J.U.L.I.A.: Among the Stars

Zach Goodier

J.U.L.I.A. is a point-and-click adventure game that follows the character of Rachel Manners, who awakes from cryosleep aboard a damaged spaceship on an expedition to explore the cosmos for new worlds to explore. However, she awakes to find nobody else on board. Her only companions are the ships on-board AI,  J.U.L.I.A. , and the automated exploration robot, Mobot. Rachel soon discovers that J.U.L.I.A. has damaged memory cores, but she remembers that the rest of the crew awoke 60 years prior. She struggles to cope with the situation, as she tries to uncover the fate of the crew, and explore this new solar system.

Over the last 60 years, the environment hasn't been kind to the outposts your crew set up.

Now, I’m a lover of great sci-fi stories, and this game doesn’t disappoint in that regard. Rachel’s journey spans a solar system with a grand mystery hidden under the waves, buried in the sands, and hidden beyond the imagination. There are several worlds to explore, and each has its own secrets to uncover, often tied in to the expedition of your crew. As you uncover the fate of your crewmates, you also uncover bits of the history of the solar system, which hosts several habitable, or once habitable worlds.

Some mysterious creatures are as beautiful as they are dangerous.

Your crew’s story started 60 years ago, and spanned for some time as they ventured into the system to explore. However, they uncovered more than they bargained for, and panic, confusion, and treachery tore the crew apart. You have to sort through the remnants to figure out what transpired, which will set you on the path to discovering the secrets at the heart of millennia of history, and every step compels you to dig deeper, look hardly, and uncover every last hint you can. The tone is very solitary, making you feel alone, with your only companions being computers, with not another human being around for hundreds of light-years. It makes the entire game feel lonely, but in a good way that drives you forward in trying to piece everything together just to keep moving forward.

Moments like this serve little purpose to the story, but help engage the player in an alien environment and explore.

The only characters you really follow are the 3 main ones, the rest of the crew you learn about via log entries found on holopads and computer terminals, all of which help piece together what happened. Rachel is fairly straight-forward, with her curiosity and desperation driving her along, and J.U.L.I.A. is an intelligent force that helps guide you forward. Mobot is the medium for interacting with the worlds, as he goes planet-side and gives you a visual feed to guide him in interacting with the environment.

Environments are full of clues and items that will help you along your journey, you just have to sort it all out from the junk.

This game really impressed me with its sharp story, interesting environments, and use of mystery and lore to drive the player forward, like Rachel, almost desperate to piece together the larger puzzle. I loved this game for its elegant simplicity. The problem is that it’s a one-shot. The game is very linear, and once you beat it, there’s really no reason to go back. Also, the adventure itself can be completed in an afternoon, so don’t buy this for the long haul. That being said, it’s a great ride while it lasts, and it explores the themes that make science fiction such a great genre. Without spoiling it, the final choice at the end is the only real narrative freedom the player gets, but it also offers a difficult choice that makes it seem impossible to truly get it right. This was the cherry on the sundae for this game, and despite its faults, it does what it sets out to do with finesse, a rare feat in the sea of mediocre games out there today. 

Good:

- Great story.

- Fun adventure across multiple planets.

- Rich lore to uncover about the system you explore.

- Great choice at the end

Bad:

- No real replay value

- Relatively short

Scully Rating: 8.0 out of 10