple shooting galleries. Progress depends on paying attention to what is in front of you and using the environment to your advantage instead of just blasting through it.
Manipulating the caves
The caverns are filled with water, magma, and a strange magnetic black liquid, and much of the challenge comes from moving these substances around to open a path. Dropping water onto magma, shifting magnetic liquid with your ship, and reading how the fluids will flow are all part of getting through a stage. The game runs across 15 stages, each one mixing platforming, shooting, and physics-based problem solving. A dynamic soundtrack reacts to how much danger you are in, so the audio shifts as the situation gets hotter.
Playing with a friend
You can recruit a friend and play local co-op, with both of you piloting spacecraft through the same stages. One player can focus on clearing enemies while the other works on the environmental puzzles, or you can split the rescues between you. Remote Play Together is supported, so a friend can join in from their own machine while you host. The game is tagged for controller use and is a 2D twin-stick shooter, so expect aiming and movement on two sticks rather than keyboard and mouse.