If this is your first time hearing of Revenge of the Savage Planet, you may be confused. Like me, I was fooled by the vibrant colors, wacky gameplay, and bizarre live action videos that I honestly thought the game was for children. It’s actually more of a satirical parody that seems to take some notes from the likes of Idiocracy.

Revenge of the Savage Planet is an adventure game that puts you into a sandbox where you can explore a planet for its resources, craft tools, and improve your living situation. After waking up from cryogenic sleep after being set off to a far away planet to colonize, you discover that the company you work for has been bought off and subsequently shut down. You’re now out of a job, but you still have your trusty tools to help you make this savage planet just a bit more lively.

Is the kind of fun Revenge of the Savage Planet offers for you? Let’s read this review and find out.

The moment I booted up the game, I was pleasantly surprised to see that couch co-op play was available via split screen. Not a lot of games offer that nowadays. However, you can also team up with other players online with crossplay should you want to.

Calling Revenge of the Savage Planet a sandbox is a bit generous on my end. It’s more of an action-adventure game where you explore different worlds in an attempt to get back home. You have a checklist of objectives to complete before you can push forward to the next planet in the system.

Since I didn’t really have a friend to play the game with, I played it by my lonely self. I can’t help but think that Revenge of the Savage Planet would’ve been a bit more fun if you played it with someone beside you. I’ve also never played the original Journey to the Savage Planet, so I can’t really comment on it either. Though I am aware that Typhoon Studios shut down just after its release, with the former members of the development team going on to form Raccoon Logi,c which now develops the sequel.

There are some customization options involved. You can customize your character with several outfits back at your Habitat. There are plenty of outfits you can unlock by exploring different worlds.

Your Habitat is also customizable, though it’s mostly cosmetics. By finding Alta Bucks via coupon crates, you can purchase furniture for your Habitat to make it more lively. Though these are mostly for cosmetics. You can use the 3D Printer at your Habitat to craft the really useful items.

When you land on a strange new planet, you’re without most of your gear. And you’re tasked with finding them so you can accomplish your objectives. However, finding your gear won’t be enough since they’re scattered all around, you’ll also need to collect resources to be able to get them to a usable condition.

The gear you get in Revenge of the Savage Planet is pretty diverse. From a power hose to a whip that lets you capture wildlife, the game gives you a lot of tools to have fun around the world. These tools can be upgraded for additional uses on the 3D Printer, such as being able to use the whip to grapple, provided that you have the upgrade schematics and the materials to perform the upgrade. Some upgrades can be a game-changer, such as negating all fall damage.

You also use the computer back at the Habitat to conduct research on captured wildlife. However, these will take some time. Closing the game and coming back unfortunately won’t let them finish it seems.

Speaking of which, I had a bit of an annoying time with capturing the wildlife. Many won’t go down without a fight, and while I don’t mind that, it’s how you acquire them that I had trouble with. You see, you have to scan them for weaknesses, which are often someplace hard to hit.

The issue here is that you can only hit the weak spots, so you can stagger them while the scanner is on. And since the game doesn’t let you shoot your gun without turning off the scanner, you only have a limited time to hit these spots. I wound up killing some of the animals I meant to capture more than a few times before I figured this out. The weak spots don’t stagger wildlife unless your scanner is displaying them.

Once you capture wildlife, they instantly get transported back to your base of operations, where they become more docile and even friendly. Your robot companion then dissects them for you to gain rewards. Though it promises to put them back together afterwards.

I mentioned before that Revenge of the Savage Planet reminded me a bit of Idiocracy. At first, I wasn’t so sure about the live-action performance of the game. However, I quickly grew to like it as the advertisements are over-the-top, satirical, and dystopian. It’s hilarious to see just how terrible life is in this game compared to its vibrant, almost Pixar-esque graphics.

These advertisements help make going back to your Habitat not seem like a chore. They set the tone of how self-aware and how much of a satirical parody the game is. It’s honestly a lot more enjoyable because of it, and the acting is not half bad.

I really like Revenge of the Savage Planet. It’s a fun adventure game to play if you’re looking for something funny that doesn’t take itself seriously. Even if you’re not fond of these types of games, you’ll definitely be entertained by how the game carries itself.

This review is based on a PS5 review code provided by the developer/publisher.

Revenge of the Savage Planet Review (PS5)

8 Great

It's a fun adventure game to play if you're looking for something funny that doesn't take itself seriously. Even if you're not fond of these types of games, you'll definitely be entertained by how the game carries itself.