Moon

"Definitely worth a purchase, but expect a few faults."

Moon

Nintendo DS

Moon is the second game for the DS by Renegade Kid, following Dementium: The Ward. It's a FPA, and controls very similarly to Metroid Prime Hunters. There are several things that drag this game down, and while the gameplay and the overall game experience is pretty good, you will be left with a feeling that the game has massive unexploited potential.

Storyline and presentation: 8/10

The game's story follows a fairly predictable extraterrestrial cliche, and is nothing very fresh. That is not to say however that it is not interesting. The presentation especially makes the player get really hooked into the story. Avoiding spoilers, I will just say that something very creepy is afoot under the surface of the moon (the moon?! They could have at least picked Mars!), and the protagonist is sent to explore. The story is mainly revealed through Metroid like data terminals. The presentation is what really works here. You'll be motivated to move through the game.

Visuals: 7/10

The graphics are excellent. The game is in a beautiful 3D, there is no slowdown, the explosions are good, and there is very little pixelization. There are some sights that will just make you want to stop and look at them for a while, like the universe, the sun's flare, the Earth viewed from the surface of the Moon, and certain others that I won't specify as they spoil the story. The cutscenes are also good, but later on in the game they tend to get repetitive, kinda like MPH's.

The score is really pulled down by the lack of variety in the environments. All the episodes save for a few take place in what could be the same level with differently arranged corridors and enemies. The same unambitious corridors and doors make up all the episodes. The ones that are an exception to the rule are short, easy missions anyways. A little variety would have gone a long, long way.

Sounds and Music: 6/10

Very average, to be honest. The music is mostly not very intrusive, and mechanical sounding, consisting often of beeps and static used to complement the high-tech environment of the game. As far as matching the environment goes, the music does an okay job. But it simply isn't pleasant or exciting to listen to. Most of the time you'd rather it wasn't there. There is one track that I like, but I could never really gel with the rest. Thankfully, the title screen music is really good. But then again, how much time does one spend on the title screen?! One really good thing is that you can quieten or remove the music entirely and retain the sounds if you wish to. Thus the player has an option.

The sound is also nothing great, but better than the music. The gunshots, footsteps, doors opening are all in place. The enemies all make a sound to alert you of their presence, and you can tell where the sots are coming from the noise it makes. The sound certain humanoid enemies make are startling. Hence, the purpose of sound effects in a game such as Moon is served. However, once can't but feel the developers were unambitious with sound effects. Kane doesn't pant when he's low on health, there are no shrieks from the non-machine enemies, no swishes when Kane falls, etc etc. The sound effects could have been used much better to immerse the player in the game. But they weren't.

Gameplay: 8/10

I love the controls. Love them. Quite simply, it's the same system as MPH: the touch screen controls your viewpoint, the D-pad (or AXBY keys for Left handed people) controls you movement. Shoot by L. You can't jump, however. It's a fluid, easy to use, and enjoyable control scheme.

The game has several guns, and each is sufficiently different from the other, though more information on each would have been a nice way to add more interest to the game. There is a sniper rifle too, even though the game consists of mostly small rooms and corridors, so your usage of the sniper is limited to cheap-shotting bosses for massive damage.

One really cool and unique aspect of the gameplay in Moon is the RAD: Remote Access Droid. It's a tiny tank-like robot that you can control. Activating the RAD makes your viewpoint switch to controlling the RAD while Kane is stationary where you left him. The RAD has a stun gun that stuns enemies very briefly, so you feel vulnerable and weak as the RAD, which adds some tension to the sequences. You use the RAD to access otherwise restricted areas, more often than not to allow Kane to pass beyond force fields. There is a boss that requires you to constantly shift between Kane and the RAD to defeat it. And the rush you get when your weak RAD stuns enemies and opens a gate allowing Kane to rush in with his guns blazing is quite unbeatable. Overall, the RAD is an excellent addition to Moon, and hopefully there will be more gadgets like it if there is a sequel.

There are, however, some lacks in the level designs that prevent me from giving the gameplay an even higher score. For one, the game is extremely linear, and often degenerates into a simple "fetch key from marked locations to proceed to a marked location, rinse and repeat" motif. There is very little beyond this in the linear, repetitive levels.

The second is the fact that the enemies in the game are all boring! What's a FPA/FPS without good and varied enemies? All you face here are tiny machines for the majority of the game, and a few indistinguishable humanoid enemies later in the game. Boring. The bosses too are nothing spectacular, though they beat the jokes that were MPH bosses.

Thirdly, for some odd reason the game developers thought it was a good idea to inject clunky, badly controlled, uninteresting driving missions into the game. There's a horribly temperamental vehicle called LOLA that Kane has to drive around. The problem is that all LOLA missions are boring, and the LOLA controls really, really bad. I guess they were trying to give the game some variety, but I'm afraid the LOLA just wasn't the right way to go.

There is also a bug that can force you to reset the game about an hour in and is very possible to trigger. It's well known, however, and there's a save file that you can use to avoid redoing the game. There was some talk of fixing the glitch in later prints of the game. Search "LOLA" or "bug" on the gfaqs Moon boards, you'll get all required information on how to avoid the bug.

In conclusion, Moon isn't a strikingly good game, it doesn't do anything amazing, but what it does it does well. It's a solid FPA that you should definitely look into, but don't expect a very sophisticate game experience. Most of all, don't expect any replay value. The game has no multiplayer, and I can't imagine wanting to ply this game more than twice, ever, no matter how interesting the story or enjoyable the gameplay is at times. For what it's worth, Moon is a very simple yet enjoyable one time experience. Renegade Kids seem to be developers DS fans should keep their eyes on.

FifthWarrior

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/26/09

Game Release: Moon (US, 01/13/09)