Wired Productions have published a few exciting and memorable narrative adventures lately, Close to the Sun was a steampunk horror game aboard a ghost ship, Those who Remain and Martha is Dead are two upcoming psychological thrillers, and Deliver Us The Moon is a sci-fi thriller set in the near future. Today I’m taking a second look at the latter, thanks to it just releasing on the PS4 and Xbox One, after reviewing the game last year when it launched on PC. Although I knew the story and what was going to happen, I was hyped and excited to replay the narrative and explore the lonely hallways in search of answers one more time.
The developers of this title are KeokeN Interactive, a studio which has released one game, Deliver Us The Moon, although you wouldn’t think that as the game easily compares to titles from much bigger studios. The game actually started as a Kickstarter campaign, a campaign which just about hit its goal back in 2016, releasing on PC without the final chapters until the game was completed last year. Now, with the final game receiving praise for its story, design, visuals, and use of RTX technology, we finally get to play it on the PS4 and Xbox One, both with enhancements for their beefier counter-parts.
So, let’s grab our helmets one more time as we embark on a mission to Deliver Us The Moon…
I am the Rocket Man!
Deliver Us The Moon is set in the near future, Earth has depleted all of its natural resources – which has led to an apocalyptic state. In order to try and solve this issue, a team were sent to the moon to mine and harvest a new form of energy from the minerals which were found there, providing a constant stream of new useable power for those who remained upon the Earth. However, although things seemed to be going well, Mission Control lost all communications with the team upon the moon, leading to concerns and questions around their livelihood, the state of the mission, and what caused the blackout in the first place.
So, in order to investigate, due to the broken communication link, the only possible solution would be to send someone into space so that they can report what they see and discover in relation to the events which occurred. This is where you come in, you’re Earth’s final astronaut who has been tasked with investigating the colony upon the moon in an effort to restore the communications and help the scientists complete their mission. It really is a matter of life or death as Earth needs the invaluable resources the moon can offer.
You’ll launch a rocket, investigate deserted hallways, relive past events via holographic recordings, buddy up with a floating eyeball, and ride a buggy around the surface of the moon, all in hopes of discovering the truth and bringing hope to the people on Earth. This 7-9 hour sci-fi thriller will keep you gripped until the end as you uncover more information surrounding the events which happened merely a few days before you got there, explaining what happened to those who were stationed within the colony and those who cannot be found. Can you complete the task set before you, can you Deliver Us The Moon?
What happened in the moon colony?!
Gameplay
Deliver Us The Moon is an interactive narrative experience which fully immerses you within its world as you investigate various environments and build the story as you go. The game itself operates in a seamless first and third-person point-of-view, switching to first-person when you go into smaller rooms, and then zooming out behind your character into third-person when you enter bigger locations. I personally thought this was an interesting mechanic but I would have loved the option to play the entire game in first-person if possible – you never see the protagonist’s face, so seeing their masked body isn’t much different than seeing out of their eyes.Â
Although, there are some timed segments which require you to monitor your oxygen levels, to ensure you don’t asphyxiate, which conveniently has the countdown timer displayed as a digital clock on the back of the protagonist’s suit. However, a simple timer in the HUD once looking out from a first-person view would have sufficed if we had the option.
Aside from moving forward with the story via watching holograms, reading letters and notes left behind, and observing the devastation around you, you’ll also be solving simple environmental puzzles. You may have to drag ladders around so you can gain more height, push various buttons as you try to light up all the bulbs, search for door codes, and manoeuvre across flimsy walkways as you try not to fall, so nothing too difficult or cryptic to work out. The fun comes when you have access to your two helpful tools/abilities…
Friend?
Goldeneye anyone?
Do you remember Goldeneye on the N64? I always remember the level with the train, where you have to cut open the trapdoor at the end of the stage with your watch laser so that you can escape before it blows up. Well, Deliver Us The Moon has a similar gameplay mechanic, a laser which is attached to your arm. I know it’s not much, it’s just a laser, but I always find it fun when you have something like this in games which you have to use to cut open various doors, chests, and passages so that you can progress and escape. Not only will you be using this ability to create passages for yourself, but you’ll also be using it to open up pipes for your friendly…
ASE, the floating-eyeball robot
Although not with you from the start, you’ll soon come across a damaged ASE unit which you repair as best you can. This friendly floating robot becomes your new best friend as it follows you around and helps out with your investigation. With a push of a button, you can take control of the unit and move around the station’s vents and other small areas your beefy suit won’t let you squeeze into, looking for doorways the ASE can open for you or reading door codes off left-behind documents.
Although not technically a puzzle game, there are a number of obstacles and dangers which block your patch that could be described as ‘puzzles’. As I said previously, there’s nothing too taxing or difficult so all gamers of any age or skill level should be able to overcome them without any issues. There are also a few hidden Easter Eggs and secrets to keep an eye out for – I particularly liked the Stephen King reference and the rather strange ‘developer in the toilet’…
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[twenty20 img1=”23910″ img2=”23911″ offset=”0.5″ before=”4k (1440p upscaled)” after=”1080p”]
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Enhancements
Last year I was honoured to play the game on PC for the release on that platform. Due to my PC being fairly old, I played the majority of the game on medium settings and at 900-1080p. Seeing as I own a PS4 Pro, I was hoping I could finally get to play the game at a much higher resolution and/or quality – something which I’m happy to say is an option.
First, the bad news. At launch, Deliver Us The Moon doesn’t support HDR on the PS4 (but it does on the Xbox One X) – this feature is coming soon via a patch for the PS4 platforms. However, there are two performance options on both the PS4 Pro and the Xbox One X:
The PS4 Pro has a 1080/60 and 4k/30 mode (the 4k mode is 1440p upscaled to 2160p).
The Xbox One X has a 1080/60 and 4k/30 mode (this time with a native 4k).
However, after flicking back and forth between the ‘4k’ and 1080p mode on the PS4 Pro, I was a little confused and disappointed. first of all, both modes felt like they were running at the same framerate – they are smooth with no pacing issues or dips in framerate, but they both ‘felt’ like they were 30fps, even the 1080p mode which is supposedly 60. I could be wrong, but it didn’t feel like it was 60fps. Secondly, whereas the ‘4k’ mode is very sharp, detailed, vibrant, and looks fantastic (all my pictures on here are in this mode), the 1080p mode looked washed out, blurry, less detailed, and almost like it was around 900p.Â
My personal recommendation, play the game in the ‘4k’ mode and leave it on there (even if you’re on a 1080p TV like me), the visual enhancements combined with the rock-solid performance is worth it over the un-noticeable possible boost in framerate. Throughout the entire game, I only experienced one performance issue in the ‘4k’ mode towards the end of the game and it only lasted about half a second.
They float, Georgie, and when you’re down here with me, you’ll float, too!
Technical
Before I start talking about the gorgeous visuals and atmospheric music, I think I need to talk about the actual technical issue which you’ll notice as soon as you play the game – the stutters. Basically, every time the game performs one of its autosaves (which are quite frequent), the game stutters – well, it stops whilst it saves then continues. Thankfully, saving only takes about one second, so it doesn’t freeze for long, but it is irritating and distracting. Also, as Deliver Us The Moon isn’t an action-packed game which is full of chase sequences, combat, or precision jumping, the micro-freezes won’t cause you to die or give the game an unfair advantage over you.
Other than that, the rest of the game ran perfectly and offered no negative input to my overall experience. The visuals and art direction are really good, especially when playing in the ‘4k’ mode as you really get to see the detail upon all of the assets. The lighting is another aspect I have to praise, the dynamic shadows and reflective surfaces all help create a very realistic and beautiful world for you to explore.
However, just like a number of games this generation – the reflections of the character are ‘off’. For example, there’s a blurry mirror in the game and if you look into it, you see the back of your head – it’s basically replicating the character model rather than actually mirroring it! It’s funny but it pulls your out of the immersion. You can also see the issue with the duck in the above image – it’s replicated and not mirrored.
That said, this is one of the games which fully utilises RTX on PC, offering some of the best uses of the technology aside from Control and Minecraft. So, maybe we’ll see a PS5 and Xbox Series X update in the future, harnessing the RTX ability for next-gen consoles?
Music-wise, the soundtrack is incredible. It really captures the emotions and events which are happening around you with its orchestrated music. Also, the soundtrack is available to buy on PSN for £7.99 (it’s almost four hours long) right HERE.
Alternatively, if you’re more into physical media, there’s a collectors edition of the game due out on August 14th for £24.99 which includes the game, soundtrack and a 100-page artbook (link is in the sidebar via Amazon).Â
Official trailer:
Final Conclusion:
Deliver Us The Moon is a thrilling sci-fi narrative adventure which touches on real-world issues with a hint of fantasy. Although I’ve played the game before, I felt the same rush of excitement and intrigue the second time around, discovering things I missed the first time as I now sought out the various trophies and Easter Eggs. The music, voice acting, sound effects, and gorgeous environments all combinate into an interactive adventure which fully immerses you and pulls you into this sad, apocalyptic world. If you’re a fan of story-driven experiences with simplistic puzzles and a great narrative you uncover as you play, Deliver Us The Moon is for you.
As of today (launch day), Deliver Us The Moon is available now on the PlayStation 4, Steam, GoG, Utomik, Xbox One, GeForce Now (If you own the game on Steam), and it’s also part of the Xbox GamePass on console.Â
** If you decide to pick up Deliver Us The Moon after reading our review (on Steam), please consider buying it via GreenMan Gaming through this affiliate link HERE. The small commission we’ll receive will help out the site and you’re bound to pick up the game at a great price! **
A copy of the game was kindly provided for review purposes
Deliver Us The Moon
£19.99
The Good:
- - Looks really sharp and detailed on the PS4 Pro in its '4k' mode
- - Interesting story which is almost a realistic outcome based on our actions IRL
- - Lots of documents, Easter Eggs, and backstory to find
- - The puzzles are fun and not too challenging
- - As their first game, the visuals are very polished and the music helps create the perfect atmosphere
The Bad:
- - It's not affected the score, but I was a bit disappointed with the 1080/60 mode
- - The ending still left me with many questions (just like on PC). Hopefully we'll get answers in a sequel?
- - There were a few visual abnormalities with the character reflections
