Lifeless Planet
While seeking life on a distant planet, an astronaut discovers an abandoned Russian town. He suspects his mission is a hoax until a mysterious young woman saves him from a strange and deadly phenomenon… Lifeless Planet is a third-person action-adventure that features an old-school sci-fi story and spectacular environments in the spirit of classic action-adventures. After a hard landing on the planet, the astronaut discovers the planet that was reported to be rich with life is instead a barren wasteland. When he goes searching for his crew, he makes a more startling discovery: evidence that humans have already been to this planet years ago! When he comes upon a deserted Soviet-era Russian town, he struggles to make sense of his mission. Did his light-speed travel to the planet send him back in time? Or is this all some strange Cold War hoax?
Steam User 19
Yazının Türkçe versiyonu aşağıdadır.
There is no better entrance to this review, so i have to say this at very first ;
Lifeless Planet is a very Tarkovsky inspired game. If you love Tarkovsky's Stalker and Solaris, you should try this game asap. You will propably love it.
But unfortunately, it's not without its downsides. I don't want to be so harsh to a game which released in 2014. I can imagine how fascinating experience it offers for that year. But even for 2014, it has some wrong choices in story-telling wise, considering Half-Life and Stalker games older than this game.
Lifeles Planet tries to make the player feel lost and lonely on an unknown planet which contains lots of mysteries. Can it achieve this? Mostly yes. But it could be much better if it chose the ''show, don't tell'' type of story-telling.
We collect documents as we wandering around the planet that tells us what happened there. But that's it. There is nothing more in the world to see, to explore for the story. Instead of telling me about the guy who realizes he couldn't see his tomorrow, so he's calling out the name of the person he loves, show me his miserable body (or whatever is left of it) and the name of his girlfriend that he wrote nearby or something. Make me feel sorry for him, make me feel more lonely and desperate to see someone else alive. Don't make me read everything that happened there, just show me like Half-Life and many other games did in those years. Lifeless Planet needed more enviromental story telling.
So, you travel in this planet to learn something. Where are you, what happened here and how can you survive in this planet. Surely it contains fascinating atmosphere and visuals. While looking for answers to these questions, you wander around places that look beautiful. (And those blurs at the corner of the screen is really cool idea, creates good aesthetic.) But again, it's too empty. Maybe it is intended, and some areas should be empty alright but i think some are not. There is nothing but good visuals and ambiance inside. There should have been more things to see in terms of feeding both the story-telling, immersion and the gameplay. I think this criticism is valid even for 2014.
The other part to criticize for this year is gameplay. Lifeless Planet is basicaly a walking sim with some parcour and puzzle elements. It's okay overall. But i believe it could be a masterpiece if only it had some spice. It could take some mechanics from the Stalker games (and the movie).
Instead of only putting scripted threats and events which simply commands player ''don't step here, you will die'' here and there, there could be random events, random anomalies and random dangers like a mine-field. They could make us feel more insecure and desperate. We could check if is there any danger by throwing a rock or something like Stalker series. All the uneasiness we feel while traveling the planet could have been compounded by things like this and it would be better for the immersion as well.
Again, it's good as it is, but it doesn't offer much to the player other than Tarkovsky inspired story and atmosphere. (Which is great of course.) I wanted to write these because i saw the next game of the produces and wanted to write some kind of wish-letter to them. I don't know what stage of production they are in the game but I hope it is going to be better than this. I liked this game overall but like i said, it could be a masterpiece with some spice.
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TÜRKÇE
Bu inceleme için daha iyi bir giriş yok, o yüzden bunu en başta söyleyeceğim ;
Lifeless Planet, Tarkovsky filmlerini fazlasıyla andıran bir yapım. Üslubu olsun, anlattığı şey olsun tam Tarkovsky eserleri kokuyor. Stalker ve Solaris'i seviyorsanız bu oyunu bir an önce denemelisiniz. Muhtemelen bunu da çok seveceksiniz.
Ama ne yazık ki kötü yanları da yok değil. 2014 yılında çıkmış bir oyuna fazla yüklenmek istemiyorum bu günün kafasıyla. Çıktığı yıl için ne kadar büyüleyici bir deneyim sunduğunu tahmin edebiliyorum. Ama hikaye anlatımı anlamında 2014 yılı için bile problemleri yok değil o yıllarda Half-Life ve Stalker oyunlarının zaten çıktığını düşünürsek. Daha doğrusu, daha iyi olabileceği yerler var diyeyim.
