Fly me to the moon…
2058, Lunar Outpost Alpha. Major Edward Kane, Chief of Military Operations for the Extra-Terrestrial Encounter Organization, has been called in to investigate reports of strange energy readings and missing personnel. Aid Major Kane and his men as you head out to uncover the mysteries surrounding the outpost and face off against an unseen enemy.
Welcome to the Moon.
First person shooters haven’t exactly been the DS’ forte. Sure we have had a few good ones like Metroid Prime Hunters, but nothing on the same scale as that of a console FPS. Moon is an impressive feat from a technical side, but is it enough for a must-have blaster?
Well, Moon is a mixed bag. Screenshots don’t really do the game justice in terms of visuals; it does look a lot better in motion and is much crisper than the ones in this review. On the other side of the looking glass is the gameplay and it starts out strong but soon becomes familiar and repetitive. It becomes a corridor-style shooter full of similar enemies to kill. Sure, it handles well and there are the odd different element of exploring, plus some collectables to hunt down…but that’s the long and short of it.
The game controls similar to MP Hunters, you use the stylus to aim your weapon, the d-pad moves your character and the left trigger shoots. It’s a good setup, but like with Hunters…after a while, your hand may get a bit of cramp. I think the game might have benefited from some multiplayer option, but alas the single player campaign is all you get with Moon.
That isn’t necessarily a bad thing; I enjoyed Moon but can see it isn’t without its faults. It’s a shame really since the game looks great for a DS game and when it’s good, it’s really good. I just wish it didn’t blend after a while, you essentially become so familiar with the game that everything becomes second nature…including fighting the enemies you come across, which aren’t exactly the brightest of the AI I’ve come across over the years.
There are some pretty good weapons and there’s even a rumble mode for those who have the add-on, which sadly only applies to those gamers with DS Lites’. So obviously if you have a DSi and the rumble add-on, you won’t be able to use it. Sadly, that is the case with yours truly so alas I was unable to test the rumble capability of Moon.
Moon does compel you to replay the game in terms of collectables, unlockables and hidden content. But it’s nothing new, which sums up the Moon experience as a whole. It doesn’t innovate, but on a technical side…it’s impressive and runs at 60fps, which is pretty incredible since even some console games can’t manage that. The story is fairly average too, but does enough to carry the game through.
The Verdict
Moon is impressive to look at and it handles pretty well. It’s just a shame that after a while, everything becomes repetitive and familiar but for a DS FPS, it does a fairly good job…just don’t expect it to be ground breaking to the genre.
