Deliver Us the Moon Review (PS5)

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key review info
  • Game: Deliver Us the Moon
  • Platform: Playstation 5
  • Show system requirements
  • Reviewed on:
Deliver Us the Moon key art

Be an astronaut, be a hero, save mankind by solving the global energy crisis. The Sci-Fi thriller developed by KeokeN Interactive has finally landed on the current-gen consoles as well, giving us another shot at deciphering puzzles from the comfort of our couches. Is the adventure set on Earth’s only natural satellite worth the rocket fuel or is this indie title better left on the dark side? Read on to find out.  

Deliver Us the Moon can by no means be considered a new game. It was released in 2018 on PC and two years ago on PS4 but just the light needs a lot of time to reach Earth, so did the PS5 port play the waiting game with the fans. The result of a successful Kickstarter campaign, the game was developed by a handful of people and that can be felt in each and every aspect of the game.

Just as the PS4 version, the PS5 release also includes the ending that was missing from the original game when it launched on PC. If you did not follow the trajectory of this game it may sound weird, but yes, initially it was released without a proper ending. There are a lot of strange things going on in the kitchen of an indie developer, and this is just another proof.

Even with the ending in place the story of the game cannot be called innovative, truly thrilling or even mildly immersive. It paints a bleak picture of the near future, when humanity exhausted all its resources and it felt prey to the devastating effects of the global warming. Called a hoax by a small yet very vocal part of the population, this actual phenomenon turned the planet from the game into a huge desert.

Deliver Us the Moon
Deliver Us the Moon
Deliver Us the Moon
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Thankfully the astronauts who left to the Moon did not just wee with their own eye that the rock we are hurling on in the infinity of space is round, but they also discovered a magic solution that would bankrupt even Tesla: Helium 3. Figuring out how to safely ship it to Earth, the scientists seem to have solved the energy crisis, but in 2054 the transmissions from the Moon came to an abrupt end.

All seems to be lost until a brave soul has the chance to take a trip to the Moon and figure out the big picture. This is the moment when you enter the scene, a voiceless hero without any trace of a personality that got the main role in a game that feels like it was developed in your neighbor’s garage.

Although the story is as humdrum as they come, the passion of the developers can be felt with each step. The atmosphere of the game has the charm of a family vacation movie, that brings out the best memories. But beyond the fragrance of passion lies a game that cannot hide that was developed on a budget by people without too much know how.

Beyond a robot that will follow you and be part of some very easy and basic puzzles you will encounter only rudimentary holograms in some points. Every location of the game is completely deserted, and you need to wait for the video from the end of the game to see another human being. Although a post-apocalyptic story, Deliver Us the Moon fails to explain even the emptiness of the very first level, where instead of a bustling engineering team you are met only by the howling wind.

Things don’t get better even later in the game since even John McLane is wittier and more brainiac than our hero (and at least he dies hard). Although alone you never really feel the thriller or the pressure in the game. There is no unexpected turn of events, no big revelations and no real variety. Even when your oxygen is depleting you just know that you will find an O2 canister soon enough. If something breaks you that either you can fix it or that it was meant to happen that way.

QTEs, overly simple puzzles and some platforming parts without real consequences turn Deliver Us the Moon into a lukewarm experience. The game is not even bad enough to annoy you. It feels like a monotonous journey that lacks any thrill and that is completely predictable. After the 3-4 hours needed to complete it there is not a single memorable thing to take away from this experience.

The graphics are on the low end to what we would expect from a current gen console game. When the PS4 version released it was still acceptable, but now is just dusty. The textures are lacking details and sharpness, many graphic elements are lacking any sophistication and many models would have needed a lot more details. Also, 4 years after the initial release the menu system is using PC style windows with a little X in the right corner.

Deliver Us the Moon
Deliver Us the Moon
Deliver Us the Moon
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The Good

  • Short enough
  • The developers’ passion
  • The ending is included

The Bad

  • Linear and flat
  • Monotonous story
  • Puzzles are too basic

Conclusion

I was really curious about Deliver Us the Moon on PS5, but after finishing it I am struggling to find anything good about it, beyond the obvious passion of the developers. It is not a bad game, but it is just flat, and it does not have anything memorable about it.

It can be looked at as an interactive movie, but even then, I would not recommend it since there is nothing really thrilling about it. I would not recommend it even if you don’t have anything better to do on a weekend afternoon. You will get much more out of staring at the moon using a telescope than playing this flat game.

Review code provided by the publisher.

story 5
gameplay 6
concept 6
graphics 7
audio 6
multiplayer 0
final rating 6
Editor's review
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Deliver Us the Moon screenshots (26 Images)

Deliver Us the Moon key art
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