Video Game Review - Remote Life

Rob reviews Remote Life on PlayStation 5...

Remote Life is a curious hybrid between side-scrolling arcade action and a twin-stick shooter. Inspired by the challenging games of the old, one-man developer; Next Game Level has teamed up with indie games publisher Ratalaika Games to bring Remote Life to the PlayStation 4 (PlayStation 5 via backwards compatibility). 

Tasked with infiltrating a vast alien hive ship, players will guide lone pilot John Leone as he attempts to destroy the vast vessel from the inside. As the story progresses John will uncover the secrets to the alien's invasion, as well as discover the means to stop them from destroying Earth. With a high-tech spaceship as his only backup, John is reliant on a dexterous player to help make it out in one piece...

Upon first loading up Remote Life you'll be greeted with some incredible scenery. Everything has an H.R. Giger-inspired biomechanical feel, which not only builds an interesting atmosphere - it also fills you with unease. Graphics are pre-rendered which gives the game its decadent 90s feel and moves away from using those all-familiar polygons. Where the graphics presentation is stunning, the audio does find itself lacking. On its own, the techno-noir soundtrack is pretty good. It's a constant bass-filled beat that rarely dials down its tone for you to breathe. Yet, in doing so it somehow overpowers the game's sound effects.

Gameplay-wise and Remote Life plays like most arcade shooters. Your craft comes equipped with the hard points for three primary weapons and one limited power weapon. Each of the three primary weapons can be switched to at any time, with each having a vast array of different attacks to them. There's plenty of variation to these attacks which range from fast firing (but weak) bullets, slow (and powerful) missiles, and cluster bombs. Considering the wide range of enemies on each stage, it does pay to master when best to use each weapon. If this isn't enough firepower, at certain points you'll also be able to utilise drone turrets to further augment your ship's power.

When it comes to difficulty, Remote Life is one tough hombre. Even the game's easiest difficulty setting provides a solid challenge for most players. However, this difficulty isn't in part the game's enemies, but rather the level design. To be honest the level design is so brutal that it occasionally borders on being unfair. Throughout you'll be traversing through cramp spaces as mammoth-sized enemies block the screen, and all manner of biomechanical monstrosities go about their business. Access ways will often open just as all hope seems lost, and they'll also close just as quick. It doesn't pay to play through this one defensively, but you also can't rush in either. 

Thankfully to offset the difficulty there is the option to start from any previously completed level. While this does in some way make the game a little easier - you've got to reach that checkpoint. Considering that it doesn't take a lot to see you crashing back to the main menu, it's no easy task. 

When it comes down to it, Remote Life is a challenging, yet interesting shmup. It's not exactly a bullet hell, but it would certainly translate well into one. Controls are tight and responsive, and the blend of using twin-stick mechanics is a nice touch. However what fun that is there is hampered by some very frustrating level designs, that can potentially see some players give up together. 

With Remote Life 2 already in development, I'm hoping we see an improvement to the already interesting formula. 

Rating: 7/10 

Remote Life is out now and can be downloaded from the PlayStation Store. 

A code was kindly provided for this review. 

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