Little green aliens, lightsabers, and spaceships that look like engineering nightmares are what people typically expect to see from games that take to the stars these days, but The Invincible by Starward Industries takes a different approach. The Invincible takes players back to a time when space-faring sci-fi was less about the aliens and more about what humanity would do when it reached the stars and what that would mean for us. Inspired by the novel of the same name by Stanislaw Lem, Starward’s debut narrative thriller brings old-school hard science fiction to life with beautiful visuals, but it also has a few technical issues and a bit of bloat.
What will more than likely be the biggest point of consideration when diving into The Invincible is its slower, narrative-heavy game design with not much to do as far as gameplay mechanics are concerned. It is admirable and refreshing that The Invincible sheds a lot of the current video game scene’s focus on violence and tries something new. But on the other side, there isn’t so much as even a puzzle throughout the game’s roughly seven-hour runtime. The majority of The Invincible relies on players clicking on things, talking over comms, making decisions, and more or less taking one long hike across the surface of Regis III. On the surface, this may look like a big-budget production with all the bells and whistles, but it has the heart and soul of a laid-back interactive fiction indie game, which players should take into account.
Luckily, The Invincible makes up for the lack of rigorous gameplay mechanics by focusing on its narrative and making sure it delivers characters that feel alive and are likable. As established, Starward’s The Invincible is a loose adaptation of Stanislaw Lem’s novel of the same name - and while Lem’s original novel tackles themes of humanity’s relationship with technology and our place in the universe in a more direct, hard sci-fi manner, Starward’s adaption takes a more cerebral approach to the mystery at the core of the story. It’s a thriller through and through and can be a little unnerving at times, but it's nothing that general audiences can’t handle.
The central premise revolves around an amnesiac biologist named Yasna who comes to the distant planet of Regis III after a mission went off course and she was split up from her crew. She soon realizes that only the staff's Astrogator, Novik, is the only one responsive on comms, and she must now piece together what happened to her team and see if she can find a way off Regis III safely.
Without any spoilers, Yasna quickly discovers that Regis III is home to something that neither she nor Novik could have expected, but in a very ‘60s hard sci-fi way. Those who like to get nerdy about biological "what-ifs" will really love what is in store here, and it makes for a neat twist on what we expect from these sci-fi thrillers.
The Invincible’s narrative is thematically tight and well-written, asking the player to consider that maybe humanity’s role in the universe should not be that of the conqueror and a few more moral considerations depending on what choices the player makes.
Starward’s writing of the main characters, in particular, is worthy of a lot of praise. Inhabiting Yasna is a delight, as she is one of the most charming protagonists this year, with her dialogue bringing a sense of wonder and exploration to the narrative that really sold her as a happy-go-lucky biologist who maybe should have rethought going on this mission. However, players can also turn her into a more cynical and selfish character depending on their dialogue choices. Meanwhile, Novik acts as a good counterweight to Yasna, as he frequently questions her motivations and observations while trying to decipher what is going on in Regis III alongside her. There is a lot of decision-making that goes into how players want these two to interact and grow as the narrative develops, but regardless of what players choose, these sequences always felt natural and real thanks to some smart writing.
It's also easy to get absorbed into the world of The Invincible due in part to the visual feast that assaults players at every turn of Regis III. For a game with a smaller budget and a smaller team, The Invincible packs a graphical punch that is well above its weight class. Regis III is ominous and beautiful, with dust storms that blow in and cover the area with particle effects or with beautiful sunrises that complement the dusty cliffs and sandy dunes with lighting that hits at just the right spots. The game’s use of a first-person point of view, coupled with the incredible landscapes on Regis III, brings a sense of presence to the whole experience that makes it feel that much more immersive and can really hook in players quite easily.
On the downside, there were a few technical issues with The Invincible that certainly broke its spell of immersion at times in quite a noticeable way. While it's easy to look past a few animation issues, The Invincible’s lack of manual saves and reliance on designated checkpoints with long stretches of time between them is a huge oversight. While there is no actual failure state in The Invincible that would make players return to one checkpoint multiple times, it can be unpleasant to have to put down the game and come back only to retread the last fifteen to twenty minutes of dialogue and hiking just to catch up to where players originally wanted to stop playing.
This was particularly bad in the more open areas where players could explore in the rover vehicle for whatever length of time they wished but had no way to save their progress until they reached whatever arbitrary point the game decided to put a checkpoint at. Most frustrating of all, however, were the times in which the game bugged out, like when the Detector tool stopped working and we had to reload the save and lose a ton of progress through no fault of our own. On paper, it may seem like a minor complaint, but when considering how much of the game is standing in place and listening to dialogue, having to tiptoe around when it was and wasn't okay to stop playing or else risk losing progress can lead to frustration.
When taking in The Invincible as a whole, there was always a nagging feeling that Starward could have done a bit more with the game and premise or, if not, trim what was at hand to make a tighter experience. There exists a juxtaposition where some of The Invincible’s best moments lie in its narrative sequences in which players have no control at all and then are snapped into gameplay portions that feel like excessive connective tissue just so that there is something to do. As a game with a leaner approach to gameplay, The Invincible sometimes struggles to make the moments in which players actually play feel worthwhile.
Additionally, the main story's decision-making sequences may carry weight, but it sometimes seemed like the more minor decisions led to the same place, with the ending being the only thing that was significantly altered based on player choices. Between these two considerations in the game's design, it felt like the AAA-like spectacle and open-world feel that The Invincible was chasing occasionally did the disservice of bloating an otherwise tight and well-paced game.
But even with a few technical hiccups, checkpoint woes, and a sense that maybe going this big with such an intimate game wasn’t the best choice, The Invincible is an enjoyable experience. The Invincible is a '60s sci-fi novel brought to life that is best suited for those who love to get nerdy about hard science and love that retro sci-fi aesthetic. More casual fans will likely find plenty to enjoy with the game, but they should know that this a game about getting immersed in a world that wants to tell a story instead of the usual space-faring adventure shtick. When The Invincible gets its hooks in players, it can be a narrative experience that is thrilling, thought-provoking, and worth the ride.
The Invincible
The Invincible is a story-driven adventure game, adapted from the hard sci-fi works of Stanislaw Lem. Players will explore Regis III as Yasna, use tools to search for her missing crew, and face unforeseen threats.
- Platform(s)
- PC , PS5 , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S
- Released
- November 6, 2023
- Developer
- Starward Industries
- Publisher(s)
- 11 Bit Studios
- An engaging story with realistic characters
- Beautiful design
- Some sections feel superfluous
- Unreliable checkpoint system
The Invincible is available November 6, 2023, for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. Game ZXC was provided a PC code for the purposes of this review.
