Lifeless Planet Reviews
Lifeless Planet is all about exploration and atmosphere (groan).
With No Man's Sky looming on the horizon, all other sci-fi games are about to lose a lot of relevancy. Lifeless Planet released at a time when the game has the biggest chance to make a name for itself. It's just a shame the end result feels more like a prototype than a fully fleshed-out game. There is fun to be had, however, and if you'd like to support an indie developer and are in the mood for a short sci-fi story you can finish in a sitting or two, then give Lifeless Planet a try.
I found that I enjoyed Lifeless Planet quite a bit after I spent a time with it and got past the frustrating aspects of the game. This title is 100% made for the 'niche-gamer' and won't appeal to a broader audience. This is evident with the level design frustrations early on, which will no doubt scare away some gamers from even playing past a certain point. Get past some of the rough patches though and there is some good to be found in this title, especially when it comes to the story driven narrative that takes you through this grand adventure.
Over ambition has killed what is a great premise for a story driven 3rd person game, regardless of it's humble beginnings.
Lifeless Planet could've been so much more had key decisions been made with less limited breathing, more intricate puzzles, environmental expansion and better gameplay. Instead, it feels more like a second rate space adventure rather than the equivalent of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Oh, what could've been in the stars.
Lifeless Planet delivers a brief adventure just about worth taking, but it doesn't offer enough technically or say enough thematically, despite the odd flourish on both counts.
Lifeless Planet makes a great attempt to bring an original concept to life but fails to deliver in key areas.
The intriguing world of Lifeless Planet can't quite make up for the shoddy gameplay and frustrating glitches that accompany it.
Lifeless Planet isn't a bad game, far from it, in fact, but it seems to slightly miss the mark in everything it tries to do. Whether this was due to the title being overly ambitious, or just needing a little more time to bake in the oven, we'll never know. That being said, the game offers a lot of memorable moments throughout its several hour journey. Even if it may be flawed, Lifeless Planet is a game that wanted to do something different and that desire should be celebrated.
Lifeless Planet is an absolute gem. While there might not be much reason to replay the game other than to re-experience the adventure, it's one experience I won't soon forget.
'Lifeless Planet' seems to have the necessary ingredients for a successful indie exploration and discovery game, but ultimately falls short of its potential.
Lifeless Planet is bold and memorable and oddly sweet in the earnestness of its message and its preoccupations. It's a truly efficient payload. Fire it up and be transported.
Some technical limitations hold Lifeless Planet back from being a completely immersive adventure, but ultimately the experience is memorable
Every tone it attempts is struck with confidence and talent, from creeping horror to outright terror to reflective serenity. Give it a moment and you'll be stuck with it until you're finished.
Lifeless Planet seems to have a ton of potential beneath its lackluster surface, always seeming like a better game is lurking in there, just beyond your grasp.
The great pity is that Lifeless Planet is not entirely without merit—Board has a good eye and ear for aesthetics. He'll make you trudge through a Mars-like landscape for five minutes and then have you turn a corner to find a 1970s-era Brutalist Soviet apartment block. Board loves this Duchamp readymade approach to level decoration, where mundane objects become striking by being dropped into an alien context. The Rich Douglas-composed soundtrack is majestic and mysterious, and Board uses it sparingly to preserve its power to move you. It is genuinely impressive to arrive at a Lifeless Planet vista, received by a stirring musical crescendo. It's a place that deserves a more compelling reason for you to visit it.
The previews looked fantastic, but the final release of Lifeless Planet fails to build that potential into a worthy game.