Lena is a sci-fi action/adventure game in a top down style, that is currently in early access. Normally I wouldn’t go for an early access game here, because it might cross that $2 threshold at final release, but we’ll just have to wait and see.
First things first, the image at the top of this page, is the start up screen. Which means if you somehow forgot what game you were playing, well then you probably have bigger issues to worry about. That’s a minor gripe, but an important one since the start screen often sets the tone for the game.
The Tone
Welp, not great. But not awful either. I don’t want to be too harsh on Lena because it isn’t a bad game. It’s a very very short game, but again, it is in early access. After beating Lena you are presented with a “To Be Continued” screen, so I’m assuming there is more to come.
Some things I’d like to see more of, are more guns. There is an in-game currency awarded for killing enemies and breaking boxes that you can spend at a shop on the second planet. As of right now there are only two guns you can purchase from there. Not including the blaster you start with and the Nova Bomb you find in the first mission. The fourth gun I didn’t even get to use. By the time I saved up enough currency to purchase it, I had killed all of the enemies.
It would also be nice to find other more useful items. Towards the end of the second level, you find a grappling hook that allows you to traverse the last part of the planet. You also need to use it to move some blocks on top of some sensors to open a door. But then the level ends and you don’t get to do much else with it.
Finally, and I’m sure this is in the works, but it’d be nice to face an actual boss. At one point on the second planet you run into a character named Slugworth that is willing to trade information if you can survive a few waves of enemies. It was fun, but not challenging. If there had been some sort of boss to shoot at while fighting off smaller enemies, it would have made for a much better experience.
The Experience
Lena has very basic controls. WASD to move around and mouse to shoot. Spacebar jumps and Z shoots your grappling hook. You use the number keys to switch between guns, but I’m hoping the scroll wheel will come into play at some point for that.
The movement is pretty fluid and it’s not hard to dodge around some enemies. It’s a very blocky game though and I got stuck on quite a few trees on the second planet.
The jumping. Oh the jumping. There were quite a few scenarios where you need to jump from a moving log to another moving log. And while it isn’t a hard jump to make, it’s quite easy to overshoot. There is a slight grace period where it looks like you are falling but then you can jump again to land on the log. Which if you’re me, means panic jumping over and over again until you eventually fall.
Good news though, you don’t fall to your death. When you fall, you start back at your ship. Which on that second level means starting out right next to the shop. That turned out to very fortuitous when I had finally saved enough currency to buy the next gun, or when I needed to refill my ammo. I also later found out that it would have been much easier to just fall down after finding the grappling hook, because going back to the ship was all I had left to do.
Last Thoughts
I’m including the story in my final thoughts, because unless you read the Steam store page for Lena, you won’t know much about the story. Making it an afterthought as well. Other than the few dialogues in the game, you don’t know why exactly you’re exploring these planets and killing their crocodiles. Chasing after some tech for some guy named Darius. That’s all I got. I’m just going to assume the story is going to come at the same time as the title on start up screen. Really tie it all together.
I’ll say it again, Lena is not a bad game, but it’s not a great game. Or even really a good game. I beat it after exploring and falling a lot in about 50 minutes. Which would have been about 15 minutes less if I was better at not panic jumping. If it looks interesting to you and you worry about that price going up after it’s full release, then give it a shot now. Otherwise, I’d save that two dollars for something better. Like Guntris! (I still pop in for a quick game of that sometimes.)
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