At its core, Bioframe Outpost might be a Metroidvania, but it’s different enough to make it stand out.
I’m not all that into Metroidvania games. There are exceptions like Hollow Knight and Guacamelee, but for the most part I find them less enjoyable due to the reliance on backtracking that so many of them have. Bioframe Outpost certainly hits many of the Metroidvania marks, such as an interconnected world that you can go back through with new skills to find new paths, but it has enough twists on the formula to keep it interesting.
You, as a character named Freeman, awaken on a space station with no memory of what’s going on. Luckily, you are filled in quickly enough by Stanley via a computer screen. It seems that Nova Aurora has been infested by an alien life form that’s infecting everything onboard, be that machine or lifeform. To make matters more complicated, the station is filled with all sorts of different creatures in various biomes. Stanley tells you that he needs you to help him create an antidote to the infestation, so off you go with nothing but a spacesuit and a camera to protect you. The story goes in some fun directions as the game goes on and is presented with some well drawn comic book panels.
The camera is an interesting inclusion, as it’s really the most useful piece of kit you have. This may be a side-scrolling game, but at any point you can activate your camera and take photos of anything on screen, including things that your character shouldn’t be able to see. It isn’t just some photo mode though, as when you take a picture of anything of interest, it’s added to your compendium and includes information about it. Whilst a health kit dispenser might not be all that interesting, snapping a berry will tell you what sort of creatures like that berry. Better yet, if you’re cunning, you can get pictures of creatures in different states. Snapping a Gonka as it walks around will tell you that it reacts to vibration in the ground, but get a shot of it eating and you’ll learn that it’s poisonous to touch.
This is a crucial element to the game, as you really need to know how these creatures respond to different stimuli. If you need to bypass explosive butterflies, you need to know what food to throw to distract them. Should you need to get through some giant floating spiked balls, it’s good to know how they react to proximity. I really liked this feature as it’s not simply a case of learning which weapon to shoot at the monster. Instead, you have to learn about a creature and learn how to manipulate the environment to your advantage. This won’t be for everyone, but it’s certainly very creative and leads to you coming up with your own solutions to some problems.
Speaking of problems, the camera isn’t always that easy to use. Some of the animals move very erratically, and to be able to get a picture you have to keep the subject in the centre of the camera for a set period of time. With a controller this was very hard to do reliably, especially if you want to get a picture of creatures fighting or fleeing. I imagine a mouse would make this considerably easier, but that’s not always an option on console.
Being a Metroidvania means that you’ll gain abilities as you play through. The fire extinguisher is your first upgrade. Surprisingly, this isn’t used to put out fires. Instead you can use it offensively to freeze things. Freezing an animal can remove infection from it, possibly calming them down or reactivating them, whilst turning it on an alien will frequently destroy it. It’s not much of an offensive option, but it does offer a little protection. You’ll also pick up a jetpack, radiation suit and a torch which fulfil the functions you’d expect, opening up new routes to progress the story.
The areas you visit are diverse, but tend to operate in similar ways. You could be in science labs or a creature habitat, but the only real difference is how open or enclosed the areas are. I quite liked that once you’d reached chapter three, the world was a lot more open, with you able to return to the science hub and head in different directions. The teleporter there was useful as well, as once unlocked you could return to previous areas much more easily.
I enjoyed playing Bioframe Outpost for the most part, but the controls let it down for me a fair bit. They felt imprecise, and I found myself falling down when trying to leap from ladder to ladder more often than I’d like. Having to scramble for the right berry or light orb in a pinch was nearly impossible too. Why there isn’t a radial menu for them that slows the game down, I have no idea. The limited fuel for the jetpack, torch, and fire extinguisher were quite frustrating too. If you find yourself out of fuel for the jetpack is particularly frustrating, as you may not be able to progress without backtracking to a station to refill it. A limited duration would be far more useful than a limited fuel tank in my opinion.
Death happens a lot in Bioframe Outpost, but there’s a generous checkpoint system. Each time you run past one of the many checkpoints, the gamestate will save exactly as it is and should you die you’ll reappear with the world exactly as it was at that point. The devs were somewhat careful here, with you not respawning until you press A to avoid you getting hit by an enemy that was chasing you as you ran into the checkpoint. This is smart, and I appreciate the thought. I would have liked if these checkpoints could have refreshed some of your health and resources when respawning though, as it was irritating to retry sections repeatedly with only a sliver of health left over.
The visuals are strong, with a great sense of scale. You walking into a new area only for the camera to pull back to show you the scope of what you’ll need to work through is impressive. Those comic panels that tell the story are great, and the world looks really good. Some creatures can be hard to spot though, as they blend into the environment more than they perhaps should from a gameplay perspective, and the camera barely highlights them, especially in visually busy areas. I feel like this is a design choice to make the world more believable, but I would prefer things to be a bit clearer for the player. No complaints about the sound though, especially the music which is excellent throughout.
Bioframe Outpost is an interesting twist on the standard Metroidvania formula. It eschews combat in favour of thoughtful approaches and learning how the world works. As I mentioned previously, this isn’t going to be a game for everyone, but fans of the genre should check this out, especially if they’ve found the formula has become stale.
Bioframe Outpost is available now on PC, Xbox, Playstation, and Nintendo Switch.
