Morphite Review – Procedurally generated space exploration take two

Morphite is a first person space exploration game where you explore the galaxy as Myra Kale. Visit procedurally generated planets, battle creatures, research animals and plants as you unravel the mystery surrounding Morphite! This is starting to sound familiar. Procedurally generated planets… research… exploration… first person – sounds somewhat similar to a certain other space exploration indie title that came out last year. A title which unfortunately was not received so well.

So, is Morphite going to be THAT game? Or will it execute on its premise and provide a rewarding and interesting experience? The truth is a little of column A and a little of Column B. The end product is great to look at and reaches its potential in parts, yet is held back by some frustrating mechanics. This makes Morphite a game that is equal parts beautiful and fun, yet frustrating and boring.

In the story you play Myra Cale, a young explorer. Myra lives on a space station with her carer and a floating robot cat, Kit Cat! You are sent out on an exploration mission with Kit Cat, a scanner and a pistol. On this mission you come across some morphite, an element that was believed to no longer exist. It turns out the morphite is capable of being turned into weapons. What follows is an intergalactic space adventure of self discovery.

One thing I can’t fault the game for are the visuals. Lovely low poly visuals harking back to the days of pre-texture mapping and lighting. Thinking early first person computer games, Another World style visuals. Couple this with bright contrasting colours and the result becomes a game that frequently has you visit a planet that is so strikingly beautiful that it makes the constant gas stops worthwhile.

This also translates to the animals and enemies you will meet along the way. The animals range from resembling Dinosaurs, to walking trees, and everything in between, both friendly and hostile. They look great enough to be genuinely interesting and can be quite large. Some of the boss creatures are really cool (CRYOSHARK!) and there is no clipping meaning they don’t walk through obstacles.

As with many of the strong points of this game there is a negative. When it comes to the creatures, the AI is terrible. They get themselves stuck fairly frequently. In fact I defeated a boss creature by getting it stuck then just shooting it till it died. Plus the land based ones can’t jump so if you want to scan something dangerous just get its attention and jump up on a rock or something and you will be safe. Then fire away.

The NPCs in the game are few and far between. Most you cannot interact with, which is interesting when you are firing away at ammo crates (why not have a button to just pick them up?) at a space station and nobody is concerned. You run into the odd character every now and again on a planet with a trivial side quest such as feeding them marshmallows. Even the main characters in the game don’t have a lot of interaction outside of asking you to go to X planet and get Y item and bring it back.

The soundtrack on the other hand is excellent. It’s all synthesiser based which ranges from groovy to atmospheric. It’s 80’s sounding without going too Tangerine Dream. It really suits the look of the game and the different tracks are well matched to whatever is happening in the game as you play, enhancing your experience. It also very nearly makes those long intergalactic trips with the frequent stops bearable.