Lifeless Planet is a game that I knew nothing about until it popped up on the Xbox Store a few days ago. And having seen a few screenshots and videos on the day of its release I thought it looked like one of those quirky little survival games that are currently all the rage, and was likely to be a game that I would likely not be able to get on board with. Having now played the game, I can happily report that my initial assumptions were not quite correct.
The game starts off very simply with little introduction. You’re in a ship heading away from earth to a location unknown. You quickly go to a crash landing site on a planet that should be thriving with life. But unsurprisingly, it is not. You’re in a middle of a desert type environment, with your crew nowhere to be seen. A series of recordings at the start of the game give you a little more information – you’ve been travelling 15 years, you’ve got nothing to live for on Earth after losing your wife, and you’ve taken a one way ticket to a planet that is light years away. Initially it appeared that my assumptions were correct when I was ‘searching’ for oxygen before I suffocated to death, and I could seemingly walk off in whichever direction I wanted. But this isn’t that game I thought it was going to be, finding oxygen was as simple as looking in front of me, and predetermined paths in the sand led me down what turned out to be a fairly linear ride.
Lifeless Planet is all about its story, and what seems like a simple ‘why is this planet lifeless?’ soon changes to something quite……well strange really. Possibly not in a bad way, but it is likely to divide opinion. I personally found it to be generally intriguing despite the ‘WTF is going on?’ moments, and looking closely enough you can see the connection and similarities the on planet story has with the Earth story of the protagonist. There are some key gameplay mechanics to be used to get you across the planet – in particular the use of jumping and a short burst jet pack to traverse up, down and across the environment. There are also puzzles to be solved by pushing items, and by using a robotic arm after picking it up halfway through the game. The inclusion of these platforming elements to drive the story forward keeps the interaction with the player at a good level rather than just walking through a story. You will also need to be mindful of the planets nature which is out to kill you, along with mistimed jumps – gravity hurts!
It is difficult to expand too much without spoiling the journey you take. This is a very simple game to play and will be accessible to most people who fancy a short adventure and a unique story. And while it won’t take much longer than 5 or so hours (there is an achievement to do it in under 4) there are plenty of journals and notes to read to give the backstory of the planet some depth. There are some strange changes in the planets environment as you go through the game, which aren’t explained, but it made for a variety of different areas to traverse rather than looking at the same sandy areas for the entirety.
If you’re looking for something a bit different to take up a few hours of your time, take a look at Lifeless Planet. It isn’t a game that I would usually gravitate to, but despite the story getting very bizarre during the second half of the game, I found it endearing and glad that I stuck it out. There isn’t a huge amount of replayability unless you’re looking to get all the achievements, however I definitely think it is worth your time.
**Thank you to XCN for the opportunity to review this game**