Platforming games have been around for years, with the most easily recognizable series stemming from Nintendo. However, Playdead revolutionized the puzzle-platformer genre in 2010 with Limbo, and every game that has come out in that play style since has been compared – even their follow up title, Inside. When a genre has been defined by a single game, it’s difficult to compete. Another game must either do something fresh, or clone it in a way that keeps you coming back (see: Gunpoint and its clone Ronin). But if you’re a fan of the type of game, does it really need to be better to be enjoyable?

Planet of the Eyes puts you in the role of a little robot that has crash landed and is out to discover the other survivor whose story and yours unfold through a series of audio logs. These are on little cassette tapes you’ll pick up throughout the game, and while it’s not at all necessary you collect them (I believe only one was out of the way), they add to the purpose and direction of the game.

You’ll be traversing through explosions of color on this alien planet, and if you’re wondering about the title, rest assured you’ll see plenty of eyes (see below for example). The animations are fairly basic, and the climbing one I’d venture to say is stiff at best. Not a game breaker by any means, but when I jump up and cling onto something, I expect some sort of sway in movement, opposed to a static frame of the character holding on. This is the only thing that really stuck out as wrong visually, although nothing was truly awe-inspiring.

As for the gameplay itself, you’ll find you can run, jump, or push/pull in the occasional puzzles you’ll come across. And while you’re pressing all the buttons, you’ll likely learn you can dance too, which holds no real purpose other than an achievement from what I could tell. Perhaps there’s a secret that it opens up if done in the right spots, much like in Playdead’s games after finding all the collectibles.

While I died a fair amount of times in the game (several, if not most of the achievements are tied to specific deaths), it’s usually not due to the game being difficult. While a couple of puzzles require specific timing for an action or death occurs, it’s more likely you’ll misjudge a jump or not quite make the proper landing as you descend a cliff that ends in your demise. The deaths are fairly amusing, and loading back up only takes a second, so you’ll find yourself ready to destroy your little robot again in no time.

The puzzles provided in the game are far from time-consuming. I believe the longest I spent with one was a couple minutes before I realized what I was doing wasn’t working, and went up to where I had been previously to see if I had missed something. Sure enough, it was right in front of me and I had looked at it without knowing I’d need it. The end of the game tests your skill with platforming, which is by no means a challenge, although there is one box puzzle that was easily the most satisfying puzzle in the game as it made me think.

I spent between 60-90 minutes with this title, completing it with little to no issue. This is a game that doesn’t put a lot of focus on the skill, but the enjoyment of the journey itself. The sci-fi story that goes along is a nice, albeit unnecessary addition to the game, as these types of things can propel themselves without exposition. But I will say that it was well voiced.

If you enjoy platformers with minor puzzle solving, Planet of the Eyes may be a worthwhile experience for you. It’s short (which I appreciate since I don’t have much time for games nowadays), never becomes frustrating, and is family friendly. However, it never really goes beyond the level of mediocre in terms of what it accomplishes, and in some cases feels a bit unpolished. Regardless of the genre pulling me in, there are stronger entries you can be playing.

5 out of 10

Pros

• Bright Contrasting Colors
• Voice Acting

Cons

• Faulty Platforming
• Visual Cues

Planet of the Eyes was developed and published by Cococucumber. The game launched on PC August 24th, 2015 as well as PS4 and X1 September 12th, 2017 for $9.99. The game was provided to us for review on X1. If you’d like to see more of Planet of the Eyes, check out the official site.

 

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