Revenge of the Savage Planet perseveres across new worlds

It takes more than a studio shutdown to hold down the makers of Journey to the Savage Planet. Shacknews tries out the team's upcoming sequel.

The story of Journey to the Savage Planet did not appear to have a happy ending. Original development house Typhoon Studios was among the casualties of Google Stadia's shutdown and it appeared that this was where the tale would end. Since then, many of the original Journey to the Savage Planet developers founded a new home, Raccoon Logic Studios, and bought the rights to the Savage Planet license back from Google. With all of that out of the way, the next step is an official sequel. Revenge of the Savage Planet brings players back for more sci-fi comedy and open world exploration. Prior to The Game Awards, Shacknews had a chance to give it a look.

Revenge of the Savage Planet's story is not unlike what happened in real life. Fictional corporation Kindred Aerospace is no more, having been taken over by newer, yet equally fictional corporate entity Alta InterGlobal. As it turns out, space exploration costs a lot of money, so Alta is getting out of the game and abandoning everything and everyone in the middle of any active expeditions. Of course, that means the unnamed main character must now fend for themselves on an uncharted world with only a drone companion to keep them company. Well, mostly, as I'll get to momentarily.

The gameplay loop for Revenge of the Savage Planet is largely similar to its predecessor. Players embark on exploration missions across strange worlds and document their findings through their equipped scanner. Everything is there to be scanned, including wide varieties of flora, domestic and hostile fauna, and undiscovered material that can serve a variety of different functions.

A helpful, nearly all-purpose blaster can help throughout the adventure. It can put down aggressive wildlife, but it also serves other functions when dialed to tap into different elemental goo. For example, a water setting can interact with specific plants to blossom them into platforms, a fire setting can ignite certain enemies with harder shells, or an electricity setting can help activate switches and help solve puzzles.

Even if Alta is out of the space exploration game, the player is certainly not. In fact, there are multiple worlds to explore this time around with players unlocking fast travel access as they go. Each world will have its own distinct features and points of interest. There's also a lot of that aforementioned wildlife, both domestic and hostile. Part of the experience of Revenge of the Savage Planet will be collecting some of these creatures for study. A helpful whip and lasso tool can be used to round these buggers up and suck them into your vessel via vortex where they'll be stored safely in pens.

Speaking of your vessel, Space Trailers will be fully customizable. Players can add their own personal touch to their home away from home by adding different furnishings. It's possible to add useful items, like a 3D Printer that can craft items. Of course, it's also possible to add lavishly cosmetic items, like a fancy bed or big-screen monitor.

The last thing to note is that while this hands-on focused on the game's single-player component, Revenge of the Savage Planet will allow for co-op play. Two friends can explore uncharted planets either online (with cross-platform play supported) or through traditional split-screen. The co-op aspect of the game wasn't shown, but Raccoon Logic expects this to be the kind of adventure that friends and significant others can enjoy together.

The original Journey to the Savage Planet captivated us here at Shacknews when it first released prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a pleasant surprise to learn that a sequel is on its way and it appears that Raccoon Logic is leaning further into the irreverent humor and sense of wonder that the first game provided. Look for Revenge of the Savage Planet to release on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox in May 2025.

This preview is based on an early PC build played at a private press event in Los Angeles, CA. The final product is subject to change.