Heavenly Bodies Review (PS5)

good
key review info
  • Game: Heavenly Bodies
  • Platform: Playstation 5
  • Show system requirements
  • Reviewed on:
Heavenly Bodies artwork

Indie games, unlike mainstream titles, are not afraid to blur the lines between frustration and fun, often priding themselves with the level of difficulty that can be frustrating and ridiculous at the same time. Heavenly Bodies is one of these titles, proposing gamers to relive the struggles of an astronaut trying to fix things in zero gravity.  

If you enjoy the concept of Heavenly Bodies, it will prove a fun experience. One that makes you scream in frustration, but fun. If physics-based games where you have to battle a ridiculous control system is not your cup of tea, the game developed by the Australians from 2pt. Interactive will do nothing more than to annoy you.

Nonetheless, Heavenly Bodies is a curious game that seem to be inspired by the old sci-fi movies, or the NASA from the time when the Americans managed to put a man on the moon. The same time when the 1,4MB capacity of a floppy disk seemed a wishful thinking, and every equipment, no matter how complex can be fixed with a wrench, a pair of clips and a hairband.

Everything starts anchored in this reality with a space station on disarray, where you play the “space janitor” needed to do some routine maintenance tasks. Reconnect the power, mount a space telescope, put things in orbit and the like. In total there are 7 levels built around a major task that need to be successfully completed. You have to go through them in a specific order, the only variety being the secondary objectives of the assignments.

Heavenly Bodies
Heavenly Bodies
Heavenly Bodies
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From the very first mission that serves as a tutorial, Heavenly Bodies unveils itself as a game based on a simple concept, where the complications arise from the control scheme. It is ridiculously complicated to control individually each limb, while trying to grasp things and move in zero gravity. If you believe sharing is caring, you can go through this entire ordeal in co-op with a second player.

If you feel helpless and disarticulated alone, wait until you try to tackle the instructions spat out by the unsympathetic terminal with an astronaut colleague. The results are hilarious and often memorable. What in theory should be a gracious space ballet is in reality an endeavor that makes us question how articulate can you be using a controller.

Although the missions are straight forward, the way you can accomplish them are not always so clear. Even with the instruction manual for each level printed out by the terminal, the diagrams are cryptic on purpose. The developers wanted to determine players to investigate and interact with their surroundings, turning something as simple as smashing rocks and gathering samples into quite an undertaking.

Often the tools you will need are hidden in boxes or other storage spaces, that need to be found, opened and the tool transported to the place where you need to put it to good use. Also there is not just one correct solution, since a crowbar can be easily substituted by a tennis racket. Next to different cameras, you will find a lot of apparently useless things on a space station like tennis balls or trophies. Actually, each of this object has its purpose you can discover only by experimenting.

And this gives the game its replay value. Heavenly Bodies although rooted in reality is a game that does not take itself seriously and challenges the players to discover and experiment just as kids or scientists do. This makes heavenly Bodies similar to Octodad, not just because of the challenging control scheme, but also buy letting players to freely interact with the environment.

The major difference to similar games is that Heavenly Bodies takes place in a 2D environment. This does not make the controls or traversal easier, since space truly complicates things. You do not have to deal only with the lack of gravity inside the space station, but you will have to go on space walks to fix things outside. Being attached to a cable trying to manipulate a winch will make you re-evaluate what fun is to you.

The control scheme has three settings from assisted to Newtonian, substituting the difficulty levels. While in the easiest mode it is enough to extend an arm into a direction in order to move, on the hardest you can perform this action from inertia or as a result of an external force. As you can see the life as an astronaut is not easy, and there are a lot of things that can go wrong.

The wrong grip, missing to attach yourself to a safety cable, or a wrong move can make you lost in space. Even in assisted mode Heavenly Bodies is not a walk in the park. Moving around is not natural and requires often to do the exact opposite of what your instincts tell you. The camera moves with you to make things even more complicated, and although you might reposition it, still it does not make things easier, mainly because the position of the sticks is automatically readjusted with the camera.

The control is not exactly precise, even after the most recent patch, but somehow it is something you would expect from this kind of a game. Heavenly Bodies offers a very specific type of entertainment, that can be done in around seven hours of sweat and curses and laughs. One thing that would have needed more thought are the checkpoints: Heavenly Bodies definitely needs more, in order to save you from going through 30-40 minutes of stress just because a bad move.

Heavenly Bodies
Heavenly Bodies
Heavenly Bodies
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The Good

  • Believable situations and tasks
  • Memorable and funny co-op moments
  • Nice visuals and atmosphere

The Bad

  • Way too short
  • Controls need more work
  • Too few checkpoints

Conclusion

Heavenly Bodies is not your average cup of coffee, not even for indie games. It has a very specific audience it set its target on and delivers on its promise of challenging players through the control system.

Visually and atmosphere wise it is clearly inspired by the classic, realistic sci-fi movies. The game itself is pretty short, but due to the control scheme, you will spend quite a lot of time even on the simplest tasks. Heavenly Bodies is not for everyone, but those who enjoy this kind of games will have a blast with it.

Review code provided by the publisher.

story 6
gameplay 7
concept 8
graphics 7
audio 8
multiplayer 8
final rating 7
Editor's review
good
 

Heavenly Bodies screenshots (17 Images)

Heavenly Bodies artwork
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