Remember Conker's Bad Fur Day? This is practically that, but in space. It has the same sense of humour, (though not quite as filthy) and is visually very similar, having that 90/00s, polygon heavy appearance. That does mean it looks very dated, which initially put me off, but if you go deeper than that, there's a lot of interest here.
At first glance, this has some major problems, that nearly stopped me getting more than ten minutes in. Those problems need noting, because you're likely to encounter them as well. Firstly, the camera. It's a bit too floaty, and can get pushed around by the scenery such that you lose where you're looking and what you're looking at. That can be an issue with navigating when you first set out. Secondly, the scenery does tend to be a bit more intangible than it should be. It's entirely possible to push things you're carrying partway into the wall. Which is a bit awkward. (Enemies have also fallen through staircases on me.)
However, if you get past that, there's a lot going on here. As I said, the humour is suprisingly good (or possibly just nostalgic), incorporating some fun references and a collection of entertaining characters. The comedy also spreads to gameplay, in that your main weapon is a squirrel that fires radioactive acorns (or missiles and others with upgrades) and that handily follows you around when you're carrying something else. You'll be doing a lot of carrying for various puzzles, some of which include the fun aspects of being in space, including tinkering with gravity.
Combat is a bit of a devil, in that the enemies are painfully effective ranged units (or occasionally giant space women), and it's surprisingly easy to be slaughtered unexpectedly. Frequent save points do help with that, though this can result in annoyingly frequent loading in general, as you don't have to go terribly far to hit a loading screen.
In general though, this is a surprisingly good little gem, that has more charm than you expect it to. Worth a quick run at.
Recommended.
Tagged: Game Action adventure First person