I’ve never been to the moon, nor to space, nor even that high above cruising altitude, but I can imagine that it’s probably a very lonely, quiet place. That’s why I’m impressed with the demo of KeokeN Interactive & Starbreeze’s Deliver Us the Moon, as playing the game is probably as accurate as possible outside of actually going there, and the closest I’ll get.
Deliver Us the Moon is accurately named.
Luna is lonely, it’s dark and yet bright, quiet and yet booming. The game’s primary focus is to showcase that. There’s a plot, but it actually falls secondary to the Moon experience proper. Set in the near future, we’re tasked with discovering why everyone suddenly disappeared from this base. This unfolds through text and audio logs, puzzles and exploration. It’s not a new story idea for a space game, but it serves the explicit purpose of getting us to explore and see everything.
The demo begins as we arrive at the station, situated on the banks of the Reinhold crater. The development team made a point of being as accurate to the topography as possible, while still giving a bit of leeway for narrative. We’re set in the future, so humans have already been to the moon and had their way with some aspects of the surface. Exiting the tram reveals an empty station; items seem to have been left on tables, suits still on hangars. It’s as if everyone dropped what they were doing and left. Logs littered throughout the station give us some idea of what people were doing there, but as the demo is set so early in the game we only get teasers of the situation.
There are no aliens here, no armies, no space nazis. This is a lonely, empty, eerie building, and it’s unsettling. The tension builds because of zero interaction with others. Perhaps our only solace is in knowing that we have ACE, a little floating robot, hanging around at our side helping us out as needed. He feel low AI, and more of an extended helping tool rather than a full companion. This is hard sci-fi.
As we make our way through the area, we come to find out that we need to take the tram to another station. However, the only way to do this is to adjust the misaligned tram array, located on the opposite side of the crater. Making our way down to the docking bay, we grab an off-road vehicle and exit the building. If there’s anything that throws us off from the experience, it’s the vehicle controls. They’re especially loose, almost as if we’re driving an RC car rather than a six-wheeler bigger than a Chevy Silverado. I am half-expecting the vehicle to have harder turns and slower speeds, but I’ve also never driven on the moon so this may (or may not) be accurate. Either way, I enjoy zipping from one end of the crater to the next, picking up speed and flipping the beast on its sides and back. It’s fun enough that I almost forget I have a task to do.
There’s something to be said about the scale of the crater. Going from an ultra-confined building — which is likely to happen in space as science asks us to be efficient with our volumetric usage — to a massive open area is jarring, and terrifying. Thoughts immediately stream into my head: what if I accidentally float away? What if I get stuck? How will I get back, and who will find me? It’s akin to being on a yacht one second and stuck on a raft in the ocean the next. The crater is big enough to leave its impression on me, but not too big that it feels empty. I make my way to the array tower, adjust the angle of the tram line, and head back. It’s worth noting that since the moon is mostly gray, any color must be man-made and immediately grabs our interest. It’s a smart way to create focal points in the game, without blinking arrows.
As we get back in the building and head to the tram station, we’re met with an explosion, sending us flying out the back.
End scene.
For a short demo, it immediately captures the intended feel of the experience. I am an astronaut, or at least what I had always imagined one to be. I need to understand the lack of gravity, the lack of people, the gray, quiet world. I’m on another celestial body. Developers KeokeN Interactive are on an admirable path. Deliver Us the Moon replicates the feeling of being on the moon, of being alone and afraid. There’s no release date pinpointed yet, but whenever it does I’ll be first in line on the shuttle to our little gray buddy.
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