Remote Life Review: A Challenging Sci-Fi Shoot ‘Em Up

Are you looking for a challenging, action-packed sci-fi game? If so, then you might want to check out Remote Life. This twin-stick shooter game was originally released on Steam in 2019 and has received “Very Positive” reviews. It’s now available on both previous and current generation consoles, including the Nintendo Switch. The PC version is slightly cheaper at $18.99, while the Switch port sells for $23.99.

In Remote Life, you play as John Leone, a soldier who receives a top-secret message from the commander of the United Countries of Earth. The message reveals that a large alien mothership has been located, and a crew was sent out to investigate, but they have not returned. It’s now up to John to infiltrate the alien mothership, find out what happened to the previous crew, and disable the mothership.

Remote Life is a 2D side-scrolling shooter with twin-stick controls. The visuals are impressive and pre-rendered in 3D. The aliens, bosses, and environments are well-detailed and quite creepy. There’s a lot of variety in the insect-like aliens that have initiated war with the human race.

The game consists of 16 playable missions between story chapters. The alien mothership is pretty intense, with many tight corridors adorned with saw blades, alien tentacles, turrets, moving platforms, and aliens that seem to come out of nowhere. There are many cheap shots that are guaranteed to take one of your five lives until you master the level’s design and quirks.

Timing is everything in Remote Life, and you’ll have to master the best route that guarantees your ship’s survival. The game will constantly scroll, and you’ll have to keep your ship moving or you’ll die. It’s not always beneficial to race ahead either, as you won’t see what enemies await you, and you may miss out on a precious life heart.

Unlike life hearts, weapon ammo is always available and doesn’t suddenly appear. Some ammo, like bullets or multidirectional bullets, have infinite ammo, but more powerful laser and energy weapons need their ammo replenished to keep using them. Sometimes, you’ll stumble upon a ship upgrade like a turret system. Don’t get too attached to them as they last only thirty seconds. You have a limited number of bombs, and I recommend saving them for the mid or final level bosses.

I like how you can see your level progress percentage. At around the 50% mark, you can expect to encounter the mid-level boss. In case you’re planning on using some fancy flying maneuvers, keep in mind that you typically get boxed in with the bosses and won’t have much room to dodge their attacks. Good luck. You’ll need it!

Highlights:

Strong Points: Good music and visuals; lots of variety in weapons and enemies

Weak Points: Text-to-Speech voice acting; brutally hard no matter what difficulty level you play on

Remote Life has a techno-style background music that’s set to an adrenaline-pumping theme. The voice acting, unfortunately, is text-to-speech and the character dialogue sounds like two emotionless robots talking to each other instead of humans.

Verdict

Remote Life is a shoot ’em up that has beautiful visuals and a gripping storyline. The game’s difficulty level is quite high, so if you’re looking for a light-hearted and easy shmup, you’ll want to look elsewhere. However, if you’re up for a challenge, Remote Life is definitely worth considering.

The game’s price is a bit steep in our opinion, but it’s worth considering when on sale. The Nintendo Switch port, in particular, is a good choice for those who want to play a sci-fi game on-the-go. The controls are easy to pick up, and the visuals are impressive. The game’s replayability factor is also high, as there are many achievements to unlock and challenges to complete.