I was not aware of Lifeless Planet during its Kickstarter campaign and subsequent development, so what drew me to it was the curiosity I had regarding its teaser video. It looked like a neat "explore this alien world and no you don't have to shoot bad guys" game, which lately is something I'm very interested in. So I was happy when it showed up in a bundle (Humble Flash KISS bundle) and gave it a shot.

The aesthetics of the game are immediately wonderful - this world was rather painstakingly designed for all the emptiness it invokes. Hills roll, rock formations appear haphazardly, and you are free to explore quite a bit of it. This comes in handy during some sections where it seems to allow you to create your own shortcuts simply because the designer didn't feel the need to have invisible walls all over the place (there are some, admittedly, but I was really surprised at how far I could wander without hitting one). There are several different environments to see, though to be fair there isn't any real connection between them and they often seem to be there because they are neat. The music is minimalist and effective; most of the sound in the game consists of your character's grunts as he hits a landing particularly hard, and the sound of your jetpack expelling air.

What is Lifeless Planet exactly? It's an explatformer (patent pending) - you wander around the world, picking up bits of information via glowing documents on the ground and assorted important landmarks and using your jetpack to clear gaps and obstacles. The story reveals itself over time, with no pressure except the sequences when you arbitrarily run out of air and need to find a conveniently located oxygen station. I'm not even sure why those parts are in the game, as they don't really bring any value to it. At various times you are able to boost your jetpack to reach higher/further platforms, and you use a mechanical arm found early on to solve a few basic puzzles involving alien (?) technology. One of the nice little touches is the weight and momentum you have. It takes a few strides to get to full speed, and if you time it well, you can really boost with the jetpack beyond what you'd expect. The crux of the game is always exploring, however.

So in a game where most of what you are doing is strolling through really cool environments, how is the narrative? It probably isn't for everyone, but I think it tackles the sci-fi aspects pretty well and while it may wrap things up a little too tidily, I didn't dislike it, and I certainly didn't see where it was going ahead of time. I had a good enough time jetpacking around hot springs and enormous forests with the occasional story interruption to continue through to the end. The ending music piece is pretty good, by the way.