Moon quietly released this past week for the Nintendo DS.  A first person shooter set on (you guessed it) the moon, it pushes the limits of the DS graphically and instantly sets itself apart from anything else on the platform in a while.  Renegade Kid, the team that brought us another DS FPS Demetium:  The Ward, has raised the bar yet again in terms of atmosphere, story, and the technical prowess of Nintendo's tiny dual screen handheld.

The year is 2058.  The USA has been colonizing the moon, preparing to reach further into space when they discover a mysterious hatch on the surface of our moon.  Taking over as Major Kane, you are responsible for figuring out just what the hatch is, and of course, where it leads to.

The game really gets things going right away.  There's a small cutscene which gives you the necessary details, and you waste no time getting right into the action.  Within the first ten minutes, alarms have sounded, you've entered the hatch, and the astro-orbital stuff has hit the fan.

Technically, the game is pretty gorgeous for the DS.  Looking better than most N64 games, characters and levels are detailed and thought out.  All of the areas are both aesthetically interesting, yet also have a purpose, reminding me of George Lucas' "used universe" definition for the retro-future look of Star Wars.  It also does a great job in nailing the eerie creepy moon atmosphere.  Some hallways are silent, others surprise you with the interesting selection of background music.  It ranges from subtle and anxious, to industrial almost gothic electronica.

Controls are standard DS FPS fare.  Stylus to look around, D-Pad to move, trigger to fire a weapon.  So far those are the only controls I've used.  You can also access your inventory and open doors via touch screen commands.  There's a really great mechanic where you can switch your perspective to that of a small moving droid.  Much like using the morph ball in the Metroid Prime series, it allows you to get into smaller places and access new things.  For example, you reach a door that can only be opened from the other side, so you take control of the droid, drive through some air shafts into the next room and flip the switch.  It's a great way to break up the run and gun action with a bit of puzzle solving.

Moon definitely is highly inspired by Metroid Prime, and executes itself well.  I also got hints of Halo and Dead Space, in terms of both subject matter, and the aura of not knowing what's around the next dark corner.  FPS games on the DS are few and far between, with most people either loving or hating them.  I enjoyed Metroid Prime Hunters, Dementium, and Moon. It's another example that the DS can do more than tapping and sliding minigames and actually provide a full on serious, dark adventure.  It's a great start for 2009, and hopefully we see more from Renegade Kid in the future.

Moon is now available on the Nintendo DS for $29.99.

Comments (2)

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

Add Comment