The Invincible is a walking sim teeming with potential, which unfortunately did not reach the heights it should have.
If there's one thing the team at Starward has nailed here, it's the atmosphere and its landscapes. The barren, sandy vistas of Regis III are a sight to behold, even if they barely evolve throughout the game's runtime. The tech, costume design and architecture also deserve a special mention as being delightfully retro, while still retaining practicality and relative realism.
The biggest problem with Invincible is the story, and specifically the climax. Its first half sets up a lot of interesting mysteries and invites speculation, which completely falls apart by the explanations given in the second half, which, while logical, I found pretty uninteresting. The ending itself has a pretty clear message, but is once again, completely unremarkable. It's a story that is philosophically charged, bringing out the age-old man vs machine question and not doing much to help recontextualize it, which easily eliminates any philosophical interest it may have had.
More than anything, The Invincible made me want to pick up Lem's book and discover what the original story is, because, despite everything, the world showcased in the game is genuinely noteworthy among sci-fi. It's a fascinating case of a game I really, really wanted to love, but one that was too messy in its execution to allow me to fully enjoy it.
6.5/10
If there's one thing the team at Starward has nailed here, it's the atmosphere and its landscapes. The barren, sandy vistas of Regis III are a sight to behold, even if they barely evolve throughout the game's runtime. The tech, costume design and architecture also deserve a special mention as being delightfully retro, while still retaining practicality and relative realism.
The biggest problem with Invincible is the story, and specifically the climax. Its first half sets up a lot of interesting mysteries and invites speculation, which completely falls apart by the explanations given in the second half, which, while logical, I found pretty uninteresting. The ending itself has a pretty clear message, but is once again, completely unremarkable. It's a story that is philosophically charged, bringing out the age-old man vs machine question and not doing much to help recontextualize it, which easily eliminates any philosophical interest it may have had.
More than anything, The Invincible made me want to pick up Lem's book and discover what the original story is, because, despite everything, the world showcased in the game is genuinely noteworthy among sci-fi. It's a fascinating case of a game I really, really wanted to love, but one that was too messy in its execution to allow me to fully enjoy it.
6.5/10