Deliver Us Mars follows in the footsteps of the hidden gem Deliver Us The Moon, a game with exciting storytelling and puzzle solving that largely overcomes its technical and presentational shortcomings. The same is roughly true of the sequel set on the Red Planet, although its larger scope exaggerates its problems. Thankfully, a gripping story does its best to keep this flawed quest on track.
Despite being a direct sequel, you don’t have to play Deliver Us The Moon to grasp the backstory of Mars. The Earth has been plunged into a spiral of irreversible environmental collapse due to human abuse for decades. It will soon become an uninhabitable rock, but hope arises when a transmission from Mars pinpoints the location of advanced life-giving ships called Arks. Years ago, a group of humanity’s best and brightest stole these vessels to abandon Earth to its fate and establish a new colony elsewhere. As Kathy, a brave and extraordinary young astronaut, you join a small group tasked with bringing the Arks back to Earth, but Kathy also has a compelling personal stake.
Kathy’s father, Issac, a brilliant scientist, is one of the leaders of this rogue group that has stolen Earth’s best chance of recovery. In the process, he lets Kathy grow up on a dying Earth without him. The game’s exploration of the couple’s loving yet complicated relationship intrigued me, especially how Kathy dealt with her desire to reunite with the man who effectively helped perish humanity – the goal. causing intense conflict with her comrades. The gripping mystery regarding the fate of the Martian colony upon Kathy’s arrival also keeps me glued to what comes next, thanks to its intriguing twists and turns. The plot also makes stale but convincing arguments about the morality of starting over somewhere else in the face of humanity’s self-destructive nature.
Deliver Us Mars’ narrative is so good that its below-average presentation doesn’t do it justice. Ugly, lame character models spoil the stellar performances; it’s like watching lousy animations done Macbeth. Mars itself would be a more astonishing sight if it weren’t for the numerous instances of textures and environments present. Deliver Us Mars doesn’t look bad, but these constant blemishes distract from the dip.
The game is primarily focused on puzzle solving and foundation building, which only goes into “acceptable” territory. As in the first game, the player switches between controlling Kathy and her drone companion to tackle environmental tasks, which often revolve around aligning beams of light providing energy to open the door. The drone can reach small holes and carry objects, although it’s not as well put to use as in Deliver Us The Moon. The puzzles present interesting obstacles. However, Deliver Us Mars lacks the gameplay variety of its predecessor, so the beam alignment eventually loses its luster. Also, a sometimes disorienting though fun hologram decoding mini-game, in which you rotate the drone’s camera to place buttons in the slots, serves as the locating puzzle. the only other major period.
The platform now plays a more important role as Kathy can scale specific walls using a climbing ax. The mechanics lean towards realism, where the player uses the left and right trigger buttons to aim and attack with each arm. Like the other mechanics, the action is just fine enough to work, but the climb becomes tiresome over longer stretches and unresponsive in some cases. Jumping from one piece of climbing ground to another felt particularly difficult, and I fell to my death several times when my shots failed. The game occasionally throws in some hazards, such as spinning blades or collapsing wall panels, but the climb isn’t tuned enough to handle them with confidence.
Deliver Us Mars’ protagonists quickly assemble a space shuttle that is barely able to get them to their destination. A similar story feels true to this game. A compelling story that fuels gameplay that otherwise feels useful but underrated, making my time on this planet a mixed bag. Deliver Us Mars shines best when it lets you absorb its story, but you’ll likely stumble across some design craters along the way.
