With an intriguing blend of sci-fi delights sightly borrowed from the likes of Dead Space, and The Station, Moons of Madness takes players on a Lovecraftian narrative thrill ride players may not soon forget. A compelling walking simulator in many regards, developer Rock Pocket Games latest cosmic thriller is an impressive experience, despite the game’s straightforward procedure.
Utilizing the Unreal Engine, Rock Pocket drops players directly on Mars as engineer Shane
To your understanding as chief engineer, the purpose of this Mars trip for Shane is strictly maintenance, tasked with putting out figurative fires where the Mars base camp facilities are concerned. Shane will be asked to properly realign solar panels, balance sprinkler settings, or even use a crowbar to get through malfunctioning doorways to calibrate system settings, which benefits the working procedures of the entire crew.
The pacing of Moons of Madness is heavily predicated on the games’ well-told narrative, and although some of the games’ plot twists might leave you asking a few questions once the credits are rolling, piecing together the layered story design is ultimately what drives this experience forward.
From the outset, players wake up in an intense dream, introduced to an otherworldly figure which beckons your attention, alongside an infestation of an unknown entity. Awakening from this regularly occurring dream, you realize your dream closely resembles your real-life surroundings of Trailblazer Alpha, your home on Mars for the time being. Interestingly enough, based on the dialogue with other crew members, Shane isn’t the only person suffering from these terrifying dreams.
In Moons of Madness, while players are part of a research team with regular dialogue through their normal communication devices, Shane’s journey is taken relatively alone. For many often explained and a few unexplained reasons, Shane is seemingly a solo act on Mars. Sure, you will eventually come into direct contact with other crew members, however, these brief occurrences may not be as pleasant as you might have hoped. With so much isolation the tone and pacing of the game add tension to the affair. Again, you are not technically alone, however as the stakes increase and the hallucinations are introduced, Moons of Madness becomes a legit survival thriller.
After a few initial paces with Shane performing his work-related tasks players are acquainted with the games how-to procedures. Eventually, players receive their Bio-gauge scanning device, Shane’s most useful tool throughout. Operating similar to the objective sensor in Dead Space, the Bio-gauge allows Shane to emit a bio-pulse, which quickly monitors your immediate surroundings, revealing the direction of the next objective, while also identifying key objects in the area. Shortly after a routine visit to the greenhouse the game swiftly builds the tension meter and for the duration of the game
Aside from your engineering duties, Shane’s existence in this universe is limited to walking, sprinting, crouching and occasionally figuring out the games increasingly more challenging puzzles designs, which are fun to figure out. Shane is an engineer, not a combatant, so don’t expect any standoff boss battles. The name of the game here is to survive and discover as much as possible. As mentioned before, Moons of Madness thrives on its well-told story. Exploration of the Mars base seems to utilize non-fictional elements to immerse the player within its believable setting. I thoroughly enjoyed overcoming objectives with the use of computers, electrical systems, rovers and the like.
Throughout the games gradually discovered revelations, how Funcom balances the narrative through emails, docs, posted notes, pamphlets and the like made it hard to put the game down. Sure, if you want to take in all there is to discover there will be some required reading, yet how this process is integrated within the gameplay design add tons of entertainment.
With great sound design (I highly recommend playing with quality headsets) Moons of Madness presents players within a believable red planet setting. Though Moons of Madness may not be a triple-A production, you will appreciate the sci-fi procedural posturing, in addition to the absorbing level designs.
Locales are well designed and oftentimes players may feel the need to scour areas for unforeseen clues. Unfortunately, for Moons of Madness players are not directly compelled to engage clear cut side quests as they do not exist here. If something important is missed more than likely you are told to continue searching to figure out an objective before driving the story forward. While I do believe this to be a missed opportunity, what is on tap more than satisfies.
Upon completing one objective the player is not tasked with feeling like they are being pushed into another backtracking fetch-quest. Here, the objectives are fresh and they make sense with a satisfying process. The progression system does not waste your time, always leading players to the next discovery.
As the star of the show, engineer Shane Newehart is a well designed emotional character. Operating primarily in a state of isolation for the majority of the ride, Shane more than keeps players entertained with his true-to-life gesturing as he properly reacts to many situations as would an actual person. As players continue down this rabbit hole of discoveries to the games more over-the-top moments, Shane never disappoints. From swearing from utter fear to arguing with colleagues who he would gladly trade places with, Shane is a real dude I quickly grew fond of as he made the ride even more engaging and interesting.
For the most part, Moons of Madness does hold your hand, making the experience rather linear, yet I did not mind this approach due to the engrossing story, a personable lead character, challenging puzzles and bold discoveries.
Ultimately, there is much to discover in Moons of Madness, from haunting hallucinations, aggressive plant life behaving with sinister intentions, crew members going completely insane, discovering disturbing history about colleagues, to learning about Shane’s upbringing and illusive parent, and ultimately the true history and intentions for Trailblazer Alpha.
Moons of Madness was an enjoyable ride throughout. Without adding too many dynamic gameplay design layers, Rock Pocket has played it safe. If players are looking for a compelling story with engrossing puzzles, a cool lead character within a well-designed universe, Moons of Madness should not be missed.