Exo One is a short, pensive and unique little game where you play as a UFO hurtling across alien landscapes very, very quickly. Pulling on the right trigger makes you heavier, allowing you to build up velocity when going downhill, while squeezing the left trigger transforms you from your default spherical shape into a discus-like oblong, able to glide majestically through the often turbulent atmospheres of the various planets you're taken to. The idea of the game is to rhythmically switch between the two different forms of your spaceship in such a way that you build up as much momentum as possible. This, in turn, lets you go faster, glide for longer and jump higher. It's difficult to put into words, but play the game for any amount of time and you'll intuitively figure out what you need to do.
When it works, it's excellent: shooting off the top of a steep hill at hundreds of miles per hour to send yourself flying through the air and then seamlessly turning into an aerodynamic metal frisbee to soar even further - it just feels wonderful. Even better is the sensation of diving from three thousand feet up, breaking through the sound barrier as you charge towards the ground, pulling up at the last moment and then zooming low over the barren wastes or endless sand dunes beneath you. While the imagery and atmosphere are borrowed wholesale from films like 2001 and Interstellar, I've never really played another game like it before. It's sort of like Flower with the physics of Monkey Target, although much, much faster.
Beyond trying to build up enough height and speed to get to the one or two far-flung collectibles there are to find on each world, you don't do anything in each level except make your way to the star elevator: a constant blue light on the horizon that catapults you to the next planet. The simple joy of moving through space at speed, however, is enough to compel you to keep playing; I completed the game in one two-hour long sitting and never found myself getting bored. The fluidity of the movement combined with the dreamlike, even surrealist environments and evocative ambient soundtrack were enough to put me into a trance-like mood. I imagine it's a good game to play if you're stoned (I wasn't, but the game's Achievements seem to encourage this: you get one if you're able to 'Get high' enough on each level).
There are a couple of missteps. On a few occasions where I'd whiffed a jump and had to spend time lining it up again, I felt like a rewind button would have been handy. And a claustrophobic jungle planet about two thirds of the way through is frustrating to navigate; in a game all about speed, a level where you're forced to slow down seems out of place. There's also a back story that is told quite effectively through garbled audio messages and sudden images that momentarily flicker on the screen, but I didn't pay attention enough to figure out exactly what was going on. The fact that the game is only two hours long, however, makes any of its shortcomings easy to overlook. I thought this was a memorable, meditative experience that serves as a nice palette cleanser between more mechanically-involved games. If you're looking for something short before a certain game releases later this week, and you have Game Pass, definitely check it out.
8/10
When it works, it's excellent: shooting off the top of a steep hill at hundreds of miles per hour to send yourself flying through the air and then seamlessly turning into an aerodynamic metal frisbee to soar even further - it just feels wonderful. Even better is the sensation of diving from three thousand feet up, breaking through the sound barrier as you charge towards the ground, pulling up at the last moment and then zooming low over the barren wastes or endless sand dunes beneath you. While the imagery and atmosphere are borrowed wholesale from films like 2001 and Interstellar, I've never really played another game like it before. It's sort of like Flower with the physics of Monkey Target, although much, much faster.
Beyond trying to build up enough height and speed to get to the one or two far-flung collectibles there are to find on each world, you don't do anything in each level except make your way to the star elevator: a constant blue light on the horizon that catapults you to the next planet. The simple joy of moving through space at speed, however, is enough to compel you to keep playing; I completed the game in one two-hour long sitting and never found myself getting bored. The fluidity of the movement combined with the dreamlike, even surrealist environments and evocative ambient soundtrack were enough to put me into a trance-like mood. I imagine it's a good game to play if you're stoned (I wasn't, but the game's Achievements seem to encourage this: you get one if you're able to 'Get high' enough on each level).
There are a couple of missteps. On a few occasions where I'd whiffed a jump and had to spend time lining it up again, I felt like a rewind button would have been handy. And a claustrophobic jungle planet about two thirds of the way through is frustrating to navigate; in a game all about speed, a level where you're forced to slow down seems out of place. There's also a back story that is told quite effectively through garbled audio messages and sudden images that momentarily flicker on the screen, but I didn't pay attention enough to figure out exactly what was going on. The fact that the game is only two hours long, however, makes any of its shortcomings easy to overlook. I thought this was a memorable, meditative experience that serves as a nice palette cleanser between more mechanically-involved games. If you're looking for something short before a certain game releases later this week, and you have Game Pass, definitely check it out.
8/10