Routine
Developer: Lunar Software
Publisher: Raw Fury
Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S (Reviewed), PC
Release Date: Available Now
Price: $24.99 USD – Available Here
Overview
It came as something of a surprise to learn that when Routine was released it had actually been a game that was first announced over thirteen years ago. Despite the slew of horror games and retro-futuristic titles that came afterwards, Lunar Software persisted with their vision in creating a horror game that does everything it can to make sure players are kept on their toes as well as immersed in the experience as possible by leaving them hanging with every puzzle and navigating the creepy halls of the lunar base. The question is, while the wait was a long one, has Routine turned out to be a success, or a routine failure?
Story
Players take on the role of an unnamed software engineer that has been sent up to the Union Plaza space station on the Moon to fix an apparently malfunctioning security system. The only problem is, after the designated time required to “isolate” after arriving on the moon base it becomes apparent that something has gone incredibly wrong. What should be a popular tourist location with plenty of staff is instead a ghost town with only a few notes left about what an engineer should do if they find themselves stuck. This includes gathering the Cosmonaut Assistance Tool (referred to as C.A.T.) which serves as the engineer’s primary way to interact with consoles, maintenance hatches, and more. After acquiring the first module that allows the C.A.T. to send out bursts of electricity, the player enters deeper into the Union Plaza only to find that isolation was far from the worst thing awaiting them.
Instead, not only are they presented with an elaborate sequence to properly shut down the security system that has gone haywire, but the massive robots that are now patrolling the halls see everything as a threat, including the Engineer, and will pursue and eliminate them without a second thought. If they can catch them that is. Soon players learn the routines of the robots as they go about and work through their own routine of trying to fix and make this unknown phenomenon on the space station right, but as soon as they do things go far from routine as Routine takes a major twist in its second half, pivoting from retro-futuristic survival to survival horror. Things go far into the deep end once players delve into the lore and uncover what really happened, or seems to have actually happened, to those who once called this lunar base home.
Routine is an incredibly interesting game to play and it makes the most out of its storytelling through atmosphere, context clues scattered around the environments players explore, and the many notes, emails, videos, and even tape-recordings of former residents to put things together. The story the game has to tell is fairly interesting but it is also so hands-off that players who aren’t paying close attention or reading every terminal they come across, which is something that can be hard to do since the game never pauses, may miss out on some context. Very little is actually clearly spelled out, though most of the story elements should be easy to grasp for many, and it makes previous elements of the story make far more sense as well, especially the actions the security system was taking in the first half of the game.
That being said, Routine does feel like something of a mashup of two storylines squished together. While the general gameplay remains the same, the way events unfold, threats, and even the overall tone of the exploration takes on a different feeling entirely past the halfway point. Whether this was intentional or a result of the game’s lengthy and troubled development period is unknown but it is quite noticeable and those who like the earlier aspects of the title’s style may find themselves disappointed in the end, even if the storyline goes to some real strange places.
Gameplay
Routine makes for an incredibly interesting game primarily thanks to the fact that, outside of the things that want to kill the engineer and the second half twist the storyline takes, most of what the player will actually be doing would be considered “routine.” Only it also happens to be in the clunkiest way possible to try and immerse players into the feeling of the retro-futuristic vision entirely. The tutorial demonstrates how players will be able to move, run, crouch/crawl, but then go even a step further by holding RB to duck even lower to examine under tight spaces, lean around corners to take and look for danger, and even stand on the tips of their toes to peek over things.
Once players obtain their C.A.T. things get a bit more complicated thanks to the way that the device is handled. The C.A.T. serves as the player’s one and only real tool for survival (beyond running away) and interacting with the space station’s systems. This includes connecting wirelessly to projectors that let players save their game, review their objectives, and even look up a code they may have forgotten, as well as use the primary fire of the C.A.T. to shock open doors and robots as well. The unfortunate thing is, every blast of electricity takes one battery charge and every battery only has three charges before it is depleted and players cannot carry more than one battery around at a time, meaning if they have burned through their entire C.A.T. battery means they’ll need to run away to find more batteries or desperately dig out a depleted one from a recycled station for a final shot.
The interesting thing is, the Type-05 robots players will need to deal with cannot be destroyed. In fact it takes a well-placed shot to even properly disable them with an electric jolt and even this is temporary. Instead players will need to use their ears as best as possible, and their sense of direction, to try and avoid drawing the robots’ attention or finding a safe place to hide from their clunking heavy foot-steps. Thankfully the robots are rather… dumb and can be avoided once players get the hang of things and it is interesting to note that the security system can apparently only have one robot active at a time, meaning hearing one moving somewhere else can leave players able to sneak past another, though whether it will activate suddenly can be a jumpscare waiting to happen. Should players be caught by a Type-05 they will not instantly be killed, as the robot will throw them a short distance away, giving players a chance to scurry away or take a pot-shot but if they are caught again too quickly they will be killed.
