Revenge of the Savage Planet Might Just Have The Right Stuff

Sometimes, it can seem like open-world games, from Elden Ring to Ubisoft’s output, have taken over the single player space just as thoroughly as they consume the free time of their players. While my 40-minute hands-off demo of Revenge of the Savage Planet showed off quite a few interesting elements of this experience—its pulpy sci-fi aesthetic, its corporate satire, its goo physics—perhaps the most convincing aspect of its pitch is that it’s an open-world game that may offer compelling exploration without being a black hole that sucks in way too much of your fleeting existence. Add in some clear inspiration from Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and you have a game that could potentially bring in even those who’ve become somewhat fatigued with this style (like yours truly).

You play as a colonist who, after braving deep space travel and a century of cryo sleep, finds out that their callous employer has laid them off and left them for dead at the fringes of space. Stranded as the lone denizen of “NuFlorida,” they start the long trek back to Earth.

To get home you’ll need to make your way through various colorful alien planets, building up an arsenal of tools, Metroid-style, that let you reach previously inaccessible areas. For instance, you’ll need a filtration mask to pass through poisoned bogs or a grappling hook to get to high ground (hey, every videogame needs a grappling hook). Some upgrades are mandatory to progress, while others are optional, and while it wasn’t clear how substantial these optional items would be, it sounds like they’ll give additional incentives to chart these vistas.

One point that the development team reiterated throughout this demo is that this open world is designed to encourage players to explore naturally instead of just following objective markers. There weren’t any giant towers to be seen, and it seems like you’ll have to physically pass through these areas to map them. There are hints, like audio cues and a close-range scanner to ensure you’re not pixel hunting when looking for items, but the intent is to have you fully engage with the space instead of just making a beeline to repeatable side missions. At least for me, this sounds like a great alternative to the “checklist” approach to open world design, where the map is chock full of icons, and I’m glad this alternative style continues to pick up more traction.

As you charter these planets, you’ll apparently stumble on puzzles in the environment, somewhat similar to finding those pesky Koroks in the recent Legend of Zelda games. For instance, at one point, the player found a difficult-to-navigate cave with invisible walls. The solution was to take out an item that let them shoot green goo and coat the surroundings in the substance, helping them make out the terrain to find a chest further inside.

And, of course, Revenge of the Savage Planet contains the thing that’s become most synonymous with Breath of the Wild­-esque open world games: a paraglider. As for how you get around the space otherwise, you can sprint, double jump with your jet pack, perform a knee slide, and more. Perhaps the most interesting moment in the entire demo came when the player fired their goo gun straight ahead and then did a power slide on this slippery substance, continuously coating the terrain in front of them to create a non-stop Slip ‘N Slide as they careened down a hill. There was a promising range of traversal options here, and it was refreshing to see a game in this style that leans more into old-school character platformer-style movement than many of its peers, like Assassin’s Creed, which opt for“realistic” parkour that can be a little dull.

Encouragingly, these types of freeform interactions also seem like a big deal when battling flora and fauna. At one point, the player blasted an angry little critter, which then exploded into red goo. As another creature charged, they fired their blaster at the substance, setting the puddle and monster on fire—from Far Cry 2 to Bioshock, setting things ablaze is an emergent gameplay classic, and it seemed just as gratifying here. I can only imagine how wacky things will get, considering the game offers two player co-op, local or online. There certainly aren’t enough split-screen games these days, so that’s another promising bullet point.

Beyond this, there were plenty of other ways to take down foes: there’s your basic laser gun, various types of goop with different properties (green is slippery and can make foes trip, red is basically magma, etc.), a kick that sends smaller foes flying like a soccer ball, and a growing arsenal of unlockables, like a laser lasso which seems to pack a punch. While these battles look more like detours instead of the main event, there appears to be room for creativity between the upgrades and the various goo types. And in another Metroid Prime-inspired turn, you can scan enemies to pinpoint their weaknesses. This is a big deal because if you hit their vulnerabilities, you can stun and capture them to conduct research at your home base, which will unlock even more upgrades.

While I didn’t have any particular expectations going into this hands-off demo of Revenge of the Savage Planet, it managed the tricky task of mostly getting around my existing open world fatigue. By seemingly leaning into a sense of discovery and delivering fun traversal options, the game is aiming for exactly what I want out of an exploration-focused experience like this: no maps full of icons and a runtime that hopefully won’t overstay its welcome. I’m not entirely convinced by its intentionally immature sense of humor, and because this was a hands-off demo, I don’t have insight into how its platforming or battles feel, but the focus on dynamic interactions and open-ended gameplay is quite intriguing. Revenge of the Savage Planet may not have enough unique characteristics to escape the gravity of its inspirations, but if it can follow through on its chaotic vibe and interplanetary adventuring, it could still be a blast.

Elijah Gonzalez is an assistant Games and TV Editor for Paste Magazine. In addition to playing and watching the latest on the small screen, he also loves film, creating large lists of media he’ll probably never actually get to, and dreaming of the day he finally gets through all the Like a Dragon games. You can follow him on Twitter @eli_gonzalez11 and on Bluesky @elijahgonzalez.bsky.social.