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Environmental Station Alpha

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Environmental Station Alpha
Official ESA Steam artwork
Developer(s)Hempuli Oy
Publisher(s)Hempuli Oy
Designer(s)Arvi Teikari
Composer(s)Roope Mäkinen[1]
EngineMultimedia Fusion 2[2]
Platform(s)
Release
  • WW: April 22, 2015
Genre(s)Metroidvania
Mode(s)Single-player

Environmental Station Alpha is a 2015 Metroidvania created by Finnish indie developer Arvi Teikari (known professionally as Hempuli).

Gameplay

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The player character is a robot who must examine a vast bio-dome space station which was mysteriously abandoned, despite still holding signs of life.[3]

The player explores the vast side-scrolling maze of the space station, consisting of several large areas. At the beginning of the game, many areas are inaccessible, so the player must acquire items that grant the robot new abilities (like a grappling hook, the ability to double jump, etc.), and then backtrack to previous areas to find previously-inaccessible paths leading deeper into the station.[4]

Reception

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Jed Whitaker of Destructoid scored the game 7/10 and said, "[o]verall, Environmental Station Alpha didn't reinvent the wheel when it comes to Metroidvania games, but it certainly helped satisfy my appetite." He praised the game's pixel art aesthetic and bosses, writing that "[t]hese confrontations are some of the most satisfying boss battles I've had in a game in some time"; however, he was less enthusiastic toward the game's mandatory backtracking to find new pathways, which he said could be either "rewarding, or tedious depending on the amount of time needed."[5] John Walker of Rock Paper Shotgun also gave the game a positive review, calling it a "Metroid-alike pixel platformer that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed, right up until I didn’t any more. And yet, I find myself recommending it." He said that "[t]he fine balance of Metroid games is often underestimated by those wishing to emulate them, but Arvi Teikari and Roope Mäkinen demonstrate a rare skill of precision" but wrote that the game was too difficult for his tastes, labelling its later sections as "fiddly and over-complicated."[6]

A speedrunning community has developed for Environmental Station Alpha, with the game having been run at the speedrunning marathons European Speedrunner Assembly[7][8] and Games Done Quick[9][10] multiple times apiece.

References

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  1. ^ Tannous, Jesse (May 5, 2015). "Explore a Sci-fi Bio-dome in Environmental Station Alpha". Indie Game Magazine. Archived from the original on September 23, 2016. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
  2. ^ Hempuli Oy (April 22, 2015). Environmental Station Alpha. Credits: This game was created using Multimedia Fusion 2 by Clickteam
  3. ^ "Environmental Station Alpha". giantbomb.com. Giant Bomb. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  4. ^ "ENVIRONMENTAL STATION ALPHA REVIEW". indiesense.github.io. Indiesense. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  5. ^ Whitaker, Jed (April 28, 2015). "Review: Environmental Station Alpha". Destructoid. Archived from the original on November 17, 2021. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
  6. ^ Walker, John (May 1, 2015). "Wot I Think: Environmental Station Alpha". Rock Paper Shotgun. Archived from the original on April 10, 2021. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
  7. ^ European Speedrunner Assembly (September 8, 2015). #Insomnia55 Speedruns - Environmental Station Alpha. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
  8. ^ European Speedrunner Assembly (November 14, 2020). Environmental Station Alpha [Any% (Standard, Inbounds)] by Escheria - #ESASummerOnline. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
  9. ^ Games Done Quick (January 12, 2018). Environmental Station Alpha by R3DninjaJosh in 26:35 - AGDQ 2018 - Part 15. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
  10. ^ Games Done Quick (November 6, 2018). Environmental Station Alpha by Escheria in 24:38 - GDQx2018. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
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