RetroSpace is the kind of game that wears its influences on its sleeve, but there is more to The Wild Gentlemen’s sci-fi horror adventure than nostalgia for the immersive titles of yesteryear. Combining first-person shooting, environmental puzzles, exploration and survival mechanics with a distinctly offbeat sense of humor, the game takes players aboard a space station where practically everything that could go wrong has done so. Published by Kwalee, RetroSpace has plenty of interesting ideas and a setting that stands out from the crowd, although its ambitions are not always matched by its execution on PlayStation 5.
Set in 2177, the story follows an unnamed janitor aboard the Aurora 5, a vessel travelling through space as part of humanity’s search for a new home. When the station encounters a black hole, its crew and systems are thrown into chaos, leaving corridors filled with grotesque mutants and a reality in which time itself no longer behaves as expected. As one of the few people capable of moving around the station and investigating what happened, the protagonist must uncover the truth behind the disaster while gradually piecing together their own identity. The premise provides a strong foundation for a mystery that mixes cosmic horror with absurdist comedy, while questions surrounding artificial intelligence, scientific experimentation and the morality of humanity’s ambitions give the narrative some substance. The supporting characters, audio logs and environmental storytelling help flesh out the Aurora 5’s history, although the writing occasionally becomes overly elaborate, and some of the revelations towards the end do not quite deliver the answers or impact the setup promises.
The Aurora 5 itself is arguably RetroSpace’s greatest achievement. Rather than simply marching players from one firefight to the next, the game presents a sprawling, interconnected environment in which exploration and experimentation are central to making progress. Initially inaccessible doors can be opened by finding keycards or uncovering passwords, while newly discovered shortcuts make it easier to revisit previously explored sections. Returning to familiar locations can also reveal additional resources, weapons and side objectives, giving backtracking a practical purpose beyond padding out the adventure. The station’s shifting timelines further change the conditions in familiar areas, occasionally introducing new obstacles or altering routes that were previously available. Although the individual sectors can make the experience feel more structured than a genuinely open world, there is considerable satisfaction in gradually understanding how its different areas connect. Unfortunately, the map is far less useful than it should be. Its vague presentation and cumbersome navigation make it unnecessarily difficult to find your way, particularly when searching for optional objectives or trying to remember where a particular route leads.
The freedom to approach obstacles in different ways is what makes RetroSpace’s gameplay particularly appealing. A hostile security turret, for instance, does not necessarily have to be destroyed in a direct confrontation. Players might locate a ventilation shaft to bypass it, search for a password to hack the security system, or use the environment to find another solution. Boxes can be stacked to reach otherwise inaccessible passages, while certain tools have purposes beyond their obvious functions. Even the equipment associated with the protagonist’s janitorial duties can prove useful in unexpected ways, whether cleaning away blood to reveal hidden information or dealing with environmental hazards. This emphasis on creative problem-solving gives the game a welcome sense of player agency, and its mixture of weapons, consumables, environmental interactions and stealth opportunities encourages experimentation. However, the balance between these systems is not always convincing. Enemies can be surprisingly easy to exploit by moving between doorways or hiding in vents, reducing encounters that initially seem dangerous to rather trivial exercises. Their limited intelligence also makes some confrontations less engaging than the surrounding level design deserves.
Combat nevertheless has enough variety to remain entertaining for much of the journey, particularly for players willing to experiment with the available tools rather than relying exclusively on firearms. Ammunition and healing supplies need to be managed, while the limited inventory forces players to consider which weapons and useful items deserve the available space. This creates a welcome tension between preparing for the next encounter and leaving room for anything that might be discovered along the way. The game also introduces Mutamods, genetic modifications that grant abilities inspired by the creatures inhabiting the station. These upgrades can improve mobility, combat effectiveness or survival, although their potential drawbacks add another consideration to character development. Death has consequences of its own: the protagonist is cloned, but the process can leave behind unwanted conditions that must be managed, and recovering lost equipment from a previous body becomes another incentive to return to dangerous locations. It is an inventive variation on the usual checkpoint system, even if the penalties can sometimes feel more like an inconvenience than a meaningful strategic decision. The progression systems also take a while to become fully interesting, with some weapon upgrades arriving later than would be ideal.
There is an appealing strangeness to RetroSpace’s presentation that helps it establish an identity of its own. Its retro-futuristic interpretation of space travel draws heavily on the aesthetics of the 1970s, filling the Aurora 5 with dated technology, colorful lighting, eccentric furniture, peculiar posters and other details that suggest an alternative vision of the future. The semi-voxel visual style will not impress anyone looking for cutting-edge graphical fidelity, but the environments often make up for their limited detail through effective composition and atmosphere. The contrast between the station’s sometimes cheerful, almost kitschy design and the disturbing creatures roaming its corridors is particularly effective. Some areas feel inviting until the lighting changes or an unsettling silhouette appears in the darkness, while the different sections of the station have enough visual character to keep exploration interesting. The problem is that the graphics can be inconsistent, with blurry textures, uneven levels of detail and occasional visual glitches undermining the atmosphere. On PlayStation 5, small performance and frame-rate issues occurred, so the presentation is not as polished as the underlying art direction deserves.
Audio is similarly a mixture of strong atmospheric work and frustrating inconsistencies. Ambient sounds and music help establish the uneasy mood, while the strange noises produced by the station’s inhabitants make exploring dark corridors an appropriately uncomfortable experience. The soundtrack also adapts to the action, helping combat encounters feel more intense when things go wrong. There is plenty of character in the soundscape, and the attention given to environmental audio and the effects associated with weapons and equipment can make the station feel more convincing than its modest visuals might suggest. However, not every element is equally effective. Some weapon sounds lack the impact needed to make shooting feel satisfying, while enemy attacks can be difficult to hear beneath the recurring combat music. The music itself can also become repetitive during extended encounters, and some quieter sections would benefit from more consistent audio accompaniment. These shortcomings do not erase the atmosphere the game manages to create, but they do occasionally weaken the tension it works so hard to build.
The PlayStation 5 controls and interface present another obstacle to an otherwise promising experience. RetroSpace offers a considerable range of equipment, weapons, inventory items and interactive systems, so navigating its menus is inevitably more involved than in a straightforward shooter. The weapon and inventory wheel helps bring those options together, but the overall interface can feel cumbersome, and the map’s button-by-button navigation is particularly awkward when trying to locate specific destinations. The game also expects players to pay attention to small environmental details, passwords and alternate routes, making its poor navigational tools more frustrating than they would be in a more linear adventure. Getting stuck or overlooking a crucial item can lead to prolonged searching, and the occasional technical issue makes these moments harder to excuse.
Ultimately, RetroSpace is an ambitious indie adventure whose best qualities are considerably more memorable than its shortcomings. The Wild Gentlemen has created an unusual setting, an interconnected space station that rewards curiosity, and a collection of gameplay systems that frequently allow players to find their own solutions rather than follow a single prescribed route. Its blend of science-fiction horror, retro-futuristic style and dark humor also gives it a personality that helps distinguish it from the games that inspired it. At the same time, uneven combat AI, an unhelpful map, inconsistent audiovisual presentation and technical rough edges prevent the experience from reaching its full potential. Players who enjoy immersive sims and are prepared to experiment, explore and occasionally tolerate some frustration will find plenty to appreciate here. Those expecting a polished, straightforward action game may be less forgiving. RetroSpace is worth investigating for its ideas and atmosphere, but its execution still leaves room for improvement.
Score: 7.4/10