Played on Xbox One (base)

Developed by Typhoon Studios

Released 28th January 2020

Played Co-op

Journey to the Savage Planet is the debut title for Typhoon Studios, directed by the same guy who directed Assassin's Creed III and Far Cry 4, Alex Hutchinson. To say the least, the lead had experience in designing a sense of exploration which is greatly shown in this Subnautica and Ghostbusters-influenced 7-hour journey.

Story

The story of this wacky and comedic adventure is simplistic. You have a reason for being there, a purpose and a goal. You were hired as an employee for Kindred Aerospace (the 4th Best Interstellar Exploration Company, a title that gets comically repeated) and your mission is to explore the planet codenamed "ARY-26", to see if it's a suitable home for future human colonisation. Of course, as you explore you find out a species of creatures inhabited this planet before your arrival and left behind structures for you to explore and find out what happened. This basic yet intriguing concept was able to fuel my interest in the game and kept me and my friend going. Coupled with the whimsical satire and one-liners from the AI companion "E.K.O" (who was fortunate enough to not suffer the same fate as other chucklesome AI becoming annoying), I had a great time enjoying the humour of the game. Additionally, it plays these slapstick advertisements that poke fun at the corporate world whenever you enter the hub area, the Javelin, and many of the jokes it throws your way, nail the humourous focus of the game, with the occasional joke not performing well.

Gameplay

The gameplay is at its peak during the first part of the game, focusing more on exploration and scanning using your visor. This being combo'd with an exhilarating traversal of jetpacking and grappling was the most entertaining part of the game as your gun usage was also kept to a minimum. However, unfortunately, the game dumbs down with an increase in mediocre combat and a decrease in the fantastical exploration of the semi-open world. This is also partially because most of the planetal information you need to know is discovered in the first part of the game, resulting in a lower interest in further research of the alien-like wildlife. The poor combat is at the fault of plain upgrades that you unlock for your pistol, contradicting the style of this game: creative and unique.

On top of that, all the enemies end up becoming a "spot the weak point" minigame, ruining the enjoyment of every firefight. Upgrades are also quite average, with one of the highlights being an increased capacity in throwable explosive, electric or poison seeds. Fortunately, the traversal gets a much-needed improvement as you gain exciting unlocks such as a quadruple jump, super jump, grappling, swinging and sliding. Yet, this is ruined as your progress becomes locked behind upgrades, undermining the choice-free feel of upgrading, especially when it leads to a rinse-and-repeat style of gameplay. This doesn't appear as boring or tedious when paired up with a friend in co-op as you deal with the same enemy struggles and figure out puzzles together but be warned if playing solo.

Bossfights

The boss fights of this game add a little breather to the rinse-and-repeat gameplay, however, ultimately end up being too alike in their formulas - dodge, dodge, target weak point, spam shoot button, repeat. The only redeeming point of this is the aesthetic pleasure when facing these distinctive, colossal titans. Plus, the surprise of facing such behemoths does benefit the game for its first half (before the gimmicky reveals become lacklustre).

Atmosphere

The atmosphere, like the gameplay, starts great, with a beautiful palette of colour and a Borderlands-esque design with immense foresight of your future locations. Throw in diverse environments from an iced beginning area to a mountainous, lush with plants and rivers section, and you have a form of exploration that provides a brew of relaxation and discovery, especially when coupled with the bouncing soundtrack. This quality, however, falls as you progress, with areas becoming identical to one another. This reaches a disappointing feat as the final section consists of 4 copied and pasted islands that are replicated in terms of objective. Throughout my time playing, I didn't encounter many bugs, however, I encountered 2 crashes: one of which prevented any invites to be sent for co-op play, while the other was caused by a supercharged shot as friendly fire. Other than this, the game ran well, never dropping its frame rate.

Story - 7.5/10

Gameplay - 6/10

Bossfights - 7/10

Atmosphere - 6.5/10