RetroSpace – be careful, the cleaner is saving the galaxy. Review

Played on PC

Immersive simulators have never been at the top of their game, but in the last decade (since Prey) they have finally found a foothold in the indie sector. There, followers of System Shock or Thief come out with moderate regularity and in a variety of forms: from the isometric Weird West to the comic book Fallen Aces. RetroSpace is another homage to the classics of the genre, with a fair amount of irony and love for the fantasy of the golden age.

There is a speck on the window, and outside the window there is a black hole

The main character comes to his senses after cryosleep. The siren is howling. Flashing red lights break up the darkness in the corridors of the space station. We get the role of the Cleaner – Cleaners are not given names, only identification numbers. But a woman’s voice on the radio says that you are the one the Aurora 5 desperately needs. Who else would clean up all this mess after a disaster?

Well, this is real… Delight!

Despite the emergency situation, Aurora 5 otherwise looks like quite a cheerful place. No brutalism or NASA punk. The shapes are deliberately rounded, the colors are warm and bright, with a predominance of orange (where the surroundings are not splattered with blood or questionable black goo). And if you’re still wondering where the authors got their inspiration from, Asimov’s vodka and Bradbury’s beam gun should clear up any remaining questions.

The only strange thing is that the good-natured crew is found only on bright posters, with which literally every wall on the ship is plastered. At the same time, the corridors are full of mutant insects, as if they came out of Cronenberg’s “The Fly”. It seems that safety can be found next to the turrets, from the monitors of which a green smile sparkles. But as soon as you get into the lens of their camera, the “smiley” turns into an angry face, and now a lead rain covers you – just have time to move your feet.

The first steps on Aurora 5 are accompanied by a mysterious atmosphere. As they say, nothing is clear, but very interesting. Gradually we learn that the ship is hovering near a black hole. Its influence is somehow connected with terrible mutations, and as if this weren’t enough of a problem, energy outbreaks periodically throw us into the future, in which the infection has finally taken over the entire ship.

Saving the entire ship will definitely earn you the Cleaner of the Month award!

At first, the Cleaner’s arsenal is quite modest – in his pockets there is only a wrench, a weak pistol and a cleaning product. In the end, you shouldn’t forget about your main responsibilities. And under the oil stain, there will be a code for the security system… You should approach battles wisely. Or better yet, avoid it. Fortunately, the engineers who built Aurora 5 provided extensive ventilation ducts.

Often there are several paths to a goal: some are simply not obvious, others are cleverly hidden from view. Therefore, you should carefully examine your surroundings, climb into every cabinet and under every stone. If it’s not just another hidden passage, then you’ll definitely find useful supplies.

⇡#(Don’t) stay human

RetroSpace reveals its cards gradually. Once you get to the central part of Aurora 5, the level design becomes more open. The ship consists of several compartments: residential cabins, engineering deck, laboratories, and so on. You will have to visit each area and check how the Cleaner can help. Somewhere the experiment got out of control, somewhere the androids rebelled – there is too much to do, and so much garbage!

A true master knows how hard to hit a technique to make it work

You can explore the station in any order. The compartments are connected by a monorail, but it is much more convenient to use the network of teleporters from the cleaners’ guild. Each area has at least one door to the secret hideout of the Broom and Wrench warriors, from where you can quickly jump to any spatial loophole found.

At first, you will find only one resident in the shelter – the artificial intelligence Mia, broadcasting from tube-bellied monitors. But over time, the lair will be filled with other survivors. Each comrade will open access to new opportunities: improvements to the suit, weapons and mutations. The same mutations that turned most of the crew into terrible monsters. But for the sake of cool abilities, you can risk your humanity!

There are vending machines around the ship selling “mutamods”. They are divided into passive improvements, such as restoring health in the light, and active abilities. And here, I’ll say right away, it’s worth lowering your expectations a little. RetroSpace would like to become a space version of Bioshock, but the budget is clearly not enough. Grasshopper legs for long jumps or a tentacle arm that allows you to attack from a distance or grab an object sounds interesting, but does not really open up new possibilities for passing.

It is unlikely that you will often lure enemies to the shields, but the opportunity itself is important

Throughout the game you can feel that the developers have a lot of imagination, but they were limited in the means of expressing it. There are only ten samples of weapons. And this includes a wrench and an electric broom (you heard right!) for close combat. Each has three levels of upgrade, and a couple even have an alternative mode of use, but the arsenal still remains modest. But the improvements affect the appearance of the barrel – a small thing, but always pleasant.

Shooting in RetroSpace is more functional than enjoyable. The revolver and shotgun have good recoil and they pop heads juicily, but you are unlikely to get much pleasure from the shootouts themselves. Rather, it is convenient to clear the area so that you can then calmly study it for any secrets. Although at first resources are limited, and sometimes it’s worth sneaking past opponents – especially strong ones, like security robots.

As befits the genre, the game allows you to use the environment to your advantage. With red barrels and without me everything is clear. An oil stain can be set on fire with a laser. A shot at the shield will electrify the water nearby. The laser is more effective against organics, and it is better to beat robots with something more powerful. But even on high difficulty, by the middle, if you don’t waste ammo, you will forget about any shortage, and the point of the tricks will disappear. Unless choosing the right weapon for a specific enemy remains important.

Team members will also have personal requests. For example, the android Joey will have to help in his relationship with the artificial intelligence Mia

Remember that the Cleaner is weak. As in Bioshock, if you die, you do not need to load the last save (and on high difficulties this is generally prohibited) – the hero revives at the nearest cloning chamber. But the technology is not perfect. Each resurrection is accompanied by a gene defect. Either Tourette’s syndrome makes you swear in vain, or hallucinations begin to appear before your eyes. You can get rid of the disease for a small fee, or you can get to your corpse and pump out healthy gene material. And at higher difficulty levels, the penalties become stricter: all the equipment remains on the lifeless body, and at the maximum level it is even prohibited to eliminate defects for currency. That’s what you are, soulslice in the aesthetics of disco-punk.

* * *

On the one hand, the more time you spend on Aurora 5, the more you notice the lack of resources and experience of the development team. The interface in general and the map in particular are frankly inconvenient. The balance is poor. The narration is too schematic and forces you to visit the same locations several times. On the other hand, the overall impression remains positive. Immersive experiences are always more than the sum of their parts. I would like to praise RetroSpace for its pleasant style, thoughtful details and non-obvious gaming capabilities. Where else can you fly with a fire extinguisher?

Advantages:

• thoughtful level design – you want to explore Aurora 5 far and wide;
• stylistics of positive fiction of the mid-20th century;
• different ways to solve game problems;
• It’s nice to think of non-obvious mechanics yourself: there’s a cleaner in your hands, there’s a stain on the wall, and what if…

Flaws:

• most mutations only sound interesting;
• a sharp transition from helplessness to a killing machine;
• crumpled ending.

Rating: 8.0/10

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