Lifeles Planet, oyuncuya yalnızlığı ve kaybolmuşluk hislerini yaşatmaya çalışan bir oyun. Bunu da gayet güzel bir settingde, bizi içinde birçok gizem barındıran bilinmeyen bir gezegene bırakarak yapıyor. Peki tüm bunları başarabiliyor mu? Büyük oranda evet. Ama hikaye anlatımında, ''göster, anlatma'' felsefesini benimseseydi, bunu çok daha iyi yapabilirdi diye düşünüyorum.
Gezegende dolaşırken bize orada neler olduğunu anlatan belgeler topluyoruz. Ama bu kadar. Dünyada görülecek, keşfedilecek başka neredeyse hiçbir şey yok hikaye adına. Mesela, bir kısımda anlatılan, yarını göremeyeceğini anlayan, bu yüzden sevdiği kadının adını haykıran adamdan yazılı şekilde bahsetmek yerine, onun perişan vücudunu (veya kalıntılarını) ve yanına yazdığı kız arkadaşının adını falan gösterse oyuncuya. Biz bu görüntüler arasında bir bağ kurmaya çalışsak. Görmek daha iyi çalışır her zaman okumaktan, ben bu şekilde daha çok üzülebilirdim o adam için. Sadece ona üzülmekle kalmam, bir de başka birini hayatta görmek için daha yalnız ve çaresiz hissetmeme yol açardı bu görüntü. Oyun olan her şeyi okutuyor oyuncuya. Göstererek bütün duyguları daha iyi yaşatabilirdi. Çevresel hikaye anlatımını seçebilirdi, çok daha iyi olurdu.
Bir şeyler öğrenmek, sorularımıza yanıt bulmak için gezegende geziyoruz. Büyüleyici bir atmosfer ve görsellik var. Bu soruların cevaplarını ararken inanılmaz yerlerde dolaşıyoruz. (Ekranın kenarlarında ve köşesindeki bulanıklıklar da gerçekten harika bir fikir, iyi bir estetik katıyor.) Ama yine de içi çok boş. Belki bu boşluk planlanmış bir sadelik içindir, evet bazı yerlerin de öyle olması ortamı daha kuvvetlendirebilir fakat bazı yerler de bir şeylere ihtiyaç duyuyordu bence. Oyunda güzel görsellik ve ambiyanstan başka bir şey yok. Hem hikaye anlatımını hem de oynanışı beslemek açısından görülecek daha çok şey olmalıydı. Bu eleştirinin 2014 yılı için bile geçerli olduğunu düşünüyorum.
Bu yıla göre yapabileceğim eleştiri ise oynanışı. Lifeless Planet, temel olarak küçük küçük parkur ve bulmaca unsurlarına sahip bir yürüme simülasyonu. Maalesef bu hali ile günümüz için pek de doyurucu bir deneyim sunamıyor. Biraz baharatı da olsaydı bir başyapıt olabilirdi gerçekten. Stalker oyunlarından (ve filminden) bazı mekanikleri alabilirdi mesela.
Bize basitçe ''buraya basma ölürsün'' diyen önceden hazırlanmış, scripted tuzaklar yerine (ya da onlara ek olarak), daha randomize edilmiş, Stalker oyunlarındaki gibi değişik anomalilerin falan olduğu tehlikeler koyulabilirdi oyuna. Mayın tarlası gibi, bizi daha güvensiz ve çaresiz hissettirebilirdi bunlar. Yine Stalkerlardaki gibi bir taş veya benzeri bir şey fırlatarak herhangi bir tehlike olup olmadığını kontrol edebilirdik her yere adım atmadan önce. Gezegeni dolaşırken hissettiğimiz tüm huzursuzluk, bunun gibi şeylerle birleşebilirdi ve hikaye ve sürükleyicilik kısmı için de daha iyi olurdu.
Lifeless Planet olduğu gibi güzel bir oyun. Ama Tarkovsky esintisi dışında da pek bir şey sunamıyor. Ki o da müthiş bir şey yani. Aslında bu incelemeyi yazmamın sebebi yapımcının yine bu oyuna benzeyen bir oyun daha yapıyor olduğunu görmem. Yapımın hangi aşamasındalar bilmiyorum ama onlara dilek mektubu gibi bir şey yazmak istedim. Umarım bahsettiğim şeyler gibi baharatlara sahip olan, bundan daha iyi bir oyun olur yeni oyunları.
