Wednesday, 10 October 2018 09:00

Deliver Us The Moon: Fortuna Review

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Edited by: John Gerritzen

If you’ve ever wanted to experience not just being in space, but traveling there and (even better) stepping out onto the moon’s surface, this is definitely a title to check out. You take on the role of one of the surviving humans left on Earth after a power outage across the globe five years ago. A total blackout caused chaos and shut down the previously profitable space race for good. Prior to this, a lunar base had been providing power to Earth via what is affectionately called the MTP.

The cause of the blackout is unknown, and due to severe restrictions on Earth, getting back up there to check it out has been a long, hard struggle. You step into this story as the designing and building of a rocket, the Fortuna, has finally been completed. It’s not been a large organization who have put it together though, rather, a small group of survivors who have struggled and spent months putting this together. They’ve been fighting with the harsh climate and numerous sandstorms of Earth but, finally, everything is ready. Your first task is to finish preparing the rocket for launch, and then take off into space. You’ll be docking with the lunar base that housed the MTP, and from there, trying to work out what happened and get the base back online.

Hold your breath

Once you’ve safely made it to the moon, the initial steps you’ve been guided through become invaluable as your first task is to search for oxygen, as well as restore power to life support. There is some initial puzzle solving, but it’s no longer just about exploring and viewing items, it’s about trying to survive. This mechanic comes back throughout the adventure. As you enter new parts of the lunar base, you will likely find that life support is not active and you will need to restore power to it to continue. The puzzles to achieve this increase in difficulty and new dangers are presented as you go through.

Things don’t stop there though. The overarching mission is to restore the MTP so, as well as juggling life support power, you’ll need to restore it to the base as a whole. Along the way, there are numerous objects to interact with. Some give hints as to what has occurred before; these can be emails or even audio recordings that link back to the fateful day of the blackout. Others may help you to advance, and yet more objects enhance and flesh out the history and day-to-day life of the universe you find yourself in.

There is no running and shooting. The main focus here is on the story and exploration. You are free to run around at your own pace (as long as you have an oxygen supply), and while the path is fairly linear, it’s still interesting to tinker about and dig around for more clues as to exactly what happened. You’ll find yourself armed with tools as the plot develops, which grant access to areas that you can’t otherwise get to, so there is also a sense of progression. Oh, and stopping to look out the windows is highly recommended. You won’t be disappointed.

Houston, we have a few small problems…

No game is perfect, but it’s been very pleasing to pick up a title with few to no real bugs. There are, however, a couple of things that could be changed to enhance the player experience. Firstly, there currently isn’t a way to rebind your keys. Not a hot topic for everyone, but for those who are left-handed, it can prove challenging and is something slightly odd to miss from a development standpoint these days. You can opt to play with a controller though, so that is something good at least.

Secondly, the controls themselves may work fine, but the zero gravity and lack of tutorial on how to operate your space suit can lead to some frustrating times initially. Still, once you’ve gotten the hang of moving in three dimensions and not careering into windows, it’s good. Though it has to be said, it can get very disorientating at times, to the point where you can end up backtracking as you roll around in the air, trying to work out which door you came in through. Still, there is plenty to explore and discover, and (unsurprisingly) things are not going to be as straightforward as we hoped.

Reliving history

Despite the slight hindrances, there are some massive positives to be found. The graphics are beautiful and the developers have done a great job of building a realistic world and space exploration experience. The textures are fantastic, as there is detail to see everywhere. The views of space, the moon, and Earth are spectacular.

Another fantastic aspect is the storyline. It’s fed to you through the discovery of objects, accounts of people left behind, and sound clips as you make your way through the base. The people seem real, and the scenario they find themselves in is believable. Some creative liberties have clearly been taken in regards to the technology, such as the exact power transportation method used to send power back to Earth originally, but the rest of the scenario makes for a very intriguing setup. After your first task or two actually on board the base, things really start to unfold in terms of plot. We won’t give too much away, but let’s just say there’s a lot more to it than just some faulty wiring.

7

The Verdict: Great

Deliver Us The Moon: Fortuna is a fantastic addition to the world of exploration and adventure puzzlers. There are some simple puzzles to solve, elements to overcome, and a base to fix. This is all painted onto the backdrop of what happened before, and the player gets to uncover the history of this place and work out exactly what happened, as well as try to repair things. Not only this, but there is a good sense of progression via tools, and the characters are believable and well played. The shining piece of this title is definitely its story and immersive environment. You really do feel like you’re in space, and if you’re looking for a great narrative to go with that, this is definitely the title for you.

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Mel Hawthorne

Mel is a London-based copywriter that has been writing about video games for a few years now. After growing up in Vienna, Austria she followed her dreams and moved to London. Said dreams took her through a few different jobs (which included working as a web developer, shopkeeper and translator) before she settled on what she really wanted to do – periodically anger video game fans by expressing her opinions on games through various online publications. When she’s not writing about video games, she’s probably playing them... or walking her dog in a park. Since that depends largely on the English weather, Mel has plenty of time to indulge in her favourite games. These include but are not limited to Ark: Survival Evolved, Skyrim, GTA V, and oddly enough, Amnesia: Memories. She loves Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. She thinks Star Trek is way better than Star Wars and isn’t afraid to admit it – Live long and prosper!

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