At Summer Games Fest this year, a big takeaway from the event was how focused the industry is on taking players to the stars. Sci-fi is back and hopefully better than ever, with developers from all around creating bigger and more graphically impressive space thrillers that have been missing in gaming for the better part of a decade. The Invincible, developed by Starward Industries, was proudly part of the sci-fi resurgence at this year’s Summer Game Fest and certainly turned a few heads with its visually impressive gameplay reveal trailer.
In a demo provided by Starward Industries, Game Rant got the opportunity to play through an hour-long gameplay sequence of The Invincible, and so far, it's looking good. The Invincible is a slower-paced narrative experience with an "atompunk" twist on mid-20th century hard sci-fi. The term “walking sim” could certainly be applied to The Invincible; however, the characters, scenery, and mystery behind it all make this game one to keep an eye on for fans of the genre.
For context, The Invincible is an adaptation of a novel written by renowned author Stanislaw Lem in 1964. Book adaptations are far and few between when it comes to gaming, with the most successful ones being The Witcher and Metro games, making The Invincible already something relatively new and exciting in the industry. With the rich lore and narrative-heavy nature that comes from its adaptation, Starward Industries finds a solid foundation for what is a slower, story-based experience. Much like books, The Invincible gets right into the headspace of its main character and explores the reasoning behind her motivations as the story's driving force.
This chapter of The Invincible opens up with players taking the role of a space biologist named Yasna as she narrates her next steps while searching for a missing convoy of explorers on Regis III. A secondary character, Novik, accompanies Yasna via radio and immediately chimes in, suggesting a new strategy for approach. Novik's personality balances out Yasna's with new ideas and a fresh perspective to get her out of her head. This pattern of back-and-forth decision-making between Yasna and Novik is a staple throughout the preview. But regardless of what players choose to do, the result is always the same: Yasna end ups at the same place irrespective of the route taken.
The player’s decisions seem to count most in Yasna’s characterization. Dialogue options allow the player to decide if the main character is bold and fearless or cautious and reluctant in her discovery of Regis III and the mysteries it holds. How these decisions impact the future narrative and character storylines is unknown. Still, The Invincible certainly shows a lot of promise in making a compelling plot with what it showed in the demo. So far, the best parts of the game appear to be its sense of presence, eerie atmosphere, and authenticity to the atompunk sci-fi genre.
The Invincible is played entirely in the first person. This intimate first-person perspective immediately grounds the player in the world, bringing a sense of scale and awe that fits perfectly with the mystery and discovery at the heart of The Invincible. This demo often evoked the same feeling of playing Cyberpunk 2077 for the first time and being in amazement as skyscrapers towered above the player. First-person perspectives aren't anything new, but the attention to detail with Yasna's microphone, seeing the edges of her visor, and occasional streaks on the glass make The Invincible feel alive and realized.
It also helps that Regis III is incredibly detailed, with a lot of love placed on making the whole setting and atmosphere feel as authentic as possible to its retro sci-fi inspirations. At one point in the demo, Yasna pulled out a deck of snapshots from an Antimatter robot that looked lifted straight out of a 1950s sci-fi comic book or novel illustration of that era. The tools at Yasna's disposal also looked so brilliantly retro-futuristic that it's hard not to admire the work put into making this game feel like a sci-fi novel come to life. Starward clearly loves its source material, and that love regularly comes out in those smaller moments.
Moreover, The Invincible is gorgeous; Starward's work in making Regis III come alive is truly incredible. The shadows, textures, and geographic complexity throughout this demo sequence are remarkable. In many instances, Regis III's whole visual style seems reminiscent of Battlefront 2’s Geonosis map and how it captured that photorealistic look. There were some rough parts in the animation transitions and a few clipping issues that serve as a reminder that this is still an unfinished game made by a small studio, but that studio is certainly punching above its weight class. Still, as far as making an immersive and atmospheric visual experience, The Invincible is on the right track and could be one of the most visually impressive indies coming out next year.
It is worth noting how this is one of the first glimpses of Unreal Engine 5 in action with a new game. Unreal Engine 5 has constantly been making headlines since its impressive showcase two years ago and Matrix demo earlier this year, but it has yet to bear fruit as developers chip away at making their games. That is until this demo. Unreal Engine 5's Nanite geometry system is doing a lot of work at pushing the polygon count in The Invincible, and when coupled with the Lumen illumination parameters, the game shines.
As the demo progressed, it became clear that there would no combat in this slice of The Invincible. Fans looking to shoot aliens with blasters and pilot spacecraft at lightspeed should likely look elsewhere. However, there is a clear vision here that is driving this indie title. Starward wants to make a tightly-knit, narrative game. The Invincible is about taking it slow and stopping to smell the roses, or in this case, boulders, and enjoying the story as it comes to the player. The type of player that will likely enjoy The Invincible is one who can invest in the setting and atmosphere that the game creates.
Overall, judging by this small slice of what will be a bigger game, The Invincible looks impressive. There seems to be no shortage of upcoming sci-fi games that ask players to hack, slash, and shoot a whole assortment of aliens and intergalactic horrors, but The Invincible's lack of these elements is what makes it so interesting. There isn’t much in the way of hacking, slashing, and shooting here, but there appears to be plenty of walking, talking, and gawking as players explore the impressively realized Regis III and peel back the layers of the game’s mystery. Fans of narrative experiences, hard sci-fi, or just pretty games in general, should keep The Invincible on their radar.
The Invincible is in development for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.