Unlife from Ratalaika Games and diedemor studio is a 2D platformer set in a dystopian post-apocalyptic world. Learn more in our Unlife review!

 

Unlife from Ratalaika Games and diedemor studio is a 2D platformer set in a dystopian post-apocalyptic world. Things are certainly not like they used to be back in the day. A mysterious disease is consuming you, and as the last survivor from your floating platform, you must do whatever it takes to survive. This means that you’ll need to scavenge for supplies, take on deadly monsters, and try to find a way to cure yourself before it’s too late… or go out swinging as you give it your best effort.

How did things get to this point? Nuclear war. That’s how. A nuclear holocaust is never a good thing, and the high levels of radiation ended up making a ton of people very, very sick. Oh, and mutations started to be a thing. You know, the usual. You’ll soon run into some of these mutants and will need to make good use of the items you collect to survive.

 

Once the game begins, you’ll control your character with the left analog stick as you aim with the right one. Your character will only walk in the direction it’s facing, and changing directions will make him come to a complete halt. You can run with the Square button. Once you get the flashlight, you can use it by pressing in on the left analog stick… as long as you have enough batteries. Your weapons will be mapped to the D-Pad so you can quickly change between them. You can attack with the R1 button. If you have a first-aid kit, you can use it with the L1 button to heal some of your wounds. The X button will be for jumping, while the Circle button will be for rolling. Oh, and you can eat by pressing the R2 button as long as you find something edible. Doing this will boost your stamina for a short period of time.

The game’s controls feel a bit odd on PlayStation 5 and certainly make you think that this PC-to-console port could have used some extra testing time to provide a more enjoyable experience. The game tries to go for a twin-stick experience, but the left analog stick does not fluidly control your character. This is bad when you’re exploring an area, but it’s worse when you’re trying to attack enemies before they kill you. Attacking an enemy is very cumbersome, and you’ll probably end up dying many times because you can’t land a hit.

And now, let’s discuss the game’s trophies! Since this one is from Ratalaika Games, that means it has a Platinum trophy for you to work on. On top of that, this is a Cross-Buy release, so if you own a PlayStation 5, you’ll be able to download both the PS4 and PS5 versions of the game at no extra cost, and each of these will have a separate trophy list. Each list will have 11 Gold trophies. What do you need to do for each of the Platinums on offer? All you need to worry about is completing each of the game’s episodes, finishing the game with a good ending, and finishing the game with a bad ending. Getting both endings will reward you with a final trophy before the Platinum pops.

Unlife is a 2D platformer set in a dystopian post-apocalyptic world. Nuclear fallout is never a good thing, and with mutations happening left and right and the world’s resources slowly running out, you must find whatever you can to survive. Unfortunately, the controls feel a bit too loose and not tailored for what you’d expect from a console experience. The overall gameplay loop also feels off and is not something that encourages you to come back for more. Enemies are cheap and can attack and damage you even if they’re biting at the air after you hit them with your weapon, which will lead to many unfair deaths. Unlife is available as a Cross-Buy title, so your $10.99 purchase will allow you to download both the PlayStation and PlayStation 5 versions of the game at no extra cost.

Disclaimer
This Unlife review is based on a PlayStation 5 copy provided by Ratalaika Games.