The next instalment in Q-Games popular PixelJunk series is set to land on the PlayStation Network this week.

PixelJunk Sidescroller, a strategic side-scrolling action shooter, will be available tomorrow on the North American PlayStation Store and then on the European PlayStation Store on Wednesday.

The game, which is based on the bonus stage from PixelJunk Shooter 2 called ‘The Road to Dawn,’ will feature new levels and ferocious boss attacks as well as a local two player co-op mode. You can look forward to a “complex and dynamic fluid simulation system, which fills the game world with flowing liquids and hazardous gases, while putting a new spin on arcade shooters.” Fluids such as water, magman and metal react in real-time to your actions and other liquids so you’ll experience unique situations with every play.

PixelJunk SideScroller will see players blasting holes in walls, using your ship to drill past magma and dodging alien bullets as you upgrade weapons with Power Up items to battle through “sweeping stages full of hazardous fluid and endless shooting mayhem.”

If you need any more convincing to check PixelJunk Sidescroller out (which you shouldn’t!), then watch this new launch trailer below:

You can also find out a little more about the game from Dylan Cuthbert, Q-Games President and Executive Producer.

“We used the same engine as for the two Shooter titles, but the game itself is entirely different. To begin with this is a single-stick controlled game rather than the dual-stick control we had in Shooter, which makes it even more addictive and easy to control. And of course, you can only face to the right as you fly your craft! The only similarity really is that a handful of enemies from Shooter have been “re-imagined” for SideScroller, but to add to them we created a whole slew of new enemies and bosses for you to try to destroy also.

The back-story of the game is that SideScroller is the game the pilot of PixelJunk Shooter is playing on his old computer console in his ship on the way home to Earth after the ending of Shooter 2. This explains the cool “retro” look we have designed with the curved CRT (cathode ray tube) screen and the monochrome look of the interface. However, during its orbit of Apoxus Prime perhaps the computer has been infected.. a little?

Some people reckon PixelJunk games are a little tough, and well.. yes, they are a little because I think games should be a challenge. However, what we’ve done this time is scattered loads of checkpoints so even if you do die you’ll restart really close, and we also give you the option to downgrade your difficulty setting if you get a Game Over too. We’ve created 4 difficulty levels so everyone is catered for (I hope!).

Oh and did I mention, the bosses are AWESOME! Maybe I should mention that again…”