Revenge of the Savage Planet review - an eccentric, bite-sized Metroidvania

When Journey to the Savage Planet was released five years ago, I loved its level design, slick traversal, and tongue-in-cheek humor. Five years later, about an hour into its sequel, Revenge of the Savage Planet, I opened up my base's email inbox to find a sequence of messages that made me laugh out loud. From that point on, I barely put the game down, devouring it in a single day. That's not my typical way of playing games, which says something about how enjoyable the Metroidvania foundations of this epic space adventure are, even if it has a few persistent shortcomings.

You can play Revenge of the Savage Planet's narrative in two-player co-op if you like, and while it's not overly complex, it is satirical and eccentric. Your former employer, Kindred Aerospace, has recently been acquired by an evil megacorp called Alta that puts you in cryosleep, sends you into deep space for an excavation assignment, and then fires you before you wake up. All of your gear has been scattered throughout the galaxy, so it's down to you to find it all, return home, and – if possible – deliver a bit of tasty revenge to your former employer.

The Metroidvania game's main quest is split into three paths. The first focuses on retrieving your equipment, culminating in a final boss. Another sees you helping Kindred's CEO uncover evidence of Alta's wrongdoings to get revenge for ruthlessly dismantling his company. And the third revolves around fixing up an old Javelin ship for you to return home in.

While the story is basic in premise, the world's tongue-in-cheek satire helps to cultivate a distinct vibe. Ads for over-the-top financial firms or news stories about a terrible ancient investment called cryptocurrency play in your base, and EKO (read: robo buddy) constantly chirps away with commentary on your adventure, the challenges you face, and your evolution from a hopeless explorer to a competent survivalist thanks to the strange orange goo you devour along the way. The typical CEO-type leaders of Alta will also chime in with corpo talk so true to life you'll be chuckling to yourself whenever they pop up.

Each storyline ties into the Metroidvania gameplay, which sees you adventuring through vibrant worlds teeming with aliens whose green, gooey innards give the environments a fresh lick of paint. As you progress, you'll unlock new gear and upgrades, allowing you to reach previously inaccessible areas, which just so happen to have the next upgrade or piece of gear you need. Every so often, you'll face off against rather simplistic boss creatures to mix things up before doing it all over again.

It might sound straightforward, but the four main planets you'll visit are treasure troves of collectibles, secret ages, and vibrantly colored flora and fauna that make them a sheer delight to get lost in. Playing on an OLED display, lush greens contrast with the punchy reds and blues of alien wildlife, making for an encapsulating visual spectacle. Each planet is distinct, from the overgrown jungle landscape of Stellaris Prime to the desert-dominated Xephyr and the fire and ice combo of Zenithian Rift. You won't visit the fifth planet until the final boss battle, but I won't spoil anything else around this. Just know that your time will largely be spent on the other four.

These aren't just flat, boring planets either. For anyone who played Journey to the Savage Planet, that same epic sense of verticality returns again here. Grapple hooking your way up a sequence of platforms to reach the summit of a towering mountain feels great, and traversal becomes even better when you unlock the final grappling hook upgrade and the ability to turn your EKO into a glider. Typical of the game's unserious nature, you can even unlock an upgrade that turns off fall damage.

My final hours were focused on finding the remaining parts for my Javelin ship. What would normally feel like a chore was made far more enjoyable as I ticked off the remaining orange goo – used to increase your health and stamina – and collectibles I couldn't reach or had just missed earlier. It's a freeing approach to movement and exploration, one that works well with the Metroidvania genre and the outer space setting.

You'll have to use your noggin to solve the occasional puzzle, too. Figuring out how to transfer electricity from a charged mushroom to a wall susceptible to an electric current, or how to build pressure in a cavern to bust open the floor and reach a lower level, are just two examples. They won't leave you stumped for hours, but they help mix things up as you go.

Unfortunately, while some degree of floatiness is appreciated in the movement, it sadly also carries into the combat. Aiming is always a bit off, and while you can get upgrades to increase your pistol's potency and magazine size, it never feels satisfying to use. You'll rarely face a particularly challenging enemy, so it's less of an issue, just a minor frustration at times when shots you feel should land simply don't. The whip makes for a strong melee option, but it's not viable against every foe.

Not that there's a huge amount of variety in the creatures throughout the galaxy. Much like its predecessor, Revenge of the Savage Planet reuses enemy types across its four main planets with minor tweaks to their design and no changes to how you defeat them. Given the stark difference in the planets, I'd hoped for more enemy variety as this would undoubtedly have kept the combat engaging for longer. There are some creatures unique to each planet, such as the hostile Wardrill, and the Babutt that have literal butts for faces, but a few more wouldn't have gone amiss.

This time around, you can also capture creatures for 'research' purposes to unlock – you guessed it – more upgrades! They'll also exist in your little base of operations and are always available for petting. The capture mechanic does add some depth to combat, with larger enemies needing to be stunned before you can lasso them in with your whip, which requires you to hit a weak point somewhere on their body. Often in difficult-to-reach spots, hitting these requires you to engage in a bit of a deadly tango with said beasty, which is preferable to simply blasting the creature in the face with your pistol until they explode.

According to Steam, it's taken me 11 hours to finish all three main objectives. Yes, there were still plenty of things left to scan on the planets, and some challenges to complete (unlocking more upgrades), but with no real threats left to overcome, I'm not compelled to hit 100% completion. It'd probably take me another four to five hours if I tried.

Revenge of the Savage Planet delivered what I expected. More of the same satirical, sci-fi action adventure of its predecessor, with a few additional bells and whistles to advance the formula. While it's not as much of an evolution as I'd hoped, the core experience remains as strong as it was five years ago.