Developer: Stage 2 Studios | Released: 2023 | Genre: 3PS, Adventure
This was a spiritual sequel to Lifeless Planet which I completed in 2015. This one also had me in control of an astronaut on long treks across rocky landscapes, forests, caverns, an empty city and many other bizarre locations. It didn’t impress me all that much in the beginning. It felt a little cheap with its low resolution textures, especially just coming from Stray which looked amazing.
But the game turned out to be surprisingly varied, frequently coming up with unexpected vistas and set pieces. It even had the jet pack from the previous game for a stretch, although thankfully without having to refill it all the time. I also didn’t have to replenish my oxygen. Removing these two mechanics was a good choice in my opinion. It kept a better focus on exploration and solving puzzles.
The game had a general control rod puzzle for teleport gates that returned frequently. Meeting it for the first time in a cave was confusing until I learned how to control it. Another frequently occurring situation was entering the interior of e.g. a house or room, which temporarily put me in first person with node jumps. This was a nice throwback to the times of old fashioned first person adventure games.
Pros
- Amazingly varied levels with lots of logged notes, some of which are also voiced.
- Surrealistic set pieces that are sometimes quite awe inspiring.
- Voice acting is for the most part good, with one or two exceptions.
- Really good music that are sometimes even symphonic.
- Most of the puzzles are easy to solve, which I personally found relaxing.
- No refilling of jet pack or oxygen flask like in the previous game.
Cons
- Low resolution textures and also not a lot of detail when getting up close to structures.
- If you are yearning for hardcore puzzles, this game is going to disappoint you.
- The automatically logged notes are sometimes long and not always interesting.
- Trying to make sense of the teleporter control rod puzzle the first time you spot it.
- Shorter than the previous game, it’s only about 3 hours long.