No matter the art form, there’s always room for a good sci-fi story. The Station, from a team of veteran developers who worked on titles like Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and BioShock Infinite, offers a great sci-fi ending. One that is both memorable and, in a way, fun. The only real issue is that outside of the narrative there really isn’t much to the puzzle solving and exploration. Reading emails, listening to audio recordings of conversations, and taking in a space bedroom or two. Stuff we’ve seen and handled more intuitively before.

The Station’s appeal though, lies directly with its setting.


Taking place aboard a space station that was sent to investigate a distant alien civilization, The Station bears some similarity to last year’s Tacoma. In the getting to explore a seemingly abandoned space vessel to figure out what happened sort of way. Although it features and tells the fractured stories of various scientists and their relationships with one another, The Station is more interested in exploring the bigger picture. Namely that of what would happen if we, as humanity, had not only the means to discover extra-terrestrial life in the universe but to also send a crew aboard a space station to silently observe and conduct research.

What would we discover and what would that have to say, if anything, about our own place in the cosmic order of things? Humanity number one and all that. Through dim lighting and a general sense of dread the opening moments of The Station incorrectly paints the picture of a tense, almost horrific experience. Well, that’s the sense that I got. Coming in at feature-movie length, The Station is best seen as just that. Sci-fi, without the horror. That often has the feel of an interactive movie, one where you can explore the sets in detail, take your time where needed, and solve a puzzle or two. The sense of dread quickly dissipates, and only resurfaces in the closing moments to add weight to the ending.

Which again, is great.


As a title from a relatively small team of developers The Station suffers in areas that detract somewhat from its overall narrative impact. Presentation and the quality of the environments often feel ‘almost there’, as does a few of the quirkier designs for possible future-tech. Which is a round about way of saying that if the story doesn’t resonate in any way with you, especially from the perspective of human history, ethics, and the coldness that comes with clinical biological study, The Station might come across as an interesting but average release that doesn’t quite live up to the heights of its more impressive ‘walking simulator’ contemporaries.

The puzzles, which are fine, essentially boil down to memorising patterns you see on walls or pieces of paper and then recreate those to access critical space ship things like engines and power. Even the audio recordings which feature decent enough voice acting feel placed almost haphazardly. In a predictable way that has one thinking, “new room, new recording”.


But, again The Station is all about story and the build up to a well-defined and executed ending. One that evokes some of the classic storytelling the genre has seen over the course of the 20th century. To say anymore would be considered spoiler. Not that knowing would detract from your enjoyment of The Station, but instead highlight that it handles this part of the experience so well that it can resonate even when everything else is a mixed bag or not all that impressive.