difficulty or unlocking concept art, are
cleverly assigned to citizens and can
be expanded in function over time as
they gain experience.
You drag your motley crew around
a decently sizeable galactic map,
touching down on different planets
and completing the locals’ quests
as you work to restore Earth. These
worlds are vibrant and charming, if
again a little uninspired in spots (ice
planet, forest planet, tropical planet...).
But frequent random encounters and
lots of backtracking ensure they wear
out their welcome a little too quickly.
They’re rendered in a bright,
cartoony art style that bounces with
energy. It’s a setting stuffed to the
brim with wacky creations, with almost
the feel of someone’s margin doodles
brought to cheerful life. But there’s
not a lot of cohesion as it throws out
every idea it can think of – the mad
scramble of fire penguins, mummified
fish, and robo-banditos ensures the
galaxy never even begins to feel like a
real place with any internal logic other
than just the game’s mechanics.Beyond a joke
The story follows the same school
of thought, maintaining a barrage of
gags with the hope that at least some
will stick. To the game’s credit, enough
land to earn regular chuckles, as long
as you can roll with groans coming
just as often. Though less forgivable
are a handful of jokes unashamedly
nicked from obvious influences
Futurama and Adventure Time.
The thing that most tarnishes
Citizens Of Space’s gleaming smile,
however, is a shocking lack of polish.
Despite modest 2D graphics, the game
seriously chugs on Xbox One, with
many areas you’ll need to regularly
return to (including, damningly, the
starting zone) tanking the framerate to
nauseating lows every time you step
inside. Our journey is also plagued with
bugs – some minor, such as dialogue
triggering out of sequence or attacksVICE SQUAD
This is a sequel to
Citizens Of Earth,
which never came to
Xbox consoles.
Inspired by Pokémon,
as well as cult
Nintendo game
Earthbound, it saw
you playing as the
Vice President of
Earth who had to
recruit ‘constituents’
such as hippies,
conspiracy theorists,
and his own mother,
to battle for him. Don’t
worry, you don’t need
to have played that
game to understand
this one – Citizens Of
Space features a new
main character and
its story stands alone,
with only a handful of
minor allusions to the
first game’s events.“A bright,
cartoony
art style that
bounces with
energy”
ABOVE Combat
mini-games help
determine the
strength of your
attacks.
LEFT Though
initially
linear, the game
soon opens up,
allowing you to
freely explore
the galaxy.OXM VERDICT
An enjoyably wacky
but over-excitable
adventure with
serious technical
problems.6
FAR LEFT Its
cartoon galaxy
reminded us more
than a little of
retro classic
ToeJam & Earl.not firing off correctly, and some more
serious glitches that cause the game
to freeze up irretrievably or simply
crash to the home screen.
Citizens Of Space’s endless well
of enthusiasm makes pointing out
these flaws feel like kicking a puppy,
but they’re impossible to ignore. It’s
not a massive game, but it’s still
overly ambitious – the weight of its
duff ideas threatens to drown its
respectable share of great ones. A
leaner, tighter, quieter experience
would be easier to love. QMore Xbox news at gamesradar.com/oxm THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE 091