Review for Deliver Us The Moon. Game for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 10/10/2019 The version for PlayStation 4 came out on 31/12/2020 The version for Xbox One came out on 31/12/2020
Over the past few decades the science fiction genre has intrigued thousands of people in any context, from literature to cinema and from the small screen to the videogame sector. In this context, apocalyptic (or rather imaginative) sci-fi scenarios have often been seen and, more rarely, works with more plausible features. Deliver Us The Moon, developed by KeokeN Interactive and published by Wired Productions, is halfway there.
The title is set in a not too distant future from our historical period and sees mankind struggling with the exhaustion of all energy resources of the Earth. Finding no other solutions, the various nations just have to found the World Space Agency, an international space agency that aims to search for new energy sources and will find them only in the depths of the lunar soil. The colonists extract and send the resources to Earth, which falls into the energy crisis when the lunar colony interrupts all kinds of communication and delivery.
An astronaut sent alone on the satellite has the task of reconstructing the whole story and understanding if it is possible to resume the extraction of resources. Deliver Us The Moon does not reveal too many details explicitly, so much so that to understand the whole situation it is necessary to put the pieces together through audio diary, holograms, emails and notes analyzed during the experience. This is certainly not a new narrative technique, but it is probably the one that best fits the nature of the title itself. The astronaut's journey on the lunar surface is in fact completely solitary. There is no one to talk to or get help from, and you can only get a satisfying picture of the story by gathering information and reworking it yourself.
It should also not be forgotten that the player-controlled astronaut is completely devoid of features. In fact, it looks like a kind of projection of the user, a suit - or a spacesuit - worn solely to carry out the mission. The story written for Deliver us the Moon, which unfortunately has some narrative gaps, is far from perfect - despite being interesting and appreciable - and the title seems to stand above all on two other aspects: the setting and the sound sector. The soundtrack alternates with silence, the most present element throughout the course of the game. It is interrupted only by the noises of devices and machinery and makes clear the overwhelming feeling of isolation and loneliness within the settlements.
The Moon, it is known, has always fascinated the human being and it is curious how even in this work it takes on the role of a character, certainly characterized more than our emptiness, lonely and little astronaut. Human or divine characteristics have often been attributed to the Moon - for the Greeks, for example, it was Selene, but she changed her name to the phase in which she was - and the curiosity that led man to want to reach her certainly did not appear at 'sudden. The satellite was reached only on July 20, 1969, an event which, however, did not exhaust that immortal curiosity. And, of course, the awareness of the influence of the Moon on “terrestrial phenomena” has not disappeared. The Earth and the Moon are therefore closely linked and Deliver Us The Moon brings us to a surface that is once again indispensable for the survival of mankind. Not only does the satellite affect crops, tides and hunting periods, but it even holds a reserve of materials capable of taking humanity out of a serious energy crisis.
The setting is the backbone of the entire project and shows us a series of structures - hubs, antennas and stations - made by man between one lunar crater and another, but even in this respect it could have been done better. Unfortunately, a series of defects dictated, without any doubt, by technical limitations, are combined with an appreciable general realization of the rooms. This is especially evident in scenes which, due to their importance, should be more refined; looking at the Earth with the textures not fully loaded, while heading to the Moon, leaves a lot of bad taste in the mouth. Clearly these are small things that can be overlooked and, to be more serious, it is instead the presence of bugs that prevent you from continuing in the adventure. Being blocked due to a door that does not open, although the game provides for it to open, is certainly not exciting and we were forced to resort to the "chapters" section in the main menu to continue. In fact, the title does not have a manual saving system and it is not possible to restore previous saves, considering that they are overwritten from time to time.
Unfortunately Deliver Us The Moon has to deal not only with technical limitations - still legitimate given the low-budget nature of the game - but also with those related to the gameplay itself. While being consistent with the context, the game mechanics are all already seen and never really put the player to the test. It is always a matter of heading towards a computer, realizing that the procedure to be started cannot be initialized and starting in search of a way to solve the problem. To find what you need, you need to solve puzzles or puzzles, but they are never too complicated and different from each other. The developers have also included some stealth sections that probably serve to try to raise the level of challenge, but still remain at a basic level. In this regard, the overall longevity of the game is completely spot on. Deliver us the Moon can be tackled within four to five hours and there is no doubt that a longer duration would have seemed excessive..
The game released by Wired Productions arrives on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 certainly not in great shape, having to face a series of rather annoying problems and a decidedly lackluster gameplay. Deliver Us The Moon, however, remains a title worthy of being faced: it offers a story that will be able to intrigue science fiction fans and, despite the limitations, unique sensations thanks to the lunar setting but also to the soundtrack - which vaguely recalls those of Gravity and Interstellar - and, above all, to the silence in which you find yourself immersed.
► Deliver Us The Moon is an Adventure-indie game for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 10/10/2019 The version for PlayStation 4 came out on 31/12/2020 The version for Xbox One came out on 31/12/2020
