Lifeless Planet Reviews

  • KevageitKevageit107,139
    26 Dec 2017
    2 0 0
    Spoilers ahead marked by ***SPOILERS***

    Graphics - 5/10 The look of the game is fine for what it is. It's basically a walking simulator with some platforming/puzzle elements. It's a bit crude and when they zoom in to show off anything, it definitely shows but since most of the game is from a far third person view then it's not too noticeable until you start seeing the same environments and textures over and over again.

    Gameplay - 5/10 It's a pretty simple game. Walk forwards and occasionally explore until you find the next area/puzzle/thing to do to advance. There's not a lot to do besides that. You get various upgrades throughout the game, some permanent and some temporary. The jetpack boost is the one you'll miss the most since it will end at specific points just as you realize it helps you go through the game so much faster than walking and occasionally using your jetpack. The treks across the levels are long, tedious and feel like they take forever. I usually have a lot of patience for games that start slow but I found myself turning it off and playing something else out of sheer boredom. There's collectibles scattered through the levels and the character comments on them but they aren't mandatory.

    ***Spoilers for story***

    Story - 5/10 I have to admit I had decent hopes for the story since I got a Silent Hill vibe from the trailer and description. An astronaut wakes up alone on an empty planet and has to find out what happened to the others with him and investigate the planet he's stuck on. You start finding remnants of houses and other forms of civilization and it starts getting a bit creepy but little comes of it. As you progress, you find out that the USSR back in the mid-1900's found a portal to another planet and wound up destroying the ecosystem due to not understanding how the world worked. There's a bit more to it since you find a survivor who had been genetically altered to survive after the colonists died due to the portal malfunctioning but it kind of just peters out after awhile. You find documents and audio tapes about how the colonists arrived, built homes and eventually died and it's decent additions but I never found myself caring about any of them or that they died. There's mention of his dead wife and the loading screen says things like "She would keep going" but besides a flashback in the form of a platforming level, nothing really comes of it.

    ***End of Spoilers***

    Controls - 3/10 The controls are pretty clunky and you'll find yourself fighting them more than any actual enemies. I've died to jumps that looked fine but the angle of the camera was slightly off so I fell to my death instead. It's a constant and brutal fight just to get though a section of the game to the next sometimes and I've turned the game off due to sheer frustration at trying to make my character jump forwards a dozen feet to a platform. If you use your jetpack at the right time then making jumps isn't a problem but if you have bad timing on things like that then you'll be taking a very long time to get through the game.

    Overall 5/10 - It's an alright game but don't expect a lot from it. It has a half-decent story and if you like wandering about, collecting the occasional item and platforming then give it a shot.
    2.5
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