Jettomero: Hero of the Universe

Developer: Ghost Time Games  | Publisher: Ghost Time Games  | Release Date: 2017 | Genre: Casual / Indie | Website: Official Website | Purchase: Steam

Jettomero is a giant robot who wants to do nothing more than protect humanity. In its favor is the fact that it is big and indestructible, but unfortunately, the fact that it is also incredibly clumsy does count against it. Although Jettomero apologizes profusely every time it accidentally knocks over a few buildings or tramples some tanks with its giant feet, the very humans it is trying to save tend to attack it in full force. Since Jettomero is indestructible, this proves to be more of a nuisance than a danger, but it is somewhat disheartening when you get bombarded with bombs and missiles simply for trying to help.

Initially, Jettomero doesn’t know its true purpose and where it came from, but fighting the various monsters it encounters unlocks some memories. The fights feature intense eye-laser tugs-of-war but are played out via quick-time events. Although rapidly inputting the indicated button combination and hammering a specific button to attack becomes somewhat challenging, it’s not as exciting as actually going toe-to-toe with a giant mutant monster. The penalty for losing is also very minor, but even this can be avoided by reducing the difficulty level, which gives you all the time in the world to press the button combinations required to win. The game doesn’t just hand you the memories that Jettomero unlocks on a silver platter, though. Instead, you must complete a decryption mini-game, which involves rotating a series of ciphers to reveal the correct phrase. Get it right, and you are rewarded with a comic-book-style cut scene that fleshes out Jettomero’s tale. Defeating the monster in each system also opens up a wormhole, which you can take to the next system, where you can repeat the whole process. The monster’s location in each system is random, so you might have to visit a few planets to find it, and jetting around requires fuel that must be scavenged from the planets. Once you figure out the process though, completing the game is simply a matter of repeating the process over and over again, not unlike something casual like Tasty Blue.

While the gameplay of Jettomero can become rather repetitive and lacks depth, it is very hard not to like the game. Despite being a giant clumsy robot, there is something very endearing about Jettomero’s quest to save the human race. It might be horrible at what it wants to do, but its heart is definitely in the right place. What really makes the game stand out from the crowd, though, is its visuals. Jettomero looks like a typical science fiction robot from a 1950s B-movie but can be customized with a wide range of heads, arms, body armor, and footgear.

These parts are unlocked by stomping on the highlighted spots on the planets, which gives you some incentive to wander around apart from just collecting fuel. Jettomero towers above the human cities, and the planets are tiny enough that you can stomp around them in less than a minute, making hunting down the parts less of a chore. With everything from hammers, cannons, and scissors for hands to a tutu, bandolier, or dark cape for body armor, there are endless combinations to customize your Jettomero.

The game is viewed in 3rd person, which offers a great way to really soak in the beautiful procedurally generated universe. The visuals have a vibrant comic book style and use colors and shading that we rarely see in games. In fact, Jettomero even features a “photo mode,” which pauses the action and enables you to mess around with the camera and apply stylized filters to the visuals. This feature provides a nice break from the grind of tracking down monsters, and we probably spent as much time poking around in this mode as the actual game. Although not ultra-detailed, the visuals look very stylish, especially when tanks, spaceships, and drones bombard Jettomero. The game doesn’t have a lot of visual options to tweak beyond being able to adjust the screen, which might be disappointing to some players. In addition to the stylish visuals, Jettomero has a very fitting soundtrack. The music not only sounds great but actually provides a lovely, soothing backdrop to the game. Seeing as Jettomero isn’t really an action game, the mellow tunes make sense, even during scenes of carnage.

Jettomero can be played using a keyboard, but we recommend a controller for the best experience. For a giant robot, Jettomero is quite graceful when boosting around space, but his movement on the planets is intentionally very cumbersome. Imagine a small child wearing oversized boots while trying to walk through thick mud, and you’ll have an idea of just how tricky it is to maneuver Jettomero. We would have liked to see some penalty for destroying the cities, as currently, you can trash everything in sight, and the only thing that happens is Jettomero apologizing. Even the constant attacks that Jettomero suffers have no negative impact, which means the game is ideal for players who simply want a casual experience with no frustration. However, players who enjoy a challenge might appreciate the sedate pace less. Anyone looking for something other than the primary gameplay loop can seek out a couple of optional tasks, but none of these are taxing, either. From flying through hoops while in space to stomping out fires, these distractions only reward players with the occasional achievement and have no impact on the story.

Speaking of the story, we don’t want to spoil anything, but it is actually one of the game’s highlights. While we could see the “twist” coming a mile away, it was still satisfying to find out what was going on and where Jettomero fits into the grand scheme of things. There’s more to the tale than what you’ll find in a single playthrough, too, so if you want to experience the real (and quite satisfying) ending, it is worth it to keep going after defeating all the monsters. Judging purely by the gameplay, it would be hard to recommend Jettomero, especially to anyone looking for depth and a challenge. However, the visual style, atmosphere, music, and story all combine to offer an experience that is more than the sum of its parts. It might not be very long or have much of a challenge, but we still found ourselves glued to the game until the end credits rolled and will probably return to it again for the occasional blast through space.