[1][2] The game reinterprets the original's setting and characters, adopting anime graphics and making the formerly insect Yar race into four-armed humanoid aliens.

A nameless Yar girl is brainwashed by the Qotile evil empire, but after she is shot down and rescued, she seeks revenge on her former master.

Their primary focus had been on first and third-person action-adventure games with an emphasis on sci-fi and horror, but Killspace pitched the idea of a rail shooter to Atari, who wanted to make something "new and exciting" with the franchise.

Criticizing the need to pilot Yar and her targeting reticle independently, he called the game's encounters "underwhelming" despite "the occasional nod to the visual minimalism of Rez".

[6] Heidi Kemps of GameSpot also rated the game 5/10 points, saying that while it had "great art design", the gameplay was "dull" despite being heavily inspired by Panzer Dragoon, Star Fox and Sin and Punishment.