No Way Home Review

Welcome to No Way Home, a game that has nothing to do with the superhero movie you're probably thinking of, there's no Tom Holland here. You play as Cho, a passenger on a budget space cruiser whose self-serve refrigeration unit has malfunctioned. As a result, the ship freezes and crashes into an asteroid field, bursting into flames. Our protagonist, Cho, is shot out of the ship in a small safety pod before the big explosion, and we find her with the pilot assistant, Matey, in an area called the Feral Commons. This location is nowhere near Earth, so they will need to figure out how to return Cho to her home planet.

This twin-stick shooter, developed and published by SMG Studio, has you travelling through various regions of space, meeting quirky aliens and completing missions for them, hoping to find someone who knows where Earth is or has even heard of it. Cho is not a seasoned pilot, but that’s okay because Matey is there to help out and teach you everything you need to know for your exploration of space. Plus, who doesn't love a smart-ass sidekick?

To manoeuvre your ship, you have the option of using a controller or a keyboard and mouse. You can turn on auto-targeting depending on your preference. I found it easier to have it set to on so I could focus more on dodging enemy bullets than choosing who to attack. It doesn’t take long for the screen to be full of shots coming at you; it can become quite panic-inducing! Your ship is equipped with both a gun and a grappling hook — the latter lets you pull rocks out of your path, grab items like credits and upgrades, or even toss stones into goals once you unlock the arcade. Matey also uses the grappling hook to retrieve items and health kits he finds in the region. It also works great to enemy ships close to you making it easier to destroy them

Your ship is equipped with a regenerating shield that protects you from incoming fire, but you'll still need to be strategic, using debris in the area as cover to help protect your ship. Cho won’t be the only one fighting off attackers; Matey is your wingman and aggressively fires at the rival ships, often flying straight into bullet curtains just to get a shot. He also brings back scraps and health from destroyed enemies, making him a truly valuable partner.

If Matey is obliterated, he’ll respawn and rejoin the battle shortly, but in the meantime, Cho will have to fly solo. If your ship is destroyed, you'll respawn at the last warp portal you passed through and be penalised 10% of your total credits, which really sucks if you're trying to save up for new weapons and upgrades for your space pod.

As you explore different regions of space, you’ll find spare parts gathered from the remains of destroyed enemies that you can use on your own ship. Can’t complain about free equipment! You can upgrade these parts to improve stats like Firepower, Speed, and Shield Strength which is important to guard against the wall of enemy shots. You’re also able to dismantle old weapons and unused equipment that are weaker and no longer needed. Breaking these down gives you spare parts to make your good weapons even stronger. Cho’s pod isn’t the only one that can get upgraded; Matey’s ship can also be enhanced to make him a stronger co-pilot. You can sell random items you collect while exploring or buy ones you need to build your next powerful weapon.

On your journey to find Earth, you’ll meet many diverse aliens, all with missions to send you across galaxies. Some require you to defeat enemies, restore power to the arcade, or retrieve special items like a Golden Cheat Cartridge, which may help point you toward your home planet (or at least someone who has heard of it). You can track all your quests in the pause menu. Once you've completed a batch of missions, head to a bar and talk to the bartender, Schmilly. You explain you’re from Earth and trying to get home. He corrects you and says that, in this case, you are the alien. Like many you meet, he's never heard of Earth, but he does have plenty of new jobs for you.

The visuals in No Way Home are stunning, with real depth that makes the background feel distant from the floating objects in the foreground. There’s a wide variety of enemy ships, with each region seeming to have its own unique types. The music is super catchy, and the sound effects for both your weapons and enemy fire are very well done. The game features voice acting, so all conversations are fully voiced. These scenes also have a hand-drawn, cartoon-like art style that gives the game loads of personality.

The story in No Way Home is silly and packed with humour, giving it a light-hearted tone. A character who is obsessed with retrieving his gold pirate videogame cartridge and making sure the pins are clean is awesome; it reminds me of crazy game compilations you could play on the NES. Occasionally, character dialogue during combat can get repetitive, but that’s a minor gripe. Flying around and blasting enemy ships is incredibly fun, especially with constant upgrades to your weapons and pod. It's exciting to see what each new Augment does, always having new pieces to collect keeps you busy during your mission through space! 

One of my favourite locations to visit is the arcade, which you unlock early and can access from the home menu. It features a few mini-games where you can earn coins based on your score. I spent so much time playing the arcade machines! Especially since some games, like Daily Gun, are available for a limited time. While others, Blastronautz and Rocketball, are always ready to play. You can spend your coins on new skins for Matey’s pod; I love the one that looks like an old TV! Or instead, if you love the thrill of surprise, use them in the gachaball machine for a random item. I’m slightly addicted to collecting gacha…

No Way Home is an incredibly fun twin-stick shooter with an awesome space setting and loads of quirky characters. At times, it feels like there’s no way you’ll ever find your way back to Earth, but at least you get to zip around in a super-fast space pod and enjoy the satisfaction of clearing waves of enemies while trying. This game is seriously addictive! If you enjoy flying games with nonstop shooting action, it’s a no-brainer: you need to get No Way Home! You won’t regret it.