Lost In Space
The Invincible has an incredible concept that doesn't adapt well from S. Lem's 1964 tale to the game industry. I've always been a fan of the walking simulator genre. Games like Gone Home and What Remains of Edith Finch continue to be some of my favorites from the genre. The Invincible has some really good elements and a story that is told well, but the actual mechanics of how that story is told isn't done well.
The Invincible opens with a comic book-type scene explaining that you're one of the two companies in a space race. Nothing is really expanded on what you're racing toward, who the other people are or when the whole "race" was established. Instead, you're transitioned to waking up on a red, desert planet as Dr. Yasna. Dr. Yasna and the rest of the crew of The Dragonfly, are stuck on Regis III and Dr. Yasna can't recall why.
Dr. Yasna walks like she has cement in her boots. Vehicles drive like they only have one gear. Everything seems so...slow
Your immediate goal is to find your camp, your crew and figure out why the hell you're on this planet. I mentioned earlier that the story is told well, and it is. Through dialogue choices with your companions, you learn about Regis III and you learn about the horrors that reside on this planet.
While the story was engaging, there were small pieces of this game that annoyed me to no end. Dr. Yasna walks like she has cement in her boots. Vehicles drive like they only have one gear. Everything seems so...slow. While this can be a neat effect at times, this is a constant throughout The Invincible. Moving slow is a great way to introduce story beats and hold a story's weight, but The Invincible seems to move slow for the sake of moving slow. It doesn't work in a game where your main mode of transportation is walking.
The only positive to moving slowly is that you can take in The Invincible's alien landscape. Orangey-red deserts and grey, metal rock contrast well off one another. Staring off past the planet's horizon to see a ringed blue planet is a sight to behold. The Invincible is a beautiful looking game. I played the game on PC and was able to run it on epic settings at 144 fps (not a flex) and it should run pretty well on most machines.
I did experience some pop-in, but nothing to distract me from what was happening around me. I didn't have any noticeable stuttering or massive lagging issues. The game was quite stable and didn't crash on me. I can't even recall needing to reload my save due to soft locks. The Invincible is built really well.
Another major gripe I had when playing The Invincible is the lack of a mini map. To find your objective, you had to press tab and pull out your log book, which marked you in real time and moved wherever your moved. You have the option of leaving the log book up and following your path using that, but then you lose out on a very good looking game. While a mini map takes away from that lost in space aesthetic, it makes the players' journey easier and convenience for the player should be top priority.
You can finish the game in about 7-10 hours depending on your choices. It was the perfect amount of time for this game, although one has to wonder if a faster pace would cut that play time down by an hour or two. I had no issue with the time investment of this game although the ending left me wanting a little more.
Here at Three Dads and a Console, we don't give games a score. We answer two major questions: 1. Can you play it around your children?
2. Can your children play it?
So let's do this thing. I think you can play The Invincible around your children, but honestly, I don't think they're going to care. The story is a slow burn and the scientific jargon will probably turn them off. Despite being very visually appealing, I don't believe that onlookers would enjoy watching someone else play this.
Which then begs the question of can they play it. Sure, kids could play this game. It is a walking simulator. It isn't very hard or mechanically difficult. The better question is would a child want to play it. Probably not. Again, the slow moving nature of the game doesn't lend itself well to faster paced games that children have access to. While the game can be very tense at times, it isn't scary.
I don't want you to think I came away from The Invincible with a bad taste in my mouth. I generally enjoyed the story that was laid before me, but the slow pacing of everything made me question why these decisions were made.
Code provided by 11bit Studios for review.
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