Stage 2 Studios

Lifeless Planet: Premier Edition was developed and published by Stage 2 Studios on Xbox One. It was released on May 13, 2015 for $19.99. A copy was provided for review purposes.

When putting pen to paper on a fresh review, it’s often easy to determine the standard of a game based on how it compares to its peers, but that’s a major issue with Lifeless Planet, because, as far as I’m concerned, there is nothing else quite like it. Lifeless Planet is in many ways an interactive story, rather than a traditional video game. It features a compelling narrative about the lone survivor of a crash on a distant (seemingly lifeless) planet that is steadily revealed through audio logs and other records as the player progresses.

What immediately struck me about Lifeless Planet is how well it hides the fact that it is so linear. From the outset the player is made to feel like they are exploring a vast and limitless expanse, to the extent that each time the sun shimmers on a distant metallic object and guides them forwards, it feels more like a genuine discovery than simply turning the page of a book. Sometimes the clues are more obvious — like following a trail of green footprints — but most of the time the more obvious nods are woven into the narrative in a convincing enough way. Perhaps more questionable, however, are Lifeless Planet‘s core puzzle and platform game mechanics, so I was interested to see if the game stood up to extended play – let’s find out.

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Lifeless Planet will release May 13 on Xbox One, Stage 2 Studio’s David Board announced on Twitter yesterday. The puzzle-platformer first released on PC in June of last year …
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At Microsoft’s E3 press conference on Monday morning, there was a video montage of a lot of games that are coming to Xbox One through the ID@Xbox program. Over the next few days, XBLA Fans is bringing you a slightly longer glimpse of those titles than what the montage trailer allowed for. Our coverage of these titles will be in alphabetical order. Following is a look at the third set of seven of those games.

Hellraid

Known best for the Dead Island and Call of Juarez series, Techland is currently working on the Chrome Engine 6-powered dark fantasy action title Hellraid for Xbox One as well as PC and PlayStation 4. Hellraid, which is set in a world that has been invaded by the forces of — wait for it — hell, was first announced in 2013 and originally envisioned as a Dead Island mode. It will have both single-player and two, three and four-player co-op options that give players melee, magic and ranged combat abilities for use in dispatching invading demon scum. Techland is promising diverse fighting styles for the game’s various weapons, which naturally includes the ability to crush skulls with hammers. If you’re not the skull-crushing type, then perhaps the game’s various crossbows or spells will be more your style.

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