Heavenly Bodies is a game set in space. Players must wrangle the limbs of a pioneering 1970’s cosmonaut through a collection of precarious cosmic challenges, in a zero-gravity environment where nothing is safe, nothing is secure, and nothing is ever simple.
Zero gravity
Heavenly Bodies is another one of those funny puzzle games that take a lot of its charm and humor from the QWOP style controls and characters where every button on your controller controls one limb of your character. If you want to grab something with your right arm, you’ll have to move your right stick and click your shoulder button to close your hands. Since you’re constantly drifting in zero gravity, this isn’t an easy job. Your little cosmonaut is constantly drifting away and only by grabbing onto certain levers and holds in the space station, can you maintain some kind of control. You can also kick your legs and feet to give you an extra push in this zero gravity but never expect miracles or accuracy when it comes to moving around.
During my first minutes with his game, the controls really needed some time to adjust to. It reminded me a lot of the crazy Heave Ho which isn’t that big of a surprise since both games share a lot of similarities when it comes to the control scheme. That being said, getting used to the QWOP control style isn’t your main mission here. Instead, it’s to take care of the space station and activate several devices in order to get your station running as it should. To complete this game, you’ll need 5 to 7 hours, all depending on how quickly you adjust to the controls.
Solve those puzzles
The puzzles are the beating heart of this game and all revolve around activating certain protocols in your space station or grabbing some resources in space. All these simple tasks are kept in your user’s manual so you always know in which order you’ll need to activate certain devices. Under normal circumstances, solving these tasks wouldn’t be an issue since they are all rather straightforward. In zero gravity, things get a bit more complex. Take switching a simple lever for example. Not a problem when there’s gravity, a bit harder when you’re floating around like a ragdoll. Fixing these easy tasks will take a lot longer than you would expect but that’s also the game’s main charm. It gives you a clear and simple objective that will prove itself to be rather difficult to solve. A simple yet smart gameplay mechanic.
To make things even more challenging, the game is also playable in full local co-op. Which is rather hilarious. Drifting around in your space station while desperately trying to solve puzzles using the hard to master controls can become rather frustrating but together with a friend, it’s simply hilarious to play. If you play in co-op mode, you can easily divide certain tasks which will make your progression a bit faster. It also helps that you can grab onto each other’s bodies so you always have something to caliber your zero gravity floating. This often comes at the cost of the other player rapidly drifting in the wrong direction. As you can imagine, solving the puzzles in co-op can certainly be a blast during a gaming evening but the game is most enjoyable in rather short sessions. Like many other games in its genre, the hard controls and no way to really maneuver your characters with precision can get a bit frustrating during longer sessions.
Conclusion:
Heavenly Bodies is a fun puzzler that’s best enjoyed in co-op during shorter sessions. It’s a lot of fun together with a friend but can become rather frustrating while playing alone. If you’re a fan of the QWOP style, you’ll probably enjoy this one a lot.
