In regards to defending our dear village.

Originally a mod for Warcraft III back in 2003, Tower Defense has become what one could call a minor net phenomenon. There are tons of imitators, and flat-out copycats, out on the web that can be played in your browser. The concept of the game is quite simple: use limited funds to build towers to defend the goal from wave after wave of different monsters. As these monsters run, fly, and skitter towards the goal, the player must erect the appropriate defenses to stop them.

Now another version of tower defense called Pixeljunk Monsters has been released on the Playstation 3 network. In this version of the classic mod, the player assumes the role of an aboriginal shaman who must protect a small village from oncoming hordes of monsters who want nothing more than to dine on the little inhabitants. By building the appropriate towers, the player must ensure that at least one of the twenty villagers survives anywhere between ten to twenty waves of nasty critters.

In comparison to other versions of Tower Defense, Pixeljunk Monsters is vibrant and attractive. The game's color palette is lively and interesting to look at, while the soundtrack is incredibly cathartic and relaxing. The soothing sounds really help keep the player from snapping as the game's difficulty ramps up so quickly that the prospect of protecting all the villagers in each stage becomes incredibly daunting. Even in the first stage alone, keeping everyone alive and kicking can take several tries.

Pixeljunk Monsters is twenty stages long, but if you're a perfectionist you'll find yourself going back and retrying each stage just trying to keep the causalities down to zero. It is on sale right now for a limited time on PSN for $7.99, and I couldn't recommend it more. If you even casually enjoy puzzle games or strategy games, Pixeljunk Monsters will easily keep your entertained and focused for hours at a time.

In other news, it would appear that the good folks at Gamevideos.com have compiled a collage of all the Super Smash Brothers Brawl supermoves. They can be seen here.