News | 1/14/2009 at 10:22 AM

PixelJunk Eden to Get Patch, Expansion

A bit of good news for everyone who liked the idea of PixelJunk Eden, but found the controls and camera a bit unnerving.

The team at Q are still keeping the details of the expansion close to their chests, but Cuthbert did reveal what's in store for this week's patch. Aside from a fix for the game's multiplayer camera, most of the changes are geared toward making the game more accessible for casual gamers that can't quite get the knack of Eden's precision platforming... "I simply want as many people as possible to experience [PixelJunk Eden] in full," Cuthbert said of the patch, which should help struggling players do just that.

A patch that improves the co-op experience and makes the game more accessible for everyone? So… why aren’t more developers taking this approach?

One of the main gripes we had with the game was how the camera in co-op play forced your Grimps to stay within close proximity of one another, which severely limited the enjoyment of just freely swinging about the beautiful and interesting gardens. That paired with the sometimes floaty/imprecise controls definitely made the game more frustrating than fun to play with a friend. Hopefully, this patch will put in a split-screen feature and makes the plants have a slightly bigger “sticking” radius to them so the co-op play experience is more enjoyable all around. Additionally, the ability to restart at the last Spectra you collect will definitely decrease some of the frustration of having to start a level all over when you get a bit too distracted by the garden’s splendor and suddenly find that your time’s almost up.