Vane

 PlayStation 4
Vane Image
Metascore
49

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 53 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
5.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 35 Ratings

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  • Summary: In a ruined desert, a strange golden dust transforms a free-spirited bird into a determined young child, setting off a chain of events that will reshape the world itself. From the team at Friend & Foe Games, Vane is a stunning, emotional and unnerving experience.

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18 Minutes Of Vane Gameplay

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 53
  2. Mixed: 26 out of 53
  3. Negative: 24 out of 53
  1. PlayStation LifeStyle
    Jan 15, 2019
    85
    In its refusal to hold your hand or even guide you a little, Vane feels like it stands out among its peers as a vehicle to deliver narrative agency for players, not because they have a list of choices to sift through, but because they are presented with an environment and scenario that is so freely open to interpretation. With Vane, you get out what you put in, and while you may not come back to it multiple times, that first one is a doozy.
  2. Digital Chumps
    Jan 15, 2019
    65
    Like the pearlescent shimmer across its desert surface, Vane is difficult to observe and define with precise clarity. Its world presents either an invitation to wonder or a provocation to explore and it’s often seized by the tension pulling it in opposing directions. Vane can be brilliant and subversive or confusing and frustrating and it’s impossible to separate its intentions from its misfortunes.
  3. Metro GameCentral
    Jan 16, 2019
    60
    An atmospheric and often perplexing exploration game that suffers from bugs, uneven level design, and an unwavering dedication to leaving you to your own devices.
  4. God is a Geek
    Jan 21, 2019
    50
    Vane has some good ideas, but in stretching them out for too long across a pretty empty world, it soon becomes tiresome and frustrating.
  5. CD-Action
    Dec 11, 2019
    40
    It has a wonderful sound, looks nice, stutters unpleasantly, and is boring as hell. It’s a textbook example of a triumph of form over substance – a charming but overall hollow experience. [03/2019, p.55]
    All this publication's reviews
  6. Push Square
    Jan 18, 2019
    40
    Vane is exhausting, ponderous, bewildering, endlessly frustrating, needlessly obtuse, narratively unsatisfying, mechanically clumsy, and technically shoddy, all shot through a camera so ill-equipped to deal with the rudimentary task of showing you what's happening on screen that you might as well pop a blindfold on and try using The Force.
  7. COGconnected
    Jan 22, 2019
    20
    In addition to the lack of direction, Vane’s controls are floaty and often unresponsive, which makes puzzles and general navigation that much more frustrating. Collision detection is also relatively wonky at times, which is especially challenging in a game where all of the puzzles involve pushing something from one spot to another, or landing on a small piece of metal. The only bit of solace or reward that comes from operating these forklift controls is the severely underused smooth synthwave soundtrack.

See all 58 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 8
  3. Negative: 3 out of 8
  1. SylviaLehman
    Jan 20, 2019
    10
    I just loved it. Is a exploration for another misterious world . I loved to fly as a bird. The visuals are awesome. The soundtrack is good.I just loved it. Is a exploration for another misterious world . I loved to fly as a bird. The visuals are awesome. The soundtrack is good. If you complete all the tasks, and there are so so many, the gameplay surpass 15 hours. Its my kind of game , perfect after a long and hard workday.… Expand
  2. Flattinjib
    Nov 1, 2020
    9
    If you liked Journey, Abzû, Lost Ember... those kind of games, you will love this one. The bad critics here, well, every one has their ownIf you liked Journey, Abzû, Lost Ember... those kind of games, you will love this one. The bad critics here, well, every one has their own tastes, but most of them seem to think that this should be some kind of Mario 64.
    Look, this game, more than a game, is an audiovisual interactive experience, with a very strong surreal component. If you like surrealism, you will definitely like this work. This game is designed to make you FEEL. Is just to relax and to feel. And every one will feel different things, but this is not a game to play it like a "platform game", as many people say. This is not a platform game. This is not a puzzle game.
    From the graphical look, to the breathtaking music that fits perfectly, this gem is a little surreal and poetic master piece. To me is really special because it triggered lots of memories buried deep inside my mind.
    Just don´t ask questions, don´t try to find a universal sense for what you see in the game, and look for your own interpretation.

