This follow-up to 2020’s Journey to the Savage Planet makes the bold decision to switch from first-person to third-person. The perspective used in the original brought about comparisons to Metroid Prime, whereas the switch to third-person makes this PS5/Xbox Series only sequel feel far more inspired. It’s saying something when you may be too taken aback by the visuals to notice the switch in perspective straight away. It’s an experience as vibrant as they come, with the leafy jungle opening making for a positive first impression.
It recalls playing Insomniac’s often forgotten Sunset Overdrive for the first time – with this also having a penchant for fluorescent goo that splatters the already colourful environs, along with a sideline of rail grinding that assists in getting around both quickly and with style.
This change in perspective also bestows a revived sense of personality, something the original wasn’t exactly short on. This is provided not just by the flamboyant character animation – with our happy-go-lucky hero slipping around on goo as if it were ice, and landing on their behind when falling from height – but also a wardrobe full of guest star outfits and alternative colour schemes to unlock. The wider view of your surroundings also helps greatly with the co-op aspect, with Revenge offering local split-screen and online cross-play.
It definitely doesn’t feel as if developer Raccoon Logic has made the same game twice, only with slicker visuals. In fact, this feels closer to the vision they had first time round. It likely helped that this is self-published, allowing them to incorporate everything, and anything, they wanted without having to abide to a mandated release date.
Being a sequel, there are indeed some similarities with its predecessor. It doesn’t completely escape a comparison with Metroid Prime, as scanning the environment – using a wireframe view – still plays a part, with rewards to gain for passing milestones. The FMV cut-scenes and infomercials are also back, while the humour is tonally identical. Alas, this is right down to hitting as much as it misses. Internet meme references are common, in addition to surprisingly brazen namedrops of various pop culture icons. Amongst the alien fauna and flora, you’ll find such species as the ‘faecal beetle’ and the ‘fart plant’ – although these are two of the more derogatory examples. Still, they were the ones that stuck in our minds when the time came to write this review.
The pleasingly daft premise is far from complex. After spending a century in cryo-sleep, our intrepid interplanetary adventurer crash lands on a planet marked as hospitable for humankind, only to be greeted by…nobody. The condos forming ‘Nu Florida’ have been vacant for decades, and it soon transpires that your former employer Alta is up to no good. Together with a talkative flying drone assistant known as Exo, it’s your job to expose their shady secrets to exact revenge, all while upgrading your arsenal and finding a way to return to Earth.
And so begins a lengthy quest largely centred on self-improvement. The first 2-3 hours are set in a leafy jungle environment – with waterfalls, swamps, and craggy cliffs – and much of that time is spent teaching the basics, introducing new mechanics, retrieving lost gear, and gathering resources to construct essential items via a 3D printer found at your condo. Even the game itself claims how contrived the need to retrieve your starting gear is, noting how conveniently spread across the map it has become following the crash. Incidentally, not only can Exo be blessed with either a male or female voice, but you can also choose how chatty they are – with the stipulation that you may miss out on vital info if you make them almost mute.
The condo can be kitted out with all manner of sci-fi style furniture and gizmos, purchasable using reward tickets found in hidden boxes. Many of these gadgets can be interacted with, prompting a short animation, some of which are comical. The condo’s surrounding area is sparse, but there’s a reason behind this: more buildings and facilities can be summoned from an orbiting Alta craft, turning your one-man condo into a small village.
During the opening, you’ll also be taught how to capture the local oddball critters, with the electric whip melee weapon doubling as a lasso. Some are more hostile than others, and each has quite a vivid personality, taking inspiration from real-life creatures. Once snagged, they’re teleported to a research lab, with each species taking a few minutes to manually research, eventually unlocking a new outfit colour scheme. Critters need to be stunned before capturing, and each has a different weak point to exploit – such as shooting them from behind – which adds another layer to the combat on top of the need to scan every creature found.
Combat is messy in ways both good and bad. The upgradable pistol is the sole firearm present, with the idea being to mix things up by using the electric whip and the environment itself. Many locations have bomb plants, ripe for creating chain reactions that’ll wipe out several enemies at once. You’re also equipped with a goo gun that can hold conductive fluid – also used in puzzle solving – as well as lava, which will kill most enemies instantly. There’s a lot of potential to get creative. Also, a lot of potential for frustration as flying enemies can knock you off platforms, while smaller enemies are quick to surround. Enemies soon respawn, too, so you may clear out a puzzle location only for them to reappear before solving said puzzle. If you’re expecting to weld shotguns, rifles and other ordinance you’re in for disappointment. You’re equipped with the company-issued basics for survival and not much else.
After exploring the opening planet and getting up to speed, the quest for self-improvement doesn’t suddenly shift to exposing Alta or even to an unforeseen bigger mission. Oddly, it continues to the next planet, and the next, for a good 10 hours. That’s to say, the vast majority of quests essentially boil down to ‘retrieve your lost gear’ – be it apparatus needed to explore areas with toxic fumes, or diving equipment to head underwater. The creature capturing aspect is tied into this quite well, as sometimes you’ll need to search for a tougher ‘alpha’ specimen.
Another thing that feels odd initially is that even when dying on a different planet, you’re taken back to your condo on the opening world, and not to the current planet’s nearest teleporter or the landing zone. It does eventually make a degree of sense, as only at the condo can upgrades be printed and critters researched, meaning you’ll be heading back here eventually. This doesn’t make dying several times in one of the more inhospitable areas any more tolerable, though.
Generally, it’s possible to explore freely until coming across an area that can’t be traversed yet, with other missions including challenges (tied to unlocking pistol upgrades) and the need to follow leads that’ll expose Alta, with a trio of mysterious individuals chiming in on your comms channel. One of these leads you to shrines, each of which houses challenges – and in one instance, a boss battle – set in high-tech rooms. Much of the final hours are spent tracking and following these leads, in addition to searching high and low for wrecked vessels. Some of these are marked on the map; others must be discovered firsthand.
The second planet – a dusty desert world – doesn’t quite reach the heights of the glorious opening. Thankfully, the third planet is more creative in its design, spread across three plains, while the fourth planet is more in line with the opening world. Each has a unique assortment of creatures to find, making for quite a bit of busywork from the moment you land.
There’s a slight whiff of ‘Ubisoft open-world adventure’ which only becomes more prevalent over time, most notably after unlocking the locations of collectables on the map. Once the drawn-out task of getting your gear back is complete, exploring each location fully becomes viable, with even the opening planet having previously inaccessible areas. There are plenty of picturesque sights to take in (diving is particularly serene), with aforementioned shrines and boss battles acting as diversions. The bosses aren’t too tough, easily beatable in one or two attempts, but they are well implemented and proficiently spaced. The mission objective menu does a good job of tracking progress on each planet. But it’s also during its final hours that fatigue starts to settle; enemies become increasingly annoying and are best avoided, the daft humour starts to wear thin, and the environments start to look a little samey. If the humour aligns with your tastes, that may alleviate things.
Revenge of the Savage Planet is always well-meaning, clearly fuelled by the developer’s passion to create a rich and playful experience, let down only by slightly unsatisfying combat and its divisive humour. As sequels go, it’s one of the bolder examples, making quite a few changes and implementing more ideas than we usually see in a follow-up. If you’re a fan of the original, you’ll relish the wild worlds Raccoon Logic has created here. And if you’re still chuckling over the term ‘fart plant’ then this is a trip you should definitely take.
Raccoon Logic’s Revenge of the Savage Planet is out 5th May on PS5, Xbox Series and PC.