PixelJunk Shooter warms up on Steam next month

A fun fact about PixelJunk Shooter: it was named via a competition. Not the PixelJunk part; that's followed the series around since the original PixelJunk Racer, or, if we're talking purely PC releases, PixelJunk Eden . Instead, of all the creativity and originality that the series' fans could muster, "Shooter" was chosen as the best. Luckily, the game itself is a lot more inventive. After four years, it's finally flying through to the PC, and will be released on November 11th.

Admittedly, it is a game that does contain shooting. But what it contains more of is fluids, with your shmup-style 2D ship forced to utilise lava and water to progress through alien caverns and rescue researchers. The satisfying fluid physics and puzzle-platform styled space ship manoeuvring make for what is probably the best game in the PixelJunk series.

Unlike Eden, Shooter doesn't appear to have been enhanced over its original PS3 version, although, unlike Eden, Shooter doesn't really need to be. As yet, there's been no information on the possibility of a port for its sequel - the even more imaginatively named PixelJunk Shooter 2.

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.