Developed by Next Game Level and published on consoles by Ratalaika Games, Remote Life is a side-scrolling twin-stick shooter that mixes horror elements with action. The game brings a unique take on the classic side-scrolling space shooting genre by adding twin-stick shooting to deliver a more accessible gameplay experience. Next Game Level comprises a sole developer Mario Malagrino who has worked and developed Remote Life all by himself. This is our review of Remote Life in which we explore a deadly alien hive and shoot down everything that comes in our way.
Before starting the game, you can explore the options for a customized experience. You can one difficulty setting from four unique options and even go for a radar option that alerts you when enemies are approaching from the back. You can apply various filters to the game as well for a retro feel such as the ARCADE or the BIT Filter which gives you a retro feel but I think the default setup is the best option to experience Remote Life on. You can also customize visual settings from three presets to customize how many visual effects you want on the screen because when everything is turned on, the screen lights up like a Christmas tree during intense fights. After everything is done, you can jump into the tutorial mission to learn about how to play the game and then finally jump into the main story of the game.
There are no other modes to play however with the level selection, you can play each level of the game as many times as you want. Remote Life is a brutal game so after completing it on lower difficulties, you can experience the nightmare once again on higher difficulties if you do not value your controllers. You take control of John Leone who is a pilot and is on a mission to defeat a giant Alien Hive approaching his planet. The game shows cutscenes at various key locations as well which give you insights into the ongoing story. You can also take part in different escort missions, but they are not related to the main story of the game. For the real experience, you can turn the difficulty a little high and then slaughter whatever comes your way.
Remote Life plays out like any other side scroller shooter but one key difference here is that this is a twin-stick shooter. This means that you use your left stick to move your ship around and your right stick to aim and shoot at your enemies. This means that you have greater control of where you can shoot, and you do not necessarily have to move your ship to shoot at various enemies unless you really have to. This brings an interesting concept to the game as you do not have to frantically move around the screen to shoot at your enemies. You can simply stick to one location and shoot around yourself however you do have to move around to avoid the environmental hazards that the game throws at you. You get three weapons at the start of the game however as you progress in the game, you get additional weapons as pickups, and they replace the weapon that you currently have equipped.
You can scroll through the equipped weapons with L and R1 and you have a fourth super attack which is extremely dangerous for your enemies however you only get a limited supply of it, so you have to save it for really sticky situations. Each weapon in the game is unique however the base weapons in the game are not really good. You do find additional and more powerful weapons, but they run out fairly quickly and unless you hunt for new pickups, you are left with base weapons that are not that effective, and they do not look that cool while firing as well. This leaves you wanting for more sometimes because normally, you get weapon powerups as you progress, but this is not the case here. You find cool weapons otherwise you are left with boring base weapons. While for dealing damage to enemies, they are fine but they lack the show of the fancy weapons that Remote Life features and after using those weapons, the stock weapons do not look that good.
One of the key aspects that I like about Remote Life is that the game actually feels spooky, and you actually feel inside an alien hive. The game incorporates horror elements into its level design and it is really good, and they add to the challenge of the overall shooting. It feels like a platforming side-scrolling shooter because most of the time you will be trying to avoid getting hit. The environments of Remote Life are just as deadly as those of its enemies. You have platforms that are moving up and down, spinning discs with small openings that act as gates for the next area along with giant machinery which keeps you on your toes. Sometimes bonus weapons or attachments are often found near tough-to-access areas forcing you to take a risk for a new attachment or a powerful weapon. Sometimes you also have to take path decisions and depending on your choice, you might avoid certain enemies but might run into a bigger environmental threat that is hard to avoid.
The environment is not always hostile to you in the game as sometimes, you will reach a turret that will be under your control, and sometimes you can land inside special vehicles which cover all of the screen and use them for maximum destruction. These special vehicles are level specific and that too in particular sections, other than that, you will be fighting the hive with your own ship. Apart from the base ship, you can unlock two additional ships with story progression. As you complete levels, you will increase your rank which unlocks two additional variants of your base ship which differ in speed only. However, as you complete more story missions, you will unlock better ships to use in the game. These are unlocked from the Bonus Features section of the game along with other bonus features of the game.
The enemies in Remote Life deserve to be mentioned in this review as well because they are some of the best-designed enemies I have seen in a long time. Since you are fighting an alien hive, the game really features enemies that look like they are part of the hive. The structures and buildings that you come across feel alive as well as they have long tentacles and other structures have some sort of an organism attached to them that moves or shoots at you. Apart from this, the enemies are very much like huge, space insects that come with their own weapons and they fit perfectly with the game’s theme. The bosses are a combination of both organic and mechanical lives giving them a really scary vibe, but their fights are really intense. Some of the enemies in the game also come with timers so if you miss shooting them, they will explode killing you so everything in the game is really out to kill you one way or the other.
Remote Life has a story, but the game levels are separate, and you will head back to the main menu for starting the next level manually after completing a level. There is no high score hunting here and all you need to do is survive the onslaught of the hive. Since the levels are separate, and you can quickly start one from the beginning without losing your whole story, there are no continues in the game. You only get a few lives for each level but when your lives are low, you get one extra health during a level and one extra before a boss fight, so you have to manage within these lives. The game is really harsh in the fact that if you run out of lives at the boss, you have to play the entire level again from the start. You lost all your progress in the level if you die, and this become hectic especially if you are at the end of a really hard level. Remote Life is a tough game and sometimes you might end up replaying a level a lot more than you would have initially anticipated it.
In the past few months, I have played a lot of side-scrolling shooters, some of them were new releases however most of them were simply older titles re-releasing on modern consoles but Remote Life felt nothing like them. It has such a strong personality of its own that it immediately defines its own position in the sea of side-scrolling shooters. Very few titles use the twin-stick shooting mechanic when it comes to side-scrolling but I loved the fact that Mario actually went through with it because it gives more control over your ship and shooting at enemies. I loved the boss battles, and the special weapons were really cool to use in the game. The special vehicles bit is really interesting as well however the base weapons are extremely weak in the game, and I would have loved to see their upgrades or powerups giving us that extra oomph against the enemies. The environment is really spooky, and you actually feel alone inside an alien hive that is trying to devour you at every corner.
Final Verdict:
Considering the fact that Remote Life was developed by just one developer, I was really amazed at how much work that has gone into its development. It looks beautiful, plays brilliant and the overall game design is the best that I have seen in any of the recent side scrolling shooters that I have played in recent times. Apart from that, the game is really challenging which as well might be a little off-putting for some players, but all of the retro side-scrolling shooters were extremely brutal. The game feels a little slow at the start and the base weapons do not really pack a punch but once you have understood the feel of the twin-stick shooting, you really start to enjoy this game. I will highly recommend that if you love playing 2D side scrolling shooters specially with beautiful and atmospheric levels, Remote Life should be on your must-play list.
Final Score: 8.5/10
