No Way Home, the gorgeous exploration and story-focused shooter, blasts onto Apple Arcade today

SMG Studio's No Way Home is a gorgeous, story-focused shooter that's set to blast its way onto Apple Arcade later today. Set in a strange, far-off galaxy, it tells the tale of a young woman who finds herself flung from one bizarre situation to the next. Now stranded in unfamiliar territory, she opts to head out with her robot companion at her side to explore everything the universe has to offer – which happens to be a lot.

At its core, No Way Home is a fast-paced shooter that makes smart use of procedural generation to tell its tale and keep gameplay fresh. There are currently over 50 weapons to seek out, craft, and eventually upgrade to your heart's content. Enemies are similarly varied, with there being over 60 different types to test your mettle on.

Your path to survival with be fraught with all manner of weird and wild creatures that you'll be able to interact with and learn more about. Each alien race has its own backstory and narrative arc to follow, and future updates will continue building upon the game's eclectic cast of oddball characters.

What has me especially intrigued is the writing, which is said to be inspired by the likes of Red Dwarf and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. By this I mean it uses absurdist humour to lighten the tone and give the overall experience a great personality.

It's also visually impressive, boasting a unique art style. All the linework you see is drawn by hand before being scanned into the game, which is what gives it such a distinct look.

You might already know SMG Studio from its 2018 release, Death Squared. Harry reviewed it at launch, saying "whether you're playing with a friend or on your own, Death Squared is a brilliant puzzler", before awarding it a gold rating.

No Way Home should be available for download to all Apple Arcade subscribers later today.