They say that in space no one can hear you scream, but what if you made it cuter.
STORY:
Geno Panic is an action platformer that has been inspired loosely by Metroidvanias, where you play as a robot that has been sent to retrieve a package from a research lab, and are joined by your trusty AI assistant dog named LAIK. It doesn't take long to realize that something's off when the station seems to be in a lockdown of sorts, and the robot workers do not seem to know that you're there for a package. Eventually what you find out is that the package you were supposed to get is actually the "GMO critters" who have escaped, and it is now up to you to capture them all!
The goal becomes clear: Find out what happened to the lab, capture all the critters, and leave the planet.
GAMEPLAY:
As stated, Geno Panic takes inspiration from Metroidvanias, but it is NOT a full on one. It is one continuous set of levels from start to finish, that are all interconnected, except at some points you will no longer be able to backtrack to the previous sections. They become completely locked off, and prevent you from exploring. There are a few impactful bosses scattered throughout the game that are both short but fairly fun to beat, and you find new upgrades and tools to help you progress. Each level and subsequent levels uses them to increase the complexity of the level design to make it more challenging and interesting, but, as mentioned before, these abilities cannot be used in older areas.
The game has a good pace when it comes to introducing new mechanics, while still remembering what you as a player already knows, though this approach isn't flawless since some of the tools are rather under utilized.
For example, one the very first tools you acquire is a gun that shoots balls that you purely use to capture critters with (which there are 6 of in total in the entire game). I can understand that the developer was most likely thinking of the convenience of it being a tool rather than a prompt or a second menu, but I can't help wonder if it was entirely unnecessary to make it into a tool instead of just walking up to the creature and picking it up?
Another tool that feels under utilized is the gravity gun. It sounds like a lot of fun aye? Most players would think of the gravity gun from Half life 2, or games with similar mechanics where you can use it to pick up objects, reposition them for puzzles, or use them to shoot objects in the environment towards enemies. In Geno Panic it's purely used to get rid of the objects blocking your path. These objects are in a straight line most of the time, but sometimes the game changes it up and asks you to push an object into something. It technically does get used more, unlike the ball gun tool, but I can't help feel like "so why is it used instead of A or B tool?"
Thankfully most of the other tools are fun; just like the Jetpack that lets you hover and dash through the air at a fast pace! As for the others, I really did find it enjoyable that almost every level introduced a new gimmick or a new puzzle that needed these tools, but then in a later levels got re-introduced with another gimmick added on. Eventually you had to use several tools in junction with each other to progress, and that helped make up for the more "pointless" feeling ones.
That being said; if there is one thing the game does correctly, it has to be the nice flow it has. (Although maybe it is a bit too fast?)
PROS AND CONS:
Geno Panic has a lot of ideas going for it, and even though some of the tools feel a bit redundant, they never took away from the experience and the rapid pace of the game. That being said, the faster pace does hurt another part of the game: The Story.
Usually in platformers the story isn't the main focus of the game, and neither is it here; however, there are several scenes in the game and different logs you find that attempt to world build. They try to give the story more of a bigger meaning, and contextualize why the heck you are even out there on that planet.
For me it is a mix bag on where it succeeds, and where it really doesn't, with one of the main issues being the character named VOLGA. "A mischievous cat-girl and the station's AI," as stated on the store page, she is supposed to be the quirky sassy and kind of an antagonist? You meet her frequently throughout the game, but she doesn't get enough time for us to actually get to know her, or what even her goals are (in fact even after beating the game I honestly don't have a clue still). Many of the different logs you find don't even give world building or lore that could answer these questions, and in fact, quite a few of them are just teasing the tool you're about to get and nothing else.
I find this disappointing because the logs, that are mostly optional, should have been used more to expand the world, and the characters within it in my opinion. There was a stage later on in the game where we got attacked by a whole new faction, but they only appeared on that stage! They were cool for the part of the game, but the story made it sound like they were doing something. . . . .
What? You thought you would get a context of what they were doing? And who they are? Nope! Onto the next stage!
Again, the story isn't the main focus of the game, but for me it feels like it wants to add more story but can't give it too much focus to keep up the rapid pace of the gameplay. Again, I found this to be a bit of a shame since there is enough story and world building to peek my interest! Just not enough to make me remember it sadly.
As of writing this review you can't even get the true ending of the game (those reading the achievements will know what I mean), however, the developer has confirmed that there is an update on its way for it. Even so, I felt that I needed to mention it since this is what is available currently.
That being said, the area where the game does shine really nicely is the Aesthetics and the ambience.
Geno Panic is both beautiful to look at and beautiful to play game. The crisp and detailed pixel art gives the whole research lab a nice eerie and, well, Cute look - as the developer advertises. The enemies and main characters are nicely animated, and add a lot of charm to the experience as well. The music is mostly ambience to try give you a "scary environment" feeling (though the game itself never really gets scary, except maybe in a few scenes because of gameplay), but when the soundtrack gets intense, it goes for it to pump up the action in just the right moments!
CONCLUSION:
Overall I did enjoy Geno Panic, and think it's a charming small indie game. It is a rather short experience that clocked in for me about 2-3 hours, and personally I like games being short and sweet experiences, rather than being bloated just for the sake of increasing its length; so I didn't find an issue with that. The developer has promised to add a bit more to the game, or at the very least the missing ending (and currently un-achievable achievements), so hopefully they do that soon to make it complete!
I can say that if you just want a simple but fun and short platformer to enjoy, then Geno Panic does deliver where it counts. I hope that if the developer continues the series in the future, and that they get the chance to expand the game a bit more. (Maybe make a full on Metroidvania?)
Disclosure: I received a free review copy of this product from https://www.keymailer.co
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