The Invincible

Game Title: The Invincible
Released: November 6, 2023
Game Length: 8 Hours
Grade: A-

Settings

Graphics: A couple years ago when this game released, my potato of a computer was unable to get past the introduction. After adding a couple of chips, the game was able to run but only barely. The narrative was interesting enough to continue, but the graphics were very bland to navigate on the lowest settings. This wasn't so bad when you were surrounded with a desert wasteland with a bunch of rocks, but the low polygon count started to matter when more complex materials filled the screen. The spots where your character would stop to check out the view was less impactful when you aren't able to push those graphics to a higher setting.

Motion Sickness: It didn't take long to realize there was another problem that sometimes plagues me when playing certain games. Despite the slow movements of your character, there was a pain creeping up in my stomach. Thankfully, the game provides an abundance of changes to help alleviate any symptoms you might be experiencing during your playthrough.You can increase the field of view from 90 between 100 to 120. You can disable (or enable) the effects of sprint, head bobbing, your space helmet, and visor. Curiously, there wasn't much of a problem when watching someone else play the game.

Hints: The game provides a lot of information to help lead you in the right direction. You will still get utterly lost trying to find that one spot to advance the story or turned around when looking for something specific, but there are white notifications that appear when you are navigating the landscape. If any of these bother you, there is the option to turn any of them off in the main menu. These include hints in the background, interaction hints, interactions offscreen, controls, automatic climbing interactions, and the white paint where you climb up or down. 

Choices

Dialogue: When you first start the game, you will essentially be alone without any equipment. As time progresses, you will gather equipment, reconnect with your leader in space, and find other people. You can choose to say something in the hopes that someone is listening or stay quiet. Most of the dialogue is completely optional other than key points that pivot the story. You can choose to carry out philosophical discussions or tell someone directly to keep quiet. The conversations can steer into many different directions depending on what kind of reply you want to make. Some might provide you an optimistic, neutral, or skeptical perspective. When tensions rise, they may shift to calm, inquisitive, or desperate outbursts. When asked for your opinion, you can state whether you agree, disagree, or unsure on a matter. There are a couple times where you get three choices of naming a landmark or a robot. Each choice evolves the story and the personalities of the characters. 

Actions: The video game follows the narration of the 1963 novel The Invincible. You aren't able to stray too far from the direction of the main story, but there are changes to your environment depending on what actions you take throughout the game. One example is whether or not you want to supply your oxygen tank to a fallen comrade in the hopes that he will survive. Doing so means he will, but you will suffer hallucinations (that converse with you) from breathing in the methane from the planet. There is another moment you are given a choice to drink some water offered to you. Whether or not you trust drinking the water doesn't matter, but the relationship between you and the stranger suffers and can make the final sequence more difficult to keep together. If you choose to try and leave the planet right away, something goes wrong with the launcher and isn't available later on.

Endings: There are 11 different endings depending on your choices in the game. The five bad endings all have to do with you literally using the nuclear option. All the good endings vary depending on what happens to the stranger, the launcher, and the unique samples you grabbed along the way. Some of the details are open to interpretation since they are cut short, on purpose, from any sort of solid resolution. It forces the player to ponder over such matters and come to their own conclusions.

Style

Technology: The game goes old school with tech that you might see in 2001: A Space Odyssey or Lost in Space. There are tons of fancy space things to view and play around with as you explore the planet. There are what you may call computers, but they are more focused on providing you recorded video from the machines out in the field. There are probes shaped like spheres that take snapshots of the environment, humanoid robots that carry supplies, spaceships, launchers, tents, rovers that you can change the outside look from the main menu, and scary machines with anti-matter guns that can cut through rock. Data pulled from the machines are imprinted on these slides like you see in a panel from a comic. 

Tools: Don't think you will be going around empty-handed. There is a journal with what appears to be a series of maps that slowly get drawn out while exploring the planet. There are some binoculars that allow you to zoom in and focus on objects in the distance. You get a tracker that is more like a series of light bulbs that glow when you get close to a beacon. The metal detector displays a retro grid with glowing outlines of anything metallic that might be underground. The other gadgets and gizmos will appear during cutscenes like your oxygen tank, flare, rope & grappling hook, long-range transmitter, and cable descender. 

Summary

Review: The game is beautifully rendered and invokes a sense of curious exploration on a mysterious planet. There are tons of fascinating technology you can utilize, discover, interact with, and admire. The narrative is expansive giving you a number of choices in dialogue, actions, and locations to visit. Although you anticipate getting lost in such an open environment, there are plenty of hints and safeguards in place if you are struggling to find the way out. There were a few issues that bothered me, but there was enough content to keep me wanting more in the long run. I say definitely give this game a shot.