Scientists ? Analytical, methodical and intelligent. They provide us with the reason for the way the things are the way they are, they provide answers to life's questions and bring understanding to it's mysteries.
In the world of videogames they are also expert scribes. They habitually make notes and keep journals... and they are just as adept at leaving these writings lying around on desks or unsecured computer terminals.
But where would we be without scientists and their odd compositional inclinations and complete disregard for security?
In a word ? Clueless.
Where would you learn about the dealings of the Umbrella Corporation? How would you discover the latest experiments on Metroid lifeforms?
In matters more pertinent ? how, In Renegade Kid's 'Moon' for Nintendo DS, would you discover the plot?
In Moon you play as Major Kane, the leader of an investigative team who, in true Dave Bowman style, has been sent to the titular satellite to investigate an unusual discovery on it's surface.
The retro-jets on his lander haven't even cooled before things start to go awry. His team are killed, the site is trashed and robot drones begin to appear. In case it needed alliterating: Making friends is NOT high on their agenda.
Before you can say ?Samus Aran? Kane is rummaging through alien tunnels, searching labs and negotiating conduits whilst guided by the voice of command on his comm unit and the computerised journal entries of a mystery scientist who proceeded him.
Much has been made of Moon's similarities to Retro Studio's Metroid Prime series - and with good reason. Rather than squeeze itself into the over populated 'shooter' section of the First Person genre this is very much an adventure game. Consequentially the game has far more in common with the GameCube iterations of Nintendo's first party franchise than the DS' own 'Hunters'.
Sceptics may consider this comparison to be false flattery and they would no doubt be incredulous to learn that, the previous points notwithstanding, Moon is also undeniably reminiscent of no less a gaming icon than ID's Doom.
The quality of production from Renegade Kid is of such a high standard here that, upon completion of Moon, you will have enjoyed a compelling First Person experience that rivals anything on any other system, hand-held or otherwise.
From the very start of the game the pre-rendered videos are well directed and the voice acting, though only present in the games opening, is extremely well done. The music is wonderfully dark too and combines with near perfect sound design to create a catastrophically tense, mysterious atmosphere. With these qualities duly noted, it transpires that it is in the minutiae that Moon excels still further.
The design of enemies is one example. Though early foes are little more than floating cubes, those encountered further into the campaign become wonderfully animated insectoid automatons. The Bosses and Sub-bosses follow this pattern too, their size magnifying the artistic flourish with which they have been conceived.
During his exploration Kane will discover smaller passages, mazey conduits whose size makes them unnavigable. To explore these areas you must employ the RAD, a small robotic vehicle armed only with a weak pulse weapon that stuns, though does not damage, any electrical device you should fire at.
The RAD (Remote Access Device) element is at it?s best on the rare occaision where it?s deployed to assist in the defeat of level guardians. However, sending the RAD into the aforementioned passages occours far more frequently. Doingso is required throughout the game to operate switches that will then allow Kane to pass force fields.
In truth this is an imperfect mechanic that is both overused and artificially expanded (passages that could easily link place A to B instead wend their way via M and L). However, these sections are enlivened by both the RAD's eye view camera effect and the sight of Kane, upon your return, down on one knee working the controls on his wrist.
Later still there are brief vehicle sections. These are similarly embellished with a realistic animation of the protagonist alighting or boarding his transport.
In these sections you are tasked with crossing the land-mine littered lunar surface, often with a time limit, controlling direction and speed with the D-pad and aiming the mounted weapon with the stylus. The ?Lola? buggy has a fun, loose feel and you can egress at any time. This nice touch means that if the buggy has taken an excess of damage you can clear the way on foot while you wait for the shields to regenerate.
Touches like this may not add depth to an experience but they certainly add a feeling of quality and polish.
On the more problematic side the stand out issue is the scene in which this is all set. Although there are definite highlights along the way (which it would spoil the plot to reveal here) the environments, regrettably, are largely interchangeable.
Despite their best efforts Renegade Kid have been unable to convincingly disguise the re-use of many backgrounds and thus the structures you travel through at the end of the game are nearly identical to those at the beginning. Colours and the occasions pillar change but the general shapes and stuctures remain the same.
A battle with a handful of drones in one corridor will sometimes feel like exactly like any other. Thankfully your arsenal of weapons steadily increases throughout the campaign. This, and the steadily elevating challenge, helps to keep things fresh and prevent repition from ruining the experience.
The weapons themselves are nicely designed despite following a well worn path. They emit a range of satisfying effects, both visual and aural. Muzzle flash reflects on the wall around you, lasers zip, assault rifles clatter and each model offers relative recoil and accuracy ? an essential requirement when considering the control interface.