An adventure in space trying to save the human race and unravel the mystery of why the Lunar Base suddenly went dark.
Platforms: PC
Players: 1
Category: Adventure, Action, Space Sci-Fi
Developer: KeokeN Interactive
Price: £19.99
What’s it about?
Deliver us the Moon: Fortuna is an adventure game in which Earth’s natural resources have been depleted. In a bid to try and solve the energy crisis, the World Space Agency was created and secured a promising new source of energy on the moon. The World Space Agency colonized and operated from the moon until one fateful night when all communications with Earth ceased and the energy source was lost. Years later, you take on the role of Earth’s last astronaut to go on a do-or-die mission to investigate what happened on the moon,why it went silent, and to try save humanity from extinction.
During your adventure you will navigate the hazards of space, solve puzzles and gather clues all whilst accompanied by a robot named ASE who will help you as you traverse the abandoned station and moon’s surface.
In space you don’t need to scream!
It seems like something bad has happened, the station is in tatters, everyone’s left in a hurry and lots of the stations vital systems are offline. But this isn’t a horror game where moon aliens are just waiting for you turn up and jump out from behind every corner to scare the living crap out of you. There will be no screaming necessary. Deliver us the Moon is, for the most part, a relaxing and solitary experience, but there are nice crescendos of action scattered throughout that will make you think and act fast in order to save your own life.
It sets a nice pace for the game and peaks and troughs at the right times, where during the quieter moments you’ll encounter exposition from digital recordings that will play out as you make your way through certain areas. If you choose to search around the environment more, you will find additional details in the form of notes and other documents that will add weight and back story to the characters and setting.
Look and Feel
Space looks great! To be honest I think it’s pretty hard to not make space look great, but to make space feel great is a different task altogether, thankfully KeokeN Interactive succeeds with that too. There are transitions from tight enclosed claustrophobic corridors to being freely floating in the void that work really well and really make you feel like you’re in an abandoned station. The feel of the space station itself is spot on too, with a nice combination of feeling slightly retro but also futuristic, kind of like how things are in the Aliens franchise.
One particular moment that really stuck with me was in the opening sequences when you’re launching your rocket in to space, you have to perform it all manually, flicking switches and pulling levers; it was a great feeling and instantly sucked me in to the games atmosphere. I can’t help but think it would be amazing in VR.
Floating around in the weightlessness of space feels…well, weightless…I always find that space has this knack of making me feel a little bit dizzy if I spin around too much and I get that same feeling with this too. I’m not sure if this is a good thing, but I usually put it down to being good because it’s making me feel immersed, but honestly I could just be getting motion sickness…
Given the slower pace of the game, controls don’t come too much in to it especially when you spend a lot of time being weightless. But during the game you will switch between 3rd and 1st person for certain portions, and it’s at these times where the movement in 3rd person just feels a little bit odd. I felt like when running in 3rd person is was gliding around corners and it was just a bit strange. I get that we’re in space and maybe that’s part of the reason, but I didn’t notice it in 1st person at all.
You will also assume the control of your ASE drone at times in order to solve simple puzzles, it’s a nice touch that keeps things interesting without being overly intrusive or the puzzles being too challenging.
Pros and Cons
+ Engaging and interesting story
+ Good visuals with a great space aesthetic
+ ASE is surprisingly loveable
+ Good pacing, great set pieces
– Unsatisfying ending – for now
– Performance could be better
– Short for the price
Verdict
Deliver us the Moon: Fortuna surprised me a little, I wasn’t expecting to become attached to my little ASE drone friend, I wasn’t expecting to feel so immersed in space as I did. Yes, it’s a short and incomplete experience, but the developers are working on finishing the story and it will come as free DLC at a later date and I can’t wait to see how it unfolds. The mystery of what happened on the moon slowly starts to reveal itself to you and it’s genuinely a good story coupled with some great set pieces that overall deliver an enjoyable experience overall. If you’re a fan of games like Tacoma then you’ll know the kind of experience you’re in for with this game.
-Will
