Last time I probably made you scratch your head with a review of the game titled Aban Hawkins and the 1000 Spikes...and now I'm sure you think I'm doubly crazy with an article about something called Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet. What the hell kind of drug is this guy on, and WHERE OH WHERE CAN I GET IT? Well, my answer is on the XBox Live Marketplace for about 1200 points...just don't tell anyone I tipped you off!
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet (ITSP, for short) is a recently released downloadable game on the XBLA as part of Microsoft's Summer of Arcade. Basically it's a program where, if you buy all of the games released during Summer of Arcade, you can then download another game for free. Unfortunately I don't think that all of the ones released this year are for me...however, as soon as I saw footage of ITSP and gave the trial a shot, I knew it was all I needed from the total offering to be content. It's a slick, side-scrolling adventure that not only offers some great, classic style gameplay, but also an amazing art style style that is reminiscent of other downloadable games such as Limbo and World of Goo. This is a very good thing.
At the beginning of the game, a quick cinematic shows a small black object careening towards your home planet (NOT Earth, mind you...the main character and his/her species are little aliens), which very quickly expands into a gigantic mass and envelopes the world in dark strangeness. The entire point of the game is simply to make your way through the planet and vanquish it of whatever it is that's come and messed things up, and return everything to normal. At its core, ITSP is basically a Metroid game or new age Castlevania game, wherein there is a large world to explore that becomes more and more explorable as you gather the tools and items to do so. This instantly made the game a winner in my books because I'm a sucker for games of that particular style...however, Metroid and Castlevania are known to be platform-based games. ITSP has no platforming of which to speak, which sets it apart a little bit and really gives it a completely different feel. Rather than jumping and running through areas, you float through them as a classic-style UFO spacecraft by the use of the left analog stick, and when it comes down to blasting enemies or opening new paths, you aim with the right analog stick. This makes the action feel very much like Geometry Wars or Asteroids, except rather than throwing waves of enemies at you over and over again, the baddies aren't just targets to blow away with one shot and forget about.
This planet is pretty shadowy...and these corridors just might be insanely twisted!
Oftentimes, killing an enemy or accessing a new area involves using the right tool..and in the case of ITSP, I use the word "tool" completely literally. As you explore the Shadow Planet, you'll discover enemies and obstacles that require certain objects to manipulate them. These exist in the form of utility tools that you can find and equip on your craft by holding the right bumper and selecting them with your analog stick. In addition, you can also set four of the tools to the face buttons on the XBox 360 controller, giving you quick access to the most useful ones or your most favourite ones by a tap of A, B, X, or Y. This is a nice little touch, as there are certainly some pieces of equipment that you wind up using more often than the rest, and having them readily available without navigating a menu (as simple and quick as that menu may be) really is handy. You start the game with a simple scanner, which allows you to scan the environment or enemies and get a quick diagnostic on them, showing you what you need to interact with them or pointing out a weakness. Very quickly thereafter, you gain access to a claw that allows your ship to pick up boulders and grab enemies, and also a pulse cannon which is your main method of attack. Pointing your right stick in the direction of an enemy and pressing the right trigger will unleash plasma bolts in their direction. Every tool functions similarly, where you aim with the stick and pull RT to activate it...but many of their uses vary quite dramatically from the simple tools you pick up near the start of your adventure. For example, there's a missile launcher that fires missiles in the direction you're pointing the cannon...but you can guide the missile afterwards with the right control stick to hit pinpoint objects. Another cool little item is the magnetic beam, which allows your ship to pull or push itself relative to magnetic points around the map, or also to grab magnetic blocks and manipulate them through the environment. I don't want to spoil any others, but I assure you that pretty much every tool I picked up had some very cool uses throughout the entirety of the game, and the gameplay around them is very well thought out. Just using them in certain situations brought a smile to my face as I realized how smart the developers were when they thought of these abilities, and I was impressed with how it all came together. In addition to tools, there are other upgrades and collectibles to find as well. These include shield upgrades which allow you to take more hits, plasma cannon upgrades that will make your shots more effective and eventually spread out like a shotgun blast, artifacts which show small hints of the origin of the strange black substance that has taken over the world, and concept art for you to view. There is a lot of stuff to track down, overall, and although you'll find a lot of it before you finish the game, there will be a few elusive bonuses that will take you some searching if you're bent on finding everything (Like me!).
