Preview: Planetoid Pioneers
A novel feature doesn’t always make for a fun experience.
Data Realms’s latest early access title is a novel take on the popular “Metroidvania” genre — named after pioneering titles Metroid and Castlevania that blended platforming, action, and a strong focus on exploring large environments — that combines “physics-driven” movement with item creation. Planetoid Pioneers has the potential to be a thoroughly enjoyable experience, but its clunky gameplay and lack of a strong narrative keep it from being too memorable.
Having crash-landed on a strange alien planetoid, players are tasked with scanning and cloning objects to rebuild their ship and return home. Unfortunately, this early access offering features clunky controls that stem from its “physics-driven” nature; a feature that adds to the fun of games such as Gang Beasts but gets in the way of the precise control needed to traverse the diverse landscapes featured in Planetoid Pioneers. Solving the game’s puzzles requires exploring each world’s caverns for items, so the inconsistent way in which objects move makes this task very difficult — especially when laying down objects to reach ledges and finding that they don’t sit well or feeling frustrated when your character refuses to jump onto these objects reliably.
While the game’s physics-based movement system can prove a hindrance, the lack of strong narrative motivation means that players are driven solely by the promise of deep exploration. The game’s multiplayer element should readily lend itself to hours of fun with friends, but solo players may find it difficult to get past the clunky controls to discover the various enemies and environments found in each planetoid.
Speaking of discovery, from the trailers and screenshots released so far, it’s clear that Data Realms has included a lot of content in Planetoid Pioneers, from pilotable mech suits and turrets to advanced alien creatures. Personally, small things like the colour of the scanning ray changing to reflect the type of materials found in each object as well as the realistic need to create light sources throughout caverns are subtle details that prove helpful when engrossed within a puzzle.
In terms of technical optimisation, Data Realms has some work to do in improving the game’s framerate. Even on my moderately powerful and SSD-equipped system, I found that the game struggled to maintain a consistent frame rate and frequently dipped below the playable 30 frames-per-second threshold. To its credit, the small developer has thankfully added proper 21:9 ultra widescreen resolution support to Planetoid Pioneers, which is an area where some recent AAA games — I’m looking at you, Fallout 4 and Overwatch — fall short.
As of this writing, Data Realms has not announced a final release date for Planetoid Pioneers, which means that there is plenty of time for improvement, but there’s enough here for a fun romp with friends. Solo players, however, may want to wait until the developer adds more narrative content before delving deep into the game’s Metroidvania premise.
Final thoughts:
Crash-landing onto an alien world and scrambling to build a new ship should be a challenging experience for any stranded explorer, but Planetoid Pioneers’s “physics-driven” gameplay makes things especially difficult. While there are some small touches that help to improve immersion, the lack of an intriguing narrative undermines this early access title’s potential as a fun experience for solo players.