    I am afraid that many of the critics that say things like "bad gameplay!!", "bad playability!!", "It makes no sense!!", "As a platform game the control is atrocious!!"... I think that they just don´t get it. They probably are used to games with a very well defined plot and story, actual platformers maybe, or trendy stuff as Fortnite, Among Us, Phasmophobia, and all that stuff. People who play videogames at speed light as many gameplay videos that give headache because they move through the map as maniac squirrels on coke. Seriously, I don´t understand how some people got lost in the game as they say, or complaint about "a lot of time to find something". This game is clearly not for them. So those 1s and 2s are absolutely unfair. They just don´t get it.

    I give it a 9, not a 10, because its only fault to me, is that I would like it to be way longer, because the experience is amazing.    … Expand
  4. Wander22
    Feb 11, 2019
    8
    This game is grossly misunderstood. Really interesting and unique game with incredible visuals and music. This is bar none the best use of theThis game is grossly misunderstood. Really interesting and unique game with incredible visuals and music. This is bar none the best use of the Unity Engine out there. The visual storytelling and atmosphere are top notch as well. It IS held back a bit by bugs and horrible checkpoints (don't exist if you exit and start game again, starts you from the beginning of 1 of 5 chapters you most recently arrived at losing upwards of 30 minutes of progress at times). That said, this game should be played front to back in one sitting. Good Game!

    Gameplay/Mechanics: 5.5
    Story/Atmosphere: 9
    Graphics/Art: 9
    Sound/Music: 9
    OVERALL: 8/10    … Expand
  5. SuperkenGaming
    Jan 15, 2019
    5
    Vane
    3 and a half hours of frustration
    Vane at a glance looks like a team ico like game, and I’m in love with these types of games… so I was    Vane
    3 and a half hours of frustration
    Vane at a glance looks like a team ico like game, and I’m in love with these types of games… so I was so excited to play this one.. And unfortunately it’s just a broken feeling frustrating experience...
    Here you play as a bird boy…
    you transform back and forth… you take bird form to gather other birds around the different maps to help you progress through the next section of the game, and you take the form of a boy to run through the different little sections.. Unfortunately none of these sections or levels are fun to explore or play through…
    Both forms are frustrating to play as... the bird form feels awkward and stiff… I felt hardly any control as I’m trying to perch on items to call for my bird friends to help, and as the boy I feel you just move so slow that its just infuriating to run through sections..
    and the frustration here just deepened for me towards the end where the game just started breaking on me…
    I fell through a map and entered an endless death loop.. backed out into the menu and lost an insane amount of progress, but I pushed through… the game wasn’t awful and I wanted to see all it had to offer… so I finally find the solution to the spot I was stuck in, bringing these sections back to life with this orb im pushing around with my other little bird boy friends…
    an then one of them somehow gets stuck up on a ledge, making it impossible for me tpo progress the game, and once again I had to back out.. in hopes that okay I mad a nice chunk of progress, surely the game wont set me all the way back to the beginning of this chapter… and it did.. I wanted to cry..
    the checkpoints are awful for how broken this game feels…
    vane sadly looks far better than it actually is..
    There is a positive of a bunch of silver and gold trophies, but aside from that.. This is a highly skippable title that offers nothing but frustration, from its mechanics to its bugs….
    I give Vane
    a 4.5/10    … Expand
  6. SWERY_51
    Mar 14, 2019
    4
    Vane is a short adventure game, inspired by games like Journey, Inside and Little Nightmares.

    Pros : + Wonderful art direction + Great    Vane is a short adventure game, inspired by games like Journey, Inside and Little Nightmares.

    Pros :
    + Wonderful art direction
    + Great atmosphere
    + Nice Synthwave musics

    Cons :
    - The worst framerate issues i've ever seen in a videogame...
    - Gameplay is rigid
    - Camera is awful    … Expand
  7. GlaucioM
    Apr 20, 2019
    1
    The game is not intuitive, you spend a lot a lot time to find something. The design graphic is great but funny experience not.
  8. EvilEmperor2
    Jan 16, 2019
    0
    Completamente tedioso, não parece um jogo bem estruturado apesar de Indie, e se mostra muito fraco até mesmo para carregar tal nome...

See all 8 User Reviews

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80
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