Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. It is with this idea in mind that Shadow Planet Productions (Fuelcell Games & Gagne International) crafted their action adventure slash shooter, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet. The game takes place on a planet that has been infested by a dark, evil and hostile force. This parasitic entity rained down on the unsuspecting planet and rapidly consumed all life. Manning his/her trusty spaceship, the player must purify the infestation and liberate the planet. It is a simple premise and an even simpler introduction, and yet it successfully establishes the setting, the story and the motivation of the protagonist.

There is no prolonged and detailed tutorial to get you going. The only indication of how to go about saving the planet is a series of pages in the main menu that provide the player with an idea of how he or she can go about exploring the dark planet. There is no dialogue and no characters to interact with, just one alien, a spaceship and a quest to investigate an infested planet. There isn't even a HUD - health is indicated by the condition of your ship and each weapon is displayed on the ship itself. Instead, what the player is provided with is a distorted, diverse, living and breathing alien world that is waiting to be explored.

Descending onto the planet, I expected someone (or something) to give me clear directions or instructions to my next objective. All I was provided with was an arrow that indicated the general direction of my first objective. After staring at the screen for a few moments, I wiped the puzzled expression off my face, shook off my initial confusion and zoomed off to the nearest twisted apparition, preparing to rain down justice on the unsuspecting creature with what I thought was my ‘boomstick of destruction’. Sadly, all the ‘weapon’ did was fire an ineffectual beam that gave me a visual cue of what appeared to be my demise. My survival instinct kicked in, and I took flight and withdrew from the battle to live to fight another day. There is no running and gunning to be had here, I would have to choose my battles wisely and understand my enemies before engaging them.

Once this concept was firmly ingrained in my mind, the wonders of Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet were revealed to me. The ‘boomstick’ that I mentioned earlier is in fact a scanning tool that is integral to the player’s survival and success. It provides you with visual cues that aid you in exploring and understanding the fallen planet. And what a superbly detailed and vivid planet it is. The fluidity of the animations of the environment, creatures and player character is top notch. Every part of this planet feels truly alive. Additionally, the environment is constantly changing as each new level is accompanied by a new theme, ranging from water and ice, to steel and machinery.

The gameplay mechanics mimic the plight of the lone hero. When everything around you - even the very planet itself - is conspiring to destroy you, there really is no room for elaborate designs and schemes. The key to surviving is through using your wits, and using the environment to your advantage. Indeed, careful exploration, common sense and quick reflexes are required to succeed. Exploring is necessary to acquire the different tools and weapons that you will need to proceed through the campaign. The acquisition of a new tool is usually accompanied by a boss fight in order to test your skills with the new item. These boss fights are fun and challenging. Also, it is in these fights that your common sense and lightning reflexes are tested in order to expose the enemy’s weakness whilst avoiding the creature's debilitating attacks. Thankfully, the control system doesn’t hinder your ability to do this, and instead, the largely intuitive and simple control scheme allows the player to focus on all the events going on around him or her.

What doesn’t work well is the constant backtracking. In the games defence the majority of the backtracking is not mandatory. However, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet is a short game, so most players will want to get their money’s worth. So it’s slightly disappointing that a fair chunk of the game involves backtracking and exploring areas that you have already been through but couldn’t fully access because you were missing a specific tool. This problem is further exacerbated by the fact that enemies constantly respawn. In a way this makes sense because the developers clearly wanted to convey that constant sense of danger. But what doesn’t make sense is the respawning environment. There really is no reason why the debris that I just cleared should respawn and rebuild itself two minutes later. It is unnecessary and feels like extra padding to increase the amount of time played in the game world.

But that's where the annoyances with this game begin and end. Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet is a gorgeous game, with a well thought out concept and design, making for a fun, entertaining and enjoyable exploration-based shooter. Assemble your tools, open your mind, and fight for the fallen.

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