The Invincible review – A classic sci-fi story wrapped up in archaic game design

While the plot of The Invincible successfully borrows from an age-old sci-fi book of the same name, this adaptation’s gameplay also seems to borrow from age-old game design tendencies. Stuck in the past, this recreation makes you question why you aren’t just reading the original literary work.

Five years after its founding, the first title from Poland’s Starward Industries has arrived as devs deliver on their promise of bringing Stanislaw Lem’s The Invincible to life. And while from narrative and visual standpoints, they’ve excelled in this adaptation, in terms of pure game design, the experience ultimately falls short.

A strong narrative with a few surprising twists on the classic tale isn’t quite enough to justify its anachronistic gameplay. Walking from Point A to Point B with a tedious movement system, clunky controls, with little incentive to explore, leaves you mindlessly plodding forward through the story beats. Rather than actively engaging with the incredibly vibrant planet, you’re more of a passive visitor.

The Invincible promises an epic sci-fi adventure and while its inspiration helps carry the narrative, its dull gameplay left us questioning why a video game reinterpretation was even necessary in the first place.

The Invincible – Key details

• Price: $34.99 USD | £29.99 GBP | $49.95 AUD
• Developer: Starward Industries
• Release date: November 6, 2023
• Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X | S, & PS5

The Invincible trailer

A true walking simulator stuck in the past

The label ‘walking simulator’ often gets a bad rap. While simple in its approach, this style of game has unquestionably paved the way for some absolute gems like Gone Home, What Remains of Edith Finch, and many others. Where these examples shine, however, is where The Invincible falters.

Left to your own devices on a mysterious planet, your goal is to try and unravel its secrets while aiding any stranded companions along the way. How you accomplish this is largely by walking from one objective marker to the next, stopping to look at some pictures that paint the story around you, then repeating the cycle.

Along the way, you’ll occasionally have to rely on a handful of gadgets to progress the story, though it’s always just a matter of holding the right tool and looking in the right direction. It’s all a relatively mindless affair.

Where other similar titles excel thanks to ingenious environmental storytelling, The Invincible almost exclusively tells its story through dialogue as you wander through an expectedly barren planet.

Exploration is only made worse when you consider the game’s mechanics feel immediately dated. Rather than actually having control over your movement, most of it plays out in scripted animations. Scaling up and down rocky surfaces, for instance, is just a matter of walking toward a traversal icon, pressing forward, and watching the animation play out. There’s no manual jumping, mantling, or anything close to give you a sense of real engagement.

The occasional driving sequences are similarly bland, all but feeling like you’re on rails with only one path to travel down as invisible walls block you from veering off-track.

Add the fact there’s very little incentive to explore either on foot or in your vehicle, and you’re essentially left with an experience that amounts to moving forward along designated tracks with almost nothing in the way of player agency.

Talking over each other

As the game’s core method of delivery is through its ample dialogue, often with characters unseen, audio is absolutely paramount for the story in The Invincible. Yet, you wouldn’t assume as much by playing through this initial build.

Putting it bluntly, the audio mix is rather terrible. Some characters may as well be whispering while others are effectively yelling right in front of you, even if they’re miles away. Hilariously, the issue is only worsened while driving.

It’s unclear if it was just a bug in our early playthrough or something intentional, but whenever behind the wheel, it sounded as though our vehicle was grinding rocks at all times. Even when barely moving, this extremely loud sound effect drowned out any possibility of hearing possibly important dialogue.

Once again compounding the issue, dialogue can awkwardly layer on top of itself. Characters can be midway through two different sentences at once, making it near-impossible to decipher even with the help of subtitles.

A choose-your-own-adventure with limited replay value

Differing from its point of inspiration, The Invincible offers some input when it comes to branching dialogue and the occasional game-changing decision. While these systems don’t really get going until the back half of the experience, they’re certainly the biggest positive of the adaptation.

Allowing you to see alternate endings, gain further insight into the characters through unique conversations, and the like, are all very intriguing. It’s just a shame these handful of impactful decisions aren’t enough to demand a second or third playthrough right away given its tiresome game design.

The Verdict – 2//5

There’s an enjoyable narrative to unravel here, if you’re willing to put up with outdated systems and monotonous traversal. But given its short run time and lack of replay value, for the price of admission, you may be better off waiting for a steep sale or even just buying the book.