We attempt to save humanity by reaching to the stars
Although the big game studios have had some impressive titles launched of late, the likes of Fallout 4 springing to mind, it’s the indie game studios where the best creativity is springing from.
We’ve said it before that the indie scene is on fire at the moment and coming up with some of the most imaginative PC games. But the ones that tend to stand out the most for us are those that include an element of retro-like gaming, with some clever mechanics and physics, while still sticking to an original storyline.
Last Horizon by developer Pixeljam is one such game. It’s very much a mixture of Thrust, Asteroids and Starflight for the Sega Mega Drive. It’s an atmospheric space survival game, where you're tasked with piloting the last human spaceship from a doomed planet into the void, to try to locate a new planet to colonise.
Your ship is capable of harvesting the raw ores for fuel and repairs as well as oxygen from a planet, so in order to be able to continue flying and exploring the universe, you’re required to land on the various planets you’ll come across to essentially mine them of their resources. However, it’s not quite as straightforward as it first appears.
Space is a hazardous place: there are meteors, comets, rogue planetoids and the occasional black hole. By guiding your ship, Thrust-style, through the cosmos, you can carefully avoid most of the objects out there that can cause significant damage to your ship and deplete its limited supply of oxygen.
Gravity, though, is the biggest killer of ships in this universe. When approaching a planet, you to have carefully adjust your landing speed and trajectory to take the planet’s unique gravitational field into account. Too much thrust and you’ll plough into the surface and make a pretty pile of smouldering metal. Too little and you risk shooting off back into space and missing the target. It’s little wonder you see some very relieved Nasa scientists after a successful landing.
Once you’ve successfully landed, with minimum damage, your ship will automatically start to harvest the planet of the elements needed to replenish the fuel and oxygen, thus repairing the ship. If you’re lucky, you may also come across some alien life to categorise and meet.
There’s a fine balance needed throughout the entire game, though. If you take too many resources from a life-giving planet, then you’ve effectively killed that planet, and you may well anger the local sentient life on a nearby sphere. Also, you need to keep a careful eye on your fuel and oxygen levels, as too little of each will spell certain doom.
There are other clever factors involved too. As you probe further into the cosmos, ever pointing in the general direction of the perfect planet, you’ll begin to navigate some tricky planetary physics. For example, a life-bearing world could be waiting for you to land on it, but your dwindling resources could be red-lining, and there might be a pretty big star close enough to create a delicate gravitational nightmare. Without a high degree of dexterity, you’ll either plummet into the planet’s surface or end up being fried in the star.
Last Horizon is a surprisingly good indie game. It’s graphically quite simple, but the combined story, physics and gameplay make it well worth purchasing and a game that’ll keep you entertained for quite some time as you attempt to unlock its secrets.
Considering that it’s only £3.19 on Steam, we think Last Horizonis a welcome break from the latest triple-A titles. David Hayward
Clever, inexpensive and surprisingly addictive.