From Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? to Dune, the defining works of 1960s sci-fi have long loomed large in the speculative scene. It's rare, however, for a modern adaptation to fully commit to the aesthetic elements that couched the genre at the time. The Invincible, developed by Starward Industries and published by 11 bit studios, attempts to do just that, translating a seminal work by Stanisław Lem to retrofuturist video game form. It's a tremendous success in a visual regard, although mileage may vary with its approach to gameplay.

The core concept of The Invincible revolves around the familiar idea of a mission to another planet going very, very wrong. In the game, it falls upon a biologist named Yasna to navigate a strange environment in the name of discovering its secrets and searching out crew members who have gone missing. This would be a frequently lonely journey if not for a comm link to the astrogator Novik, who commands and cajoles in an attempt to guide the potentially impetuous Yasna through threats of an initially mysterious nature.

A Solid New Narrative Angle

The Invincible is something of an ensemble novel, but the game jumps to a different perspective entirely to unfold the world for a singular character. The only notable relationship in the original work is between the novel's protagonist Rohan and his ship's astrogator, and some of the core underpinnings of this dynamic are expanded upon with Yasna and Novik. Dialogue choices and a few key decisions regarding the exterior world are a driving factor in The Invincible. Through these, Yasna can be characterized as cautious or impulsive and considerate or heartless, with every option feeling plausible in the high-stress environment of an uncaring planet.

Likewise, the wonder and fear that drive the novel are turned somewhat inward, with grander philosophical musings trickling down into personal debates about topics like robotics and evolution. Solid writing and voice acting make conversations generally engaging, only undermined by stretches where the game slows down awkwardly or locks Yasna into place to ensure that dialogue can play out. Some of the story's grandest realizations feel slightly reduced by the limitations of losing a narrator's voice, but much of the inherent intrigue and appeal of the narrative remain.

The branching nature of The Invincible's story is chronicled on the side through a comic book feature, which assembles the overall picture strip-by-strip with compelling illustrations. Unfortunately, checking in on the comic book after finishing the game revealed some misplaced concluding panels, chronicling a different final path than the one actually taken. Possible issues with the feature shouldn't be hard for Starward Industries to clean up, but the potential for a lack of parity could be disappointing at the moment.

Slow-Paced Gameplay Isn't Always Engaging

The gameplay of The Invincible offers less to write home about than the story does, essentially acting as a dressed up walking sim. Vast alien landscapes are mostly corridors in actual function, with interactivity typically coming down to following a pre-set path and clambering up specific points on rock slopes. Although plodding footsteps and a limited ability to pick up the pace appropriately mimic trudging through sand in an unshapely spacesuit, combining this sluggishness with a frequent lack of agency in traversal gives gameplay a sense of going through the motions.

Things pick up when rovers become available, which are satisfying to drive when they aren't hitting invisible walls as a punishment for risking exploration. The use of scanning equipment is a generally minor highlight, but checking out abandoned camps and flying drones offer some more significant points of interest. Slight forays into immersive sim elements gesture at how much fun could have been added by leaning into these possibilities. Fun is perhaps not the ultimate point of The Invincible, and throwing gunplay into the mix would be to its detriment, but a little more to latch onto on the interactive end would go a long way.

Stellar Art Design Emerges Triumphant

The Invincible is a slam dunk in one area — its art design, which is consistently nothing short of extraordinary. It's easy to assume screenshots of the game are manipulated bullshots, but it delivers a cavalcade of stunning environments that meet this standard without fail. Craggy rocks decorate horizons beneath gorgeous skies, and light beams through fractal structures that are as beautiful as they are discomforting. The game makes use of Unreal Engine 5 and shows it, limited only by some awkward animations that see hands not quite meeting the object they interact with and characters taking on a vague lifelessness.

Everything in The Invincible feels like a vintage sci-fi cover come to life, down to the game's own box art that seems to call back to the Ace paperback of Lem's novel. This guiding ethos extends to designs for ships, robots, and settlements, with clean lines and weathered detail meeting in a perfect textural balance that lends realism to posters dreamed up at 20th century world's fairs. Excellent lighting breathes extra life into each scene, and the dynamic range between sun-soaked cliffs and shadowed tunnels never fails to impress.

Final Thoughts & Review Score

The Invincible is hard to recommend on the basis of its gameplay alone, as its walking sim core doesn't always feel like the best use of its potential. Its best features can be found elsewhere, however, with a competent take on a great story and a truly staggering success in the looks department keeping the engine running across a modest runtime. Branching possibilities may not be enough to incentivize a second bout of slow exploration, but as a one-time dip into a mysterious tale of beauty and danger, The Invincible might just do the trick.

Source: Starward Industries/YouTube

The Invincible releases on November 6 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Screen Rant was provided with a PC download code for the purpose of this review.