Orbitals is an anime-inspired co-op adventure that arrives with a difficult comparison to overcome: Hazelight’s award-winning It Takes Two. Early reviews suggest developer Shapefarm has made an impressive debut, although its puzzles, story and spaceship sections do not consistently reach the same standard.
Orbitals earns solid review scores
At the time of writing, Orbitals holds an 81 on Metacritic and an 84 on OpenCritic. Those results are respectable for Shapefarm’s first game, even if they sit below Split Fiction, Hazelight’s follow-up to It Takes Two, which has a 91 on Metacritic.
That places Orbitals among the more notable recent attempts to build a complete game around co-operative play. It also gives players looking for a two-person experience a reason to take notice, despite the uneven critical response.
Art and sound are major strengths
The clearest point of agreement in the reviews is Orbitals’ presentation. Its retro-anime-inspired artwork gives the game a distinctive look, while the sound design adds to its sense of identity. One review awarded it 9/10, highlighting the quality of its visuals and audio.
That style is more than a minor embellishment. Reviewers who were less convinced by the gameplay still acknowledged that the aesthetic helps carry the experience and gives Shapefarm’s debut considerable personality.
Co-op design keeps both players involved
The game’s central appeal is its insistence that both players contribute. The two characters, Maki and Omura, have different responsibilities during the mission, and progression regularly asks players to coordinate rather than simply share the screen.
Exploration, puzzle-solving and boss encounters all use this partnership. One player may move an obstacle or activate a switch while the other handles movement or positioning. The design aims to ensure that neither participant becomes a passenger, a quality that helped make It Takes Two such a benchmark for the genre.
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Some execution issues hold it back
Not every reviewer found the underlying gameplay as compelling as the presentation. A 7/10 assessment argued that the concept is stronger than its execution, pointing to puzzle design that can feel shallow and spaceship sequences that are awkward to control.
The space combat appears to be the most common source of frustration. Fast, homing missiles can make evasive manoeuvres uncomfortable, and one late-game sequence was described as especially overwhelming. The combination of one player managing puzzle elements while the other pilots remains an engaging idea, but the combat does not always make that teamwork enjoyable.
Players interested in the physical controls behind arcade-style interaction can also find practical advice in RETROCADE’s arcade parts collection and arcade machine buying guide.
A memorable co-op adventure?
Another criticism concerns the writing and the lasting impact of its set pieces. A three-star review praised the game’s look and sound but found the story difficult to follow and the co-op puzzles less memorable than those in Hazelight’s recent work.
That comparison is significant because Split Fiction is remembered for inventive moments such as its hoverbike captcha sequence, flying pigs and boundary-breaking finale. By contrast, some reviewers felt Orbitals was already fading from memory only a few days after the credits rolled.
Even so, the overall picture is not dismissive. Reviews broadly recognise a stylish game with a worthwhile co-op foundation, and one assessment called it the best co-op release since It Takes Two. That is a strong claim for a flawed debut, particularly in a genre that has attracted relatively few direct challengers.
Verdict
Orbitals may not replace It Takes Two as the co-op game to beat, but its review scores show that Shapefarm has delivered a credible alternative. The striking retro-anime presentation and genuinely collaborative structure are its biggest assets; shallow puzzles, a forgettable story and troublesome spaceship combat are the main caveats.
For friends or family seeking a two-player adventure, Orbitals appears worth considering—provided its uneven moments do not undermine the experience.
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