Revenge of the Savage Planet arrives on Xbox Series X & S as a loud, gaudy, and unapologetically silly sci-fi adventure. It’s a sequel that trades the first game’s first-person exploratory vibe for a third-person explore-em-up romp, and that shift defines most of what works–and what doesn’t–in this colourful alien sandbox.
WELCOME TO THE PIONEER PROGRAM! In a future knocked off its axis by corporate greed and stupidity, you have been made redundant and abandoned on the far edge of space with little gear and no safety net. You must explore every nook and cranny, collect dozens of upgrades and turn over every mysterious alien rock if you want to get revenge on your former employer and return to Earth. Across multiple planets and through myriad challenges, you will be tasked with exploring and understanding these beautiful alien worlds. There are plants to scan, creatures to capture, lakes to swim, caves to spelunk, mountains to climb, upgrades to craft and hundreds of secrets to uncover…
Right from the start, Revenge embraces its identity as a goofy, absurdist cosmic romp. Exploring hostile worlds filled with bizarre flora, sentient blobs of goo, and mammals that would give Futurama a run for its money. The world design leans heavily into cartoonish visuals and frenetic animation, which gives the game an appealing personality even when the jokes don’t always land
The core of the experience rests on exploration, scanning lifeforms and environments, unlocking traversal abilities, and collecting upgrades and collectibles. There’s a good deal of satisfaction in returning to previously inaccessible nooks and ledges once you’ve earned a new gadget, and the mixture of platforming and puzzle elements keeps progression interesting across the four main planets.
The writing aims for relentless satire—skewering corporate culture, bureaucracy, and gamer tropes—but the humor is hit-or-miss. When it’s on, it’s genuinely chuckle-worthy; when it’s off, it can feel like filler between objectives rather than purposeful levity.
Now to Gameplay Mechanics —which are undeniably weird, but often fun!
Combat is serviceable, but not necessarily the highlight. You’ll swap between weapons, jet pack to ledges, grapple across gaps, and spray goo to solve environmental puzzles, but fights often fall into the “busy and chaotic” category rather than “strategically rewarding.” Enemy AI tends to be predictable and boss encounters lean more on spectacle than genuine challenge, although initially your pistol is extremely wimpy.
Where the game genuinely shines is in co-op. Couch split-screen or online play adds a layer of shared chaos that often lifts otherwise routine segments into memorable moments. Solo play works perfectly fine, but the absurdity feels like it was designed to be shared—especially when two players are frantically jumping, shooting and slipping on goo at once.
Technical polish is respectable overall, but you will notice occasional pop-ins, texture shifts and a few graphical hiccups that don’t break the experience but remind you this isn’t quite a triple-A effort. Some players have even reported sporadic crashes or networking frustrations in co-op, though these don’t seem universal, and we've never experienced the problem.
Apart from the relatively light, easy-to-play Standard mode we get Sandbox, Old Game Minus (Journey to the Savage Planet revisited), Immersive Mode (you need to use the journal, map and eyes to figure out the way forward) and Bingo Brawl mode. Add these to the aforementioned and impossibly playable couch or online co-op (with crossplay) and you have quite a package.
Revenge of the Savage Planet is a charming, quirky, and at times chaotic adventure that doesn’t take itself too seriously—but it does take exploration, customization and shared play seriously. On Xbox Series X/S especially, this is a title best enjoyed with a friend on the couch or online, where the laughter from absurd moments outweighs the grind of routine objectives.
Expect 10–15 hours of fun, plenty of strange alien flora to scan and more goo and gloop than you thought possible—but also a reminder that not every deliberate oddball decision lands perfectly. For fans of vibrant adventure games with personality, it’s well worth the journey; for perfectionists it may seem a tad lightweight.
Strengths
• Vibrant, memorable art style and charismatic world.
• Exploration and Metroidvania progression feel genuinely rewarding.
• Co-op elevates the experience significantly.
Weaknesses
• A few technical quirks
• Combat and foes can feel generic.
• Humour won’t tickle every player’s funny bone.
• The video messages are extremely weird and go on too long.
• Scanning everything soon gets tiresome.
Thanks to Raccoon Logic, PressEngine