Routine does make use of manual saving and it also makes use of the occasional autosave here and there when players complete specific tasks, though players will always want to save as often as possible as well as write down, or screenshot, any codes they’ve uncovered up until that point for a puzzle. This is because not only does the game not feature any type of pause system, meaning enemies can and will come and kill the player in the pause menu, something that is incredibly annoying, or even when interacting with computers in the game, but also because all codes are randomized for every playthrough. While the locations may remain the same, everything will be randomized from playthrough to playthrough so there is no easy way out.
The C.A.T. itself also features a number of complicated aspects beyond simply the electric blaster and the unique way its “screen” is displayed like a 10 fps monitor. While battery reloads happen manually, other aspects such as swapping between modules that the player acquires through the game such as a UV style view-screen and a door unlocking blast that unlocks security doors, all happen manually. This means players will need to pull up their C.A.T., drag the cursor around to swap on the security module and open up a door only to then need to repeat the process and activate the module for UV or even the electric blaster if needed, all while something out there may want to decapitate them. The same can be said regarding saving and even “degaussing” as players will need to manually press the wireless connection button on the side of the C.A.T. and coming nearby odd machinery can create feedback that warps the in-game screen and C.A.T.’s display and the only way to fix it is with a tap of the degauss button.
All of these systems, be it fiddling with the C.A.T., fiddling with the computer screens to read information and clues to a puzzle, or fiddling with a keypad all mean that players will need to have their heads screwed on tight when playing Routine. Especially since there are no objective markers, clue reminders, or even hints to go off of besides what the player has found within the notes themselves. This means puzzle solutions are incredibly challenging or incredibly simplistic to the point that players may knock themselves in the head at how easy it might be. That being said, it does feel like some of the more unique puzzle solving elements really don’t come into play as often as they should.
One of the most challenging puzzles arrives in Chapter 4, requiring everything the player has learned so far all while pitting them against an incredibly dangerous threat unlike what they’ve seen before, and that is the hardest puzzle in the game. From that point on they are incredibly basic and even the aforementioned leaning, ducking, and peeking mechanics rarely come into play beyond once or twice. It feels as if the title started to lose steam near the end, especially once the big twist and eventual outcome started to reveal itself. Sure, there were plenty of tense moments still and a few jumpscares, but the puzzles and dangers felt lackluster past chapter four which is a real shame given Routine’s roughly six hour length.
Audio & Visuals
Lunar Software has done an incredible job creating a retro-futuristic feeling to the lunar base that the player will explore. Many locations players travel through will have little bits of atmospheric storytelling to go along with simply navigating these cassette-future halls in the first half and the designs of the Type-05 robots are perfectly creepy and humanoid at the same time while the oddity in the last half is suitably just as twisted for as much of a threat as it turns out to be. The second half of the game is similarly well-designed with a more brutalist style and more creepy remnants of the horrors that befell those that once lived there. It is a bit disappointing that players spend only a handful of fairly brief moments actually walking the lunar surface despite how impressive it looks to stare off at the planet and sun in the sky. It is also worth noting that, despite the limited areas in the game, there is actually quite a bit of backtracking players will need to do, especially in the latter half.
It must be emphasized that the developers really wish for players to play Routine with headphones or surround sound on if at all possible and doing so will make for the best experience and chance to survive. Navigating the halls while listening for the persistent thudding feet of robots or the creepy cries and mumbles of the oddity work exceptionally well here and the atmospheric sense of hearing crumbling machinery crackling along, sparking devices barely hanging in there, and more make for navigating the halls all the more eerie when heard in this manner. There is an English voice track for the audio logs and the voice work is handled well, including during the few cutscenes, but there is not much in the way of actual voicework throughout the game.
Overall
Routine was over a decade in the making and while the wait may have been a long one, Lunar Software has delivered one heck of a scary game that checks plenty of boxes. Difficult puzzles combined with interesting enemies and ways to avoid/combat them while never truly feeling safe makes Routine stand out amongst the games that came after it was announced, especially thanks to its rather unique storyline twist. That being said, it does tend to feel like two thoughts compressed into one given how abrupt the shift is, even if it is hinted slightly during the first half. Combine that with the annoying inability to pause and the way puzzles fall off in the latter half of the game and Routine serves up a fine horror dish to start with but stumbles at the end, delivering an interesting take on the genre and a rather unique take on space horror.
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