Deliver us the Moon was a solid little sci-fi title that had a compelling tale wrapped around a few interesting puzzles. Though it wasn’t without its issues, the game gained a few fans hoping for a sequel to deliver on its promise. Not happy with delivering these fans the moon, Dutch studio KeokeN Interactive have gone bigger with that sequel, Deliver Us Mars.
Delivery Delayed
Deliver Us Mars is set ten years after the events of Deliver us the Moon. Humanity is closer than ever to extinction, which is no surprise. Especially given you were trying to save the Earth the first time out and, instead of a saving humanity, you more prolonged things.
You play as Kathy Johanson (Isaac from the first game’s daughter) who joins humanity’s last hope, the Zephyr and its crew, on a mission to recover the ARK colony ships that where stolen by the Outward. The Outward is a faction of humanity that took all the good kit and gunned it to Mars years ago.
To its credit, the game’s storytelling has been improved and better-rounded across the board this time out. Told through a mix of cinematics, cut scenes and collectables, the tale unfolds between the cast in a more organic and intriguing fashion than its Lunar prequel.
This is helped in equal parts by the writing and some incredible voice acting to make it all believable.
Next Mission
Gameplay sticks to its guns, for better or worse. Deliver Us Mars is more of an updated take on the first game than a reinvention. Slow-paced exploration is the order of the day here. You’ll bounce around a number of areas while solving puzzles as you go to help clear your path.
But like the first game, movement is as floaty and inaccurate as it was before. This is a real shame. If there was one area that we had hoped to be tweaked it was this aspect.
The devs have tried to capture the unease of mobility on another world. However, the whole thing could have been tightened up a fair bit. It makes the core gameplay loop of exploring feel more like a chore than a joy.
Upwardly Mobile
New to the game is that you can now climb thanks your two pickaxes. However, this upward mobility comes at a price. A very slow price.
You move like treacle when using them, plus a few of these sections need a bit of timing and a precise jump or two. But given the above issues with the floaty controls, you will need a lot of luck. And even more patience.
The puzzle elements play it too safe. Worse still, it never really evolves the level of challenge you’ll face over your time. Sure, there are one or two that will take you a few minutes to click with, but beyond that you’ll breeze through these parts.
Red Rock
Visually, the game is very similar to the first game only set on a red rock, not a grey one. The game has some nice visual effects that complement the art-style.
At times Deliver Us Mars is striking. However, there are also time that it’s got zero draw distance. Or the framerate bombs. Or there’s texture popping across the board.
Deliver Us Mars brings a strong story to the table that holds everything together by the tips on its finger nails, as it’s wrapped around a host of issues both technically and gameplay wise. A bit of extra time and polish would have easily made a whole world of a difference.