It’s time to return to the Savage Planet! It’s been five full years since we have gotten any new Savage Planet shenanigans, with the last being the Hot Garbage DLC. This time around though, it’s a lot less about just journeying around these planets, and more about righting wrongs… and as always, the employers are the problem. Landing on a distant planet with the goal of making it inhabitable, you find yourself immediately fired from your position and left to figure it out for yourself from that point. Don’t worry though, since after a major malfunction and crash landing, you, at least still have all the gear and everything else you need.. somewhere.

The first and most obvious difference going into Revenge of the Savage Planet is the fact this is all in third-person as opposed to the first-person perspective of Journey. Secondly, while the first game had quite a lot of emphasis on the being like Metroid Prime, Revenge is a lot more of a metroidvania-style collectathon. Right from the getgo it’s made very clear, as you will need to come back to every section of this world as you unlock more tools to be able to collect everything.

For instance, one of the first ones I came across was the goo-eggs, one of which was behind spiderwebs that needed to be burnt to get past. The solution was to come back hours later when I collected an upgrade that essentially let me suck up lava in my water gun to shoot at the webs. In fact, in writing this I just remembered the first actual collectable that I couldn’t get which is right as you get to your habitat that required the ability to stomp, which I unlocked and just forgot about that spot.

Feed a tree to progress? I get it, I would also move for food!

While there are enemies in Revenge of the Savage Planet, and creatures you will have to beat to progress the story, there are a couple of other key aspects. The first is the fact a lot of enemies are more like puzzles. Yes, some you can simply shoot and that’s that, but for others you will need to deflect projectiles, or fill them with water. A lot of enemies aren’t even actually hostile, so be careful who you decide to fight, you may be attacking the innocent. There is something more important than just trying to make everything extinct though, which is capturing and researching the wildlife. Different animals have different things you can discover, anything from new patterns for your clothing, to important upgrade possibilities for your equipment that makes traversing the world just a little bit easier. 

If this didn’t already sound like enough work, making sure you capture one of every creature you come across, finding all the different collectibles, exploring every inch of every planet you can venture to.. Well, you also have the ability to scan every single living thing to log it into a codex. When I say every single living thing, that means animals, trees, flowers, and even some things that aren’t living like floating platforms, lava pools, and your house. There’s a lot of work to be done, ex-employee, get to work! On the note of the habitat/your house, this is an area you can make entirely your own! As you find Alta Bucks in the world you’ll be able to buy decorations, furniture, and more for your habitat to make this house a home.

See, the desert planet can still be pretty.. ignore the carcasses.

One of the best parts of the Savage Planet series is the dialogue, and thankfully that remains true with Revenge. EKO, our little robot companion is full of funny quips to keep everything fun, and the live-action videos and advertisements every time you enter the habitat are absolutely insane in the best way. I didn’t expect the one to get the most reaction would be an extra juicy burger that just squirts at people with how juicy it is. Every line is delivered perfectly and with full seriousness. It’s the same kind of humour as a game like High on Life, but not delivered as if everything is being made up on the spot, it feels like there’s more conviction behind it.

The best part though, is how pretty the worlds are. The world you start off on is green and vibrant, bustling with plants and trees and animals to scan and enjoy. Later you end up on a planet that’s frozen on the surface, but the underground is like visiting the bowels of Hell, being filled with lava and only having small islands to jump across. Luckily, lava won’t immediately end your existence, so it’s safe to not be the best at platforming. The second planet you visit is a bit of a miss in this regard, but it is exactly what you would expect.

The world is covered in desert, making it very brown. There’s a lot of open space that does lead to some really neat areas, like a boneyard or an oasis, but the inbetween for these areas is bland. It’s also fun to note, each planet has its own “battle theme” when an enemy is targeting you. It’s a nice touch that may be overlooked in most games.

Find upgrades, grind rails of electricity, sounds like a good afternoon.

The return to the Savage Planet was a long road, but it’s been worth it. Becoming more of a collectathon and metroidvania than the first game was a great choice, making the game a bit more focused on what your goal is. While you can just push the main story missions, much like any game, it’s way too easy to get distracted and just lose yourself jumping around on mushrooms to get to higher ground to find another goo-egg to increase your health, or to find a new piece of clothing to wear so you can look like a raccoon. The perfect change for a game of this style.

Revenge of the Savage Planet is available now on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S|X.

Reviewed on Xbox Series X.

A copy of Revenge of the Savage Planet was provided by the publisher.