One small step for fun
THERE’S been a bit of a trend over the last few years for ‘hard’ science fiction – Ad Astra, Interstellar, Arrival, The Martian. And as wonderful as those movies are, sometimes you just want to get lost in some pulpy sci-fi.
Cue Journey to the Savage Planet, a glimmer of hope in what has been a poor start to the year for gamers.
At first glance, you’d be forgiven for thinking this colourful co-op has some link to No Man’s Sky – the striking alien environments, the bright wee beasties, having to scavenge for raw materials.
And when you start playing you’ll find yourself drawing comparisons with Far Cry, Metriod, Crackdown – in fact, the whole game feels like a melting pot of elements from some of the best games of the past decade.
That could have something to do with the fact that Alex Hutchinson, whose new Typhoon Studios developed the game, was director on Far Cry 4, and Assassin’s Creed III.
All that aside, and Journey to the Savage Planet stands remarkably well on its own two feet.
You play as the newest recruit to Kindred Aerospace – Earth’s fourth-best interstellar exploration company.
Unceremoniously dumped on an uncharted planet, you have to determine if the fractured landscape is fit for human habitation – while also trying to repair your damaged ship.
The lush map leaves you free to explore without being too linear. Gathering resources allows you to craft items like jetpacks and weapons through your ship’s 3D printer, and those items open up the world – dubbed AR-Y 26 – further.
The world itself is beautiful – trees which spill out butterflies, towering structures and, the ubiquitous sci-fi trope – ‘sky islands’.
One of the most surprising things about this game was the script – dripping in humour, it helps to lift what – at times – could be moments of pure tedium. And while not all of the jokes land, the satire helps you feel a little more bonded to your poor, stranded company man.
There are some beautiful little touches to Savage Planet that I really liked. Discover 100 per cent of the planet’s place and your ship fills with little postcards, designed as the covers of 70s trashy sci-fi novels – and there are similar rewards for uncovering all the floral and creatures which inhabit the world.
AR-Y 26 is also hiding secrets, as you begin to find structures and alien shrines littered about the landscape.
The problem comes as the game progresses, and the novelty of the exploration and the breaking wind jokes begins to wear off.
There’s only so many times reducing a big eyed, adorable creature to a mound of goo can be amusing. And some of the tasks become repetitive, as you are sent back to areas you’ve already explored to gather yet more material to power the printer/repair the ship etc.
While there are elements of combat, they are few and far between – and the initial feeling of momentum built up at the start, when you were upgrading items and unlocking new areas, begins to stall.
That’s where co-op is a bit of a life saver, as sharing the adventure lifts you out of the mire.
Journey to the Savage Planet has clearly been a labour of love. You can see it in the gorgeous map, in the gentle nudges you get to explore further – as if the developers want you to enjoy playing it as much as they have enjoyed making it.
There’s some great fun to be had here, and at the competitive price of around £25, Savage Planet is well worth a moment of your time.
■ Buy it: £19.99 from smythstoys.com