Steam User 39
I have to say this game is decent but it has its flaws, most notably, the movement.
There is a big emphasis on parkour from what I can tell which isn't much of deal breaker for me at all, matter of fact, it's a welcome feature to jump from one platform to the other, the problem is how the jumping part is executed. Instead of being able to jump wherever you want, you're forced to pretty much only jump forward and controlling how far you can jump is rather challenging. Good luck getting the Survivalist achievement as in certain parts it is almost impossible to not jump into your own demise thanks to this terribly clunky movement.
Other than that, another thing which can be off-putting is the gameplay itself, it's not very fun and calling it a puzzle game is more of an overstatement. Throughout the entire game you basically do the 3 same puzzles over and over again with a few exceptions. I would call this game a walking simulator, once again, not a bad thing, it's refreshing and relaxing not having to use your brain.
The story is definitely there, I liked it but it's fairly cliche. To put it simply, it's something that helps you not quit the game on your 4 hour adventure (though the game can be finished in as little as 3 hours if you don't do much of exploration).
Lastly, the graphics are outdated to say the least but it gives the game an old school charm so not a bad thing either.
Despite its visible weaknesses, I still was able to enjoy this game somehow but I would rate it like 5/10, neither good or bad. If you want to play something relaxing then by all means go for it. Nonetheless, I wouldn't pay the full price of 20 euro, wait for sale or maybe grab the game when it's part of a bundle like I did.
Steam User 3
I bought this game for 3 euros on a shady website (for legal reasons, this statement may or may not be a joke)
For that small amount of money, I got a game with a very average story (One can pretty much guess the outline of the story after the first hour) an embarrassingly buggy physics (you'll die multiple times by fall damage by just unluckily stepping between two objects) and the controls are also waaay too primitive for a platformer. Nevertheless, during the entire game the scenery is next level on this game and that really sucked me in.
If you can get it somewhere for 3-5 euros, I'd highly recommend to try out this game, 20€ for this game is very expensive though
Steam User 2
Lifeless Planet delivers a distinguished story and great scenery to enjoy your journey to the end of it. Just don't go in expecting anything more than a story and walking.
Steam User 3
I won't lie and say this is the greatest game ever made, but I am glad that I was able to experience it.
This sci-fi walking / jumping sim is carried by its atmosphere and story. Both are beautiful in their simplicity.
Check this game out if you're looking for a surprising sci-fi exploration experience.
Steam User 2
best game ever, was my childhood game
Steam User 1
This is more of an adventure-platformer than a puzzle-platformer, in the sense that the puzzles are few and far between and there's not really much variety, apart from a couple of puzzles in the latter half of the game.
In any case, I thoroughly enjoyed this, as it has a lot going for it. Creepy atmosphere, sense of hopelessness, graphics that easily serve their purpose without being flashy, fitting ambient music and audio, adequate voice acting. The story isn't that original, but it fuses well with the overall feel of the game. Could have been better, but it still works.
There is also replay value, especially if you're an achievement hunter. Some of the achievements are near-impossible to get on your first playthrough, so the game warrants at least a second go, which will be a very different experience than the first, since you will be hunting for totally different goals.
A couple of the achievements are a real challenge (especially the Survivalist one) and although it can be a bit frustrating until you master the player control and the various chapters, I enjoyed my second playthrough as much as the first one.
A big part of the game are the platforming sequences. Once you get the hang of it, most of the game will be a breeze. There are of course a few exceptions, as about 4-5 of the chapters will require focus and patience. This here is a guide I found to be excellent, especially if you're going for the most difficult achievement of the game.
Another big plus is that the game is less than 1GB, so it runs pretty smoothly. Plus, with that under consideration, the job they did on the graphic department is solid. Yes, they're a bit dated, but I didn't mind one bit.
All in all, a very good sci-fi adventure-platformer that in my opinion hasn't aged badly at all. If the premise is your cup of tea and you like (or at least can tolerate) a bit of tricky platforming, give this one a go, but wait for a sale since the asking price feels a bit high.