Using these powerups to make your way through the Shadow Planet is, in itself, a real treat. Every single area flows seamlessly into the next and the whole map never feels disjointed. There are areas that are distinct from one another, to be sure...but these all feel like they're interconnected and a part of the same planet despite their differences. There are numerous zones with different styles that set them apart from one another...for example, one area is organically-themed, with somewhat natural structures that compose the terrain and the background, as well as strange living scenery that's clearly a byproduct of your planet being taken over by that strange, black mass. Another area is composed entirely of machinery, with pistons pumping, buzzsaws spinning, and gears turning around, all of which you need to be able to navigate safely or you'll take massive damage. Another area is completely dark, and you need to carefully move through it with a lantern that subtly lights your path. All of these unique areas are made even more distinct by some of the tools that you find in them to use...the magnet beam, for example, is a prominent tool you need in order to traverse the mechanical section to manipulate hatches off of piping or move switches around. Having these sections of extensive tool use not only gives you a good workout with them, but also manages to give each area more of an impact because you remember things like "Hey, that puzzle in so-and-so area with the ______ was really cool!" The overall layout of the game is very, very well done.
This is one sharp lookin' creation.
This is a sprawling sidescroller with quite a large map, and I've always thought that it would be handy in a game such as this to be able to mark things on your map when you find them, so you don't forget to come back for them later. This game has a function that's pretty much an iteration of that idea, where when you use your scanning tool on a path that appears to be blocked, it will show a visual cue of what you need to bypass it and will also mark the location of it on your map so you can come back to it when you've, say, found the missile launcher. Oftentimes they will disappear from your map after you trigger them, letting you know that they're complete...but in some occasions the marks will stay there and there were a few times where I traveled back, thinking that I hadn't checked it out yet, only to find that I had dealt with the obstacle earlier on. This is a small problem and doesn't break the game, but you might end up fooling yourself once or twice if you don't remember what you've done throughout the adventure. Overall though, the map is very intuitive and handy. It will fill in as you explore the various sectors of the game, mark key points where you may find an item, and also mark your current overall destination to continue the campaign. It's kind of nice, because you can check out general directions you can potentially explore to find an item if you don't feel like fighting the next boss monster just yet, but it doesn't simply hand everything to you on a platter. You still need to explore carefully to find everything, which is a damn good thing!
Another thing that really stands out about ITSP is the slick art style, which I mentioned very briefly earlier. Just about everything solid in the entire world is dark black, including your ship. Things may occasionally have coloured lights or some subtle texturing on them, but for the most part the world that exists in the same plane as your ship is pitch dark. The only area that doesn't have a black foreground is actually an area coated in ice, but this just makes the area stand out even more, since it's really the only one that's fully coloured as such. The backgrounds, however, are all coloured, and each area has a differently-coloured background which, again, really establishes them as different regions but in an all-encompassing world. In addition, the backgrounds will show extremely well-drawn scenes such as sprawling caves, turning cogs, or a vast underground lake, and it's all done with this amazing soft-grain filter that makes it look really spectacular. You get a sense of depth to the backgrounds and they're not just flat, despite the fact that this is a 2D sidescrolling game. It's a really stunning effect when it comes down to it, and one that needs to be seen to really appreciate. Luckily for you I have screenshots scattered through this article, so have a quick gander! Let me assure you though, that despite looking cool already, it looks way better in motion. Enemies are animated very smoothly for the most part, with a few that have some jittery frames every so often, but it doesn't take away from the experience. The environment itself is also really reactive to your presence...branches in the organic zone will sway if you nudge against them, vines will impede your progress, and objects such as stones can be picked up and moved around. This environmental interactivity makes for some nice, clever puzzles at points as well, but not ones that are so tough that they'll frustrate you. Even health is usually provided to you by plants in the environment, which is a nice little touch.
The opposition sent at you by the planet is quite varied. Some enemies will deliberately hunt you down and come after you, while others are simply animals that serve as obstacles that you need to deal with. While some are simply going to sit there and soak up your shots until they pop, many of these critters have a tactical method of taking them out. For example, there are baddies that consist of a core with a shield-like structure in front of it that will constantly face you, and when they get close, they'll lunge. If you dodge them, however, they'll fly by you and you'll have a clear shot at their weak point. An example of an obstacle-type enemy is a large annelid-style worm found at the beginning of the game that you can't fly by, but every so often it'll open up its yap and take a breath, which is a great time to plug it up by picking up a rock and shoving it in the worm's mouth. When in complete doubt, you can always use your scanner tool on enemies for a hint on what the best ways are to deal with them, which is a nice option if you happen to get stumped.
You want creative bosses? Either get this game or go work at an art studio!
In addition to standard enemies, there are also quite a few bosses as you make your way through the game, and they're all pretty cool. Only a scant few of them are actually based on just blasting them until they die, while the rest (a majority of them) require quick thinking and clever use of the tools you've picked up in order to dispose of them. For example, there's one boss where you need to fire a guided missile and control it such that the rocket worms its way into the boss' weak point in order to damage it...while the boss is also spinning around and firing lasers at you, which makes things a tad more complex. Each time you smash the core, it will reform and change the path that you need to navigate the missile through. Many of the bosses have cool tricks like this, and it's pretty impressive how they come off not only as enemies, but also as puzzles in themselves. Most times, these bosses will also drop a snazzy new item for you to add to your arsenal as well, so that's a bonus!
The soundtrack didn't really stand out to me all that much...this isn't a game with catchy tunes or memorable melodies, but rather one with ambient noises and atmospheric sounds, save for a few cases where things are getting a little bit more intense. The sound effects are good and serve their purpose, although they're nothing too spectacular. Everything works with the experience of the game, however, and that's really the important thing...I do wish there was a little bit more "music" in the soundtrack though, personally. Is this a game breaking factor, though? Absolutely not!
Oh geez, and I almost forgot to mention that there's a multiplayer mode, too! It's called Lantern Run, where you and 3 other friends (either over XBox Live or locally) each control a ship and try to drag a lantern through a linear cave that moves constantly from left to right. The problem, however, is that there's a mass of tentacles pursuing you, so you need to be speedy and get through obstacles as quickly as you can in order to not get destroyed. Along the way through, you'll encounter arenas where you fight enemies and environmental obstacles that you need to dodge or manipulate with tools, all while dragging your lantern behind you. It's really intense in some cases, and co-operation is definitely the name of the game here. The game ends when everyone is killed or when all the lanterns are destroyed by the tentacle monster, but as long as you have even just one lantern active, everyone can keep helping out to get it as far as possible. Every so often you will encounter upgrades to shields and blasters, and you can also earn new tools if you completely destroy all the enemies in an arena. These will help you out immensely, I've discovered, and so it's definitely in your best interest to co-operate and pick these tools up whenever you can. It's a very fun experience, I find, and the first afternoon I tried it I was paired up with another person over XBLA. We just played and played for like 5 hours, trying to get as far as we could and learning to help each other out to make things easier. I figured it'd be just kind of a small distraction, but I can definitely see myself getting addicted to it with my friends and I'm glad they put it in. Also, if it really comes down to it and you're feeling brave, you can just attempt the damn thing by yourself if you want!
Much like hentai, Lantern Run makes for some intense tentacle experiences!
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The Bottom Line
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet is a very well-thought out sidescroller with some really cool elements and smart execution of each of those elements. The art style is absolutely amazing and it never, even once, looks less than amazing. The gameplay is nice and simple, but requires much of your attention and thought to really make the most of your arsenal, and there's a ton of space to explore with your little UFO...and if you want to take a break and just try your hand at a completely different game mode for a change of pace, there's Lantern run! My only issues with ITSP are the less-than-stellar soundtrack and the very rare occasions where the map markings will mislead you, but these are not enough to make me regret my purchase. The overall single-player will last you maybe around...5 or 6 hours if you're just going through the campaign for the first time, but to find everything the game has to offer, it'll take a little bit longer. Lantern Run definitely increases the replay value of the game too!
This game is a fuckin' steal at 1200 MS points as far as I'm concerned. Get it if you're into this type of experience!
9/10, easily!
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