Rating
Planet Alpha
Planet Alpha is an adventure set in a living alien world where you have the ability to manipulate the daytime. To survive on this strange planet you will have to be observant of how the environment and the wildlife behaviour changes depending on the time of day.
Similar Games
Planet Alpha Reviews
Professional reviews from gaming critics
Planet Alpha is a game that lovers of puzzle games and platformers alike need to play. Find out why in our Planet Alpha PS4 review.
Simply put, it’s colourful and spectacular, well worth the play-time.
I play many platforming games, and although I am terrible at landing in the right places and staying alive, there is a certain appeal to the challenge that I can’t quite put into words. When I first saw the trailer for Planet Alpha, I knew that I had to try it out. I thought to myself: “This game is going to be spectacular if it is anything close to the graphics in this trailer”. And, let’s just say I was pleasantly surprised because it was really just as good.
Ultimately, Planet Alpha is a visual feast, featuring a fantastical sci-fi world and backed by a hauntingly atmospheric musical score. While it’s an old tale that treads over familiar ground, there’s plenty of new tricks to make it a rewarding playthrough.
For fleeting moments, Planet Alpha ran the risk of outstaying its welcome. There were times when areas felt too familiar, and sneaking past enemies got a little repetitive. It also felt a little unforgiving at times; with creatures a little too hostile, and areas a little too obtuse to navigate. But the moment a new scene unfolded before me, and I had to stop in awe to take a screenshot, all was forgiven. Absolutely, Planet Alpha puts style over substance, but that doesn’t mean what’s there isn’t worth experiencing. It doesn’t have the best platforming you’ve ever experienced. Nor does it have...
Planet Alpha shines some much needed light on a very dark genre. It stands in stark presentational contrast with its contemporaries in the best way possible. Stealth segments do drag down the experience somewhat but are the exception not the rule in otherwise compelling gameplay. From a technical standpoint, the Switch may not be the best way to play, but the core experience shines through. Planet Alpha was the refreshing breath of air that I never realized the genre needed.
Whilst an enjoyable and undoubtedly beautiful game, Planet Alpha never quite makes the leap into classic territory. There is an admirable sense of vision here and the commitment to a non-verbal narrative is striking, but Planet Alpha remains a functional game under the gorgeous aesthetic. The fusions of cinematic platformer and endless runner often feel at odds with one another as the game pushes you forward when you most want to stand back and enjoy the view. Life here comes at you fast; blink and you’ll be vaporised or crushed by a mile high leviathan.
We all know the difference between day and night on Earth, but do light and darkness cause similar transformations on alien worlds? This is the question driving Planet Alpha, a 2D platformer featuring an unnamed spaceman, stranded on a mysterious planet. To escape, our lost astronaut is going to have to delve deeper into an unknown world, face alien threats, beat creative puzzles, and master innovative abilities.
After playing through Planet Alpha for the first time, I couldn’t help but theorise as to how this game was created. If I had to guess, I'd say Planet