Albedo: Eyes From Outer Space Reviews
Albedo is one of those games that, with a few small changes, could have been quite decent. The shlocky sci-fi B-Movie vibe is a good one to utilise for an adventure game, and it's definitely the most unique facet of Albedo, but sadly, as a game, it never quite maintains any kind of consistency to recommend it to anyone but the most patient and understanding of adventure game fans. The game's protagonist often says 'I see something' without any clue as to what it is he's referring to. That sums up Albedo all too well.
The idea behind Albedo is a cool one, but it's one that doesn't feel like the idea fully panned out. I appreciate everything the game does offer, especially as I hear it was created by a one man team. I just wish it had more polish and felt better to player.
Even more impressive, according to one of the game's trailers, is that the whole affair is the work of one-man developer Ivan Venturi. Fetching a neat $14.
There's a promising idea at the core of Albedo: Eyes From Outer Space, but this potential is unfulfilled thanks to logic breaking puzzles, clumsy combat and a plot that doesn't live up to the B-movies it tries to ape.
I try to go easy on one-man passion projects, but Albedo: Eyes From Outer Space has so many things wrong with it that this is impossible. Everything from the frustrating puzzles to the awkward combat to what must be the worst control scheme I've ever seen just kept driving me past the point of forgiveness.
If you're up for a quirky puzzle adventure title and think you can manage the task, Albedo: Eyes from Outer Space can certainly scratch that itch, but there are much better titles out there that can do the same
The amount of detail in the world is fantastic. It is filled with rusted drainpipes and broken machinery and shiny new lifeforms
Painful progression and wonky UI make Albedo a much less enjoyable game than it could have been. If you feel like you are up for the challenge after hearing about our struggles and can get past the game's quirks, then good luck. We applaud you if you can manage to make it through without peeking at a guide.
Albedo is a love letter to the sci-fi b-movies of years gone by, warts and all. With complex puzzles and a great aesthetic there are also some genuinely awful combat mechanics and confusing user interfaces that really put a dampener on the experience.
Overall, Albedo: Eyes from Outer Space is just tedious. The occasional combat feels bad, the puzzles are unsatisfying, and the narrative is just boring. In some ways, it reminded me of BioForge, but without the weird sort of charm nor the ambition and sense of scale that BioForge had. Without that, Albedo is just a poorly-playing, uninteresting game that I cannot recommend for any reason. It only takes about two hours to play through, but that time would be better spent doing pretty much anything else. This is a bad game.