Out There Somewhere (PC) review "Far out"

Memory is a strange thing. I saw Out There Somewhere in my Steam library and immediately thought it was some dramatic point-and-click adventure title similar in tone to To the Moon. I drew up a concept in my head of what it's Steam page looked like, complete with romantic artwork and dreamy visuals. Clearly, I was conflating its premise another indie piece. I figured this out when I recently perused its store section, I saw a 2D platformer that wasn't even remotely in line with my false memories of wishlisting and eventually buying (likely on sale) this product.

So for a bit, I once again got it in my head that this would be a pathfinder title similar to Metroid. After all, it features a character wearing a space suit and clutching a gun. That's basically meets the criteria for a Metroid clone, right? However, upon firing the app up and getting through its introductory cutscene, I found myself blasting ships in outer space, nabbing power-ups, and avoiding bullets. I scratched my head because I don't remember signing up for a scrolling shooter. Regardless, I decided to make the best of this revelation and fire away, eventually making it to a boss who schooled me big time.

I thought I would just respawn and start again, but another cutscene commenced. Afterward, I found myself on an alien world and suddenly remembered this was a platformer and not a shmup. At first I was a tad confused, but took the transition surprisingly well. The game offered such tight and responsive controls that I knew any mishaps would be my fault. I wouldn't be able to yell at my controller this time.



As I ventured, my gray matter stirred one more time: this isn't a 'Metroidvania' title, but a puzzle-platformer. That became apparent the instant I noticed my "weapon" was actually a teleportation gun. You see, any time a bullet collided with a wall, I would instantly warp to its position. Obviously, this mechanic served as my primary means of getting through the strangely formed passageways and collection of floating landmasses that met me as I advanced. I fired my gun across gorges I couldn't hope to cross with my jump, and easily popped up on the other side. I blasted at cliff sides positioned above outcropping rocks and managed to slowly ascend when I needed to.

One thing Out There absolutely nailed was challenges that required me to fire a warp bullet, wait, and then jump right before the projectile hit an obstruction. Sometimes, I needed to get to an out-of-reach location and the best I could do was nail its corner. If I jumped at just the right time, my momentum would continue after I teleported, carrying me right up to the lofty floor. I bumped into tons of puzzles like that, including one where I stood in a huge, featureless chamber and I needed to impossibly climb up the wall. Repeated jump-teleports delivered me to my destination safely.

As with any good puzzle-platformer, this one slowly rolled out new features as I advanced. Vertical red lasers stopped teleportation clean in its tracks, while blue ones acted like walls for my bullets. Thankfully, I could pass through those beams even if my shots couldn't. Of course, monsters eventually cropped up as well, though only a few of them. Strange blobs amassed in various areas, as well as pesky bats and massive hulks that breathed blue fireballs. Since my initial arm wasn't exactly meant for dispatching wildlife, I eventually had to get my hands on something more lethal: a Gauss rifle. Combat proved cut and dry, but Out There made the right call in dialing back its battle sequences. Fights weren't its forte, though they weren't unwelcome. That allowed its devs to focus on the star attraction more closely: clever, yet not overwhelming puzzles.



You see, I've gotten burned out on puzzle-platformers in the last few years. I used to love this genre until I encountered several of them with such drawn out, complex challenges that I grew exhausted of titles like this. Thankfully, this one features plenty of segments that require a bit of thought, observation, and experimentation, but can still be completed in short order. I never found myself so hopelessly stuck that I either needed to resort to a video walkthrough or take an extended break. In fact, I completed the whole adventure in a single sitting.

I couldn't help myself because I found a few side avenues and extras to pick up, not to mention that the segments themselves were of the addictive, "just one more level" variety. "Just one more level" turned into "Aw hell, I may as well finish the thing" before I knew it.

By the time I reached the end, I forgot why I was even on this planet in the first place. That's when I returned to space and resumed "shmupping," as I had in the beginning. I guess I forgot this was also a shooter... The final boss appeared, I gave him the throttling of his life, and the end credits rolled. I didn't spend a lot of time plowing through this platformer, which may sound like a turn off for some folks. Your valuable dollars only buy you two to three hours of play, but please understand one thing: this game ended for me before it overstayed its welcome. Though I breezed through it, I didn't get to complain that it was tiring. It had covered all that its core concepts had and didn't work to pad its campaign out merely for the sake of length.



After finishing Out There Somewhere, I ventured to its GameFAQs page to check out its developer's profile. I clicked on MiniBoss' link, thinking I would find two to four other games of this nature. Surely, this one only came out in--what?--2020? 2019? Other titles likely came before it, and there's got to be another in the works. However, all I found was this single game listed twice for its two digital releases, the first of which dated back to 2012. Memory is a strange thing. You occasionally kid yourself into believing something was newer and belonged in a different genre, or sometimes you got so distracted by a game's awesomeness that you forgot where your adventure started. I guess that's the human brain for ya'...

Staff review by Joseph Shaffer (February 27, 2022) Rumor has it that Joe is not actually a man, but a machine that likes video games, horror movies, and long walks on the beach. His/Its first contribution to HonestGamers was a review of Breath of Fire III.