Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet – Review – Xbox 360 (XBLA)

Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet was first shown to the public at PAX East and has been in development since 2007. When I first saw the gameplay I was instantly intrigued as I know many other gamers were. The gameplay was dark and foreboding which left some people anxious for the release date. Everyone was wondering what the game was actually about and if the game when shipped would hold up the expectations of what was shown in gameplay trailers. ITSP release date is upon us but will the game be as gripping as what we saw in trailers?

Story: The game follows an alien being who is studying a planet. While doing research a dark and ominous asteroid is approaching the solar system. Upon collision with the planet the dark asteroid infects the entire with a dark plague covering the entire surface and destroying the other spaceships inspecting the surface. Our hero immediately jumps into action and dives right into the darkness that has spread across the surface of the planet.

Gameplay: The gameplay of Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet blends the feel Geometry Wars and Metroid.  You control your ship with the left thumbstick and shoot with the right. The map of the game covers a pretty impressive space. There are seven distinct Areas on the map each one separated by an obstacle. As you make your way around the map you will encounter enemies and obstacles that block your path some requiring specialized weapons to move on. As you play through each area you will unlock new weapons and abilities. These weapons will allow you to go to areas previously blocked off. You also gain upgrade’s to your ships primary gun and shields through the use of upgrade stations scattered around the map. The gameplay is rather simplistic and is not very hard to master. Your ship has shields that can take a pretty impressive amount of hits and damage is shown graphically on the ship. While playing, the game will show you exactly where to go to progress through the story so there is no wondering which way to go. The minimap itself shows all the areas you’ve visited as well as areas you haven’t. The areas you haven’t been to yet are covered by pixelated grey cubes that block out the map. Discovering all the areas in the game is rather simple as you cover the whole map while playing through the campaign. The game itself last’s about 3 hours and exploring is completed rather quickly. I found myself not really being challenged until the final boss battle. After completing the campaign there is little left to do but play multiplayer or start the game over.

Multiplayer: There is only one multiplayer mode and it is called Lantern Run. Lantern Run is a co-op game type that requires people to work together to get past obstacles and remain ahead of a giant creature emanating darkness. The object of Lantern Run is to grab ahold of an item called the lantern and simply keep it away from the giant creature. As you progress through different areas, power-ups and weapons are dropped which help you complete harder sections. The farther you go with the lantern determines the score you are given when it finally catches up to you and destroys your lantern.

Graphics/Sound: Since you are on a planet covered in shadow the game is rather dark in some areas and they  pretty much look the same other the color of the area you are in. The sound is rather simplistic and the soundtrack is fairly basic. There are moments in the game where the sound gets you in the mood for whatever challenge you are about to face. It’s akin to a movie where a monster is just about to jump out and grab someone. You know its coming but you’re not quite sure when.

Overall: The game is fun but rather short. Other than the Lantern Run mode I feel most people will stop playing the game once they beat it or gain all the achievements. ITSP has a lot of promise and I hope will sell enough copies to grant us a sequel that is much longer and a lot more challenging. Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet is well worth a play through but at the same time you must consider other games on the marketplace that will give you more gameplay than this for the money.

Score: 7 out of 10

A copy of this game was provided to the reviewer from the publisher

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