14 DAY TRIAL // My only thought after seeing the opening cinematic of Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet was: What did I just see and how long does a game need to be in order to explain all of that without using any sort of real dialog?
The sleek and cartoony intro might just create expectations too high for the game itself, which is a mix between platformer, puzzle solver and space shooter and needs a bit of time before it really gets going.
The player controls a lovable little alien, encapsulated in his flying saucer, who needs to explore a world recently “twisted” by the titular “shadow,” while opening up new passages, collecting things and dealing with a number of enemies.
The game, created by Fuelcell Games and Shadow Planet Productions and published by Microsoft Game Studios, is very beautiful and has a very pleasing art style, filled with rounded shapes, slow movement and set of enemies that are at times as endearing as the protagonist.
The problem with how Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet is build is that it might get very repetitive very fast, constantly throwing variations on the same situation in front of players while spending all the cache of good feeling that was created by the art style and the overall quirky presentation.
I also fear that as more tools become open to the player on his ship the game will force players to do a lot of backtracking in order to reach those areas that are impossible to access on the first playthrough.
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet also managed to introduce pretty effective controls for the PC version, allowing gamers to easily control the ship using the keyboard and use the mouse to guide projectiles and other attachments.
Take a look at the video attached to this article in order to see the opening stages of Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, including two of the tools being wielded.