Deliver Us The Moon (Nintendo Switch)
I love sitting outside at night and looking at the sky—all the stars and the moon. I’ve often thought about what the moon would be like and how cool it would be to go there. But since I’m not Elon Musk, I have to resort to more affordable options, like video games. Deliver Us The Moon is a great example of how I live vicariously through my Nintendo Switch. This game lets players explore a dystopian future where Earth has become pretty much inhabitable due to an energy crisis, and the moon is humanity’s last hope as far as resources go.
Deliver Us The Moon is a nice blend of exploration and puzzle-solving. Players take the role of a lone astronaut, being sent to explore an abandoned base on the moon that has not been in contact with Earth for five years. While Earth is on its last leg, it’s up to you to travel to the moon, figure out what happened to your fellow astronauts, and save Earth from a terrible fate. Players will navigate through the desolate lunar base, solving various puzzles and unlocking new areas, not only inside the base but outside of it also. The story is one of the highlights of this game. It can reel you in and get a little emotional at times, which is a good thing when it comes to storytelling. I won’t say too much because I don’t want to spoil it for you, but it got better the longer I played.
The game runs very smoothly on the Nintendo Switch. I did notice a few frame rate drops when there was a lot going on, but nothing game-breaking. The graphics look great compared to most of the indie games I play. The details in the abandoned lunar base and the overall atmosphere of being in space feel very immersive at times and look awesome. Deliver Us The Moon would be a cool game to play in virtual reality. Besides the gravity, you might actually feel like you’re on the moon! The ambiance of outer space and the soundtrack all go really well with the experience, as well. It gets a 10 out of 10 for aesthetics.
While exploring, you will come across items you can interact with that will tell you a little about the previous crew that lived on the base. Personal items and paperwork you can examine, even old camera footage and audio logs, can be found throughout the base. While you are technically alone, the player’s equipped with a cute little robot friend called an ASE. It’s a little ball that follows you around and helps you throughout your journey. It plays a big role in telling the story or giving you advice, but not much more.
The puzzles you have to solve can get a little repetitive (at times), but they’re rewarding nonetheless. Examples are hitting specific switches, wiring machines to the correct power source, moving things to specific locations, etc. So you’ll need to use your brain skills to try and save the planet while also exploring a really cool environment filled with all kinds of cool stuff to see and uncover. You might even find a cool lunar vehicle you can drive around later.
I almost forgot to mention that there are some really cool action sequences that you play through that will require good timing. These are the more exciting parts of the gameplay. And while they do not occur too often, it’s fun when they do. As far as threats go, there are enemy drones that you can encounter in specific areas where you will need to be stealthy. However, if I’m being honest, you can pretty much just run through, endure their little electrical beams, and pass through easily. So not much challenge there.
One aspect I wasn’t a huge fan of was the switch between first-person and third-person views. Usually, when walking larger areas, the camera stays in third-person view. In smaller rooms and spaces, it switches to first-person. It’s a little confusing initially, though you get the hang of it after a while. However, I preferred the third-person view for actual gameplay, and luckily, you don’t deal with first-person angles too often. The game also has a good checkpoint system, allowing you to retry tough sequences—like dodging chunks of space garbage or grabbing an oxygen tank—without the need to go back too far.
If you’re a fan of puzzle/exploration, or sci-fi games and you don’t have the money to afford a spaceship, I highly recommend checking out Deliver Us The Moon. While the game lacks typical sci-fi stuff like alien creatures and other-worldly monsters, it’s a fun adventure filled with surprises, that will make you want to keep playing.
