Overview
Journey to the Savage Planet is a first-person adventure game developed by Typhoon Studios and published by 505 Games, released in January 2020. Players take on the role of a new recruit at Kindred Aerospace, a fictional space exploration company whose proudly advertised "4th Best" ranking tells you everything about the tone this game is going for. The mission: land on an uncharted planet somewhere deep in a far-flung corner of the universe, poke around, and figure out whether humans could actually live there.
The planet itself, AR-Y 26, is the real star. Packed with bizarre flora, aggressive fauna, and secrets buried in every corner, it rewards players who take time to look around rather than sprint toward objectives. The game sits comfortably at the intersection of first-person shooter and exploration adventure, never taking itself too seriously while still delivering a satisfying loop of discovery and progression.
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Gameplay and mechanics
The core gameplay loop in Journey to the Savage Planet revolves around exploration, combat, and cataloging. Players scan alien creatures and plants to fill out a research database, gather resources to craft upgrades, and push deeper into the planet as new tools unlock new areas. The structure leans closer to a Metroidvania than an open-world game, with progression gated by specific equipment upgrades that let you reach previously inaccessible zones.
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Key mechanics include:
- Scanning alien flora and fauna for research points
- Crafting gear upgrades from harvested materials
- Platforming across the environment using a grappling hook and jump boosters
- Melee and ranged combat against hostile wildlife
- Discovering hidden collectibles and environmental lore
Combat stays approachable without becoming trivial. Enemies have distinct behaviors, and the game occasionally throws genuinely tricky encounters at players, especially during boss fights that require pattern recognition rather than just shooting faster.
World and setting
AR-Y 26 is a legitimately well-designed alien world. The environments shift from lush bioluminescent forests to cavernous underground chambers, each area carrying its own visual identity and creature roster. Typhoon Studios leaned hard into the colorful, almost cartoonish aesthetic, which gives the game a personality that sets it apart from grittier sci-fi shooters.
The writing deserves a mention. Kindred Aerospace communicates with the player through pre-recorded corporate videos delivered by a smug CEO, and the jokes land more often than not. The humor is dry and self-aware, poking fun at corporate culture and survival-game tropes without becoming exhausting about it.
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Does Journey to the Savage Planet support co-op?
Yes. The game supports two-player online co-op throughout the entire campaign. Both players share the same world and progression, which makes exploration feel genuinely collaborative rather than just doubling the firepower. Scanning creatures together, stumbling into the same absurd alien ambushes, and trading resources adds a social layer that works well given the game's comedic tone. Co-op is not required, and the solo experience holds up on its own, but the game was clearly designed with a partner in mind.
Content and replayability
The main campaign runs roughly 8 to 12 hours depending on how thoroughly players explore. A completionist run, covering all scans, collectibles, and hidden areas, pushes that closer to 15 hours. The game received a paid DLC expansion called Savage Planet: Tour of Tundra, which added a new frozen biome and additional content to extend the experience.
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Journey to the Savage Planet does not have a traditional endgame loop, so players looking for hundreds of hours of content will hit a ceiling. What it does offer is a tight, confident first-person adventure game that knows exactly what it is and executes that vision cleanly across every platform it ships on, including PC via Steam and Epic Games Store, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch.