Journey To The Savage Planet will surprise a lot of people. On the surface, it looks like yet another survival/crafting lonely explorer game in the vein of No Man's Sky and Subnautica, but Savage Planet actually takes its cues from a much older style of space adventure: Metroid Prime. The first game from Canadian developer Typhoon Studios (recently acquired by Google), Journey To The Savage Planet is a highly polished 3D Metroidvania that neither overstays its welcome nor takes itself too seriously. It pays homage to its inspiration while developing its own strong identity and, ultimately, is a short-but-sweet title you absolutely don't want to miss.
Zanier Than Zebes
You awaken from cryosleep aboard a severely damaged space shuttle crash-landed on an unfamiliar planet. You reach for a can of questionably sourced "food" called Grob, and turn on the TV to watch a live-action video of Martin Tweed, CEO of Kindred Aerospace, who reminds you of your mission to survey the planet to assess it as a possible human settlement. Martin blows you a kiss for good luck. You exit the shuttle and notice some adorable little bird aliens and throw your can of Grob to one of them. It gets diarrhea, then explodes into a thick, green goo. Welcome to the Savage Planet.
The next 7-10 hours are spent exploring the various biomes of the planet, collecting tools that provide access to new areas, and discovering the fate of an ancient civilization that once lived here. Throughout your adventure, you'll face off against a dozen types of dangerous creatures, spend resources on incredibly satisfying upgrades, and get to know the real Martin Tweed (spoilers: he's a jerk).
Savage Planet is a legitimately funny game. It's rife with sarcasm, misdirection, and gross-out humor without ever becoming cloying or giving you that feeling like it's trying too hard (*cough* Borderlands *cough*). Your sarcastic AI companion that updates your mission log is a bit one-note and derivative of other video game characters I detest (think Failsafe from Destiny 2), but having her voice chime in here and there is actually a welcome bit of social engagement, even if she's a bit mean and indifferent about your safety.
The game plays with the conventions of the genre in really funny ways that are often subtle or even missable. When you wake up from cryo, your AI asks you to take a short survey on the computer to make sure you haven't lost your mind. You're presented with a group of photographs that look like the wall outside of a small town improv theater and asked to select the picture of yourself to prove you remember who you are. I chose a picture of a dog and for the entire game, I barked at aliens and whimpered when I took damage.
The bug-eyed goofy aliens and neon color palette work together to maintain a consistent tone and atmosphere through the entire experience. As much as I hate to use the term "fully-realized," Savage Planet is a game that oozes attention to detail and carefully crafted design.
The 4th Best Metroid Prime
Metroid Prime was a revolution and probably the most successful amalgamation of one genre into another. We've yet to get Metroid Prime 4 and at this point, it seems unlikely the game will come out any time soon. Despite the constant flow of high-quality indie Metroidvanias that have been coming out the last five years, not a single developer has taken a crack at the Metroid Prime formula. There have certainly been other 3D Metroidvanias - Arkham Asylum comes to mind - but for whatever reason, no one is making Metroid Prime style games.
Journey To The Savage Planet proudly picks up where Metroid Prime left off. One of your first upgrades is a scanner that you can use to locate objectives and scan flora/fauna to gather useful info and catalog the native species in your codex for true 100% completionists, a mechanic straight out of Metroid Prime.
Like Samus, you also only have one weapon that can be upgraded with improved damage and alternate fire modes. The sidearm isn't the most inspired gun, to be honest, and even after it was fully powered, I still found the charge shot and other alternate fire modes to be too slow to use compared to just rapid firing, so I didn't make much use of those upgrades. The pacing for upgrades is well-timed, though, and each damage/reload speed upgrade felt meaningful.
The rest of the upgrades fall into either mobility, like extra jumps, or bomb types, like acid and electric, that will give you access to new areas and new combat options. Upgrade-based progression gating is the heart and soul of Metroidvanias, and I think Savage Planet nails that flow, despite only having a small handful of tools to collect. It's a linear path from door to door with a new item in between each one, but the level design and use of space is just so clever and well laid out, you can't help but get a rush each time you unlock a new item.
Boldly Going Where One Game Has Gone Before
If you can't wait for Metroid Prime 4, Savage Planet is a modernized version of that series that will scratch the itch. I wish it was longer, deeper, had more tools, more weapons, and more upgrades, but it's hardly a criticism of the game to say I wanted more of it. I'm excited to see what Typhoon does next and I'd like to believe that Google will give them whatever support they need to just make the game they want to make because, clearly, they know what they're doing, and they've got plenty of vision.
With all the major AAA releases and new consoles coming out this year, Journey to the Savage Planet is a game that's likely to get lost in the shuffle. I don't intend to let this one be forgotten though, and I suspect we'll be seeing bigger and better things from Typhoon Studios before long.
And hopefully Martin Tweed, too.
A PC code for Journey To The Savage Planet was provided to TheGamer for this review. Journey To The Savage Planet is available on January 28th for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and the PC via the Epic Games Store.
Journey to the Savage Planet
In Journey To The Savage Planet, your job is to explore a new planet and determine its suitability for life. Along the way you'll encounter strange flora and fauna, create useful tools, and uncover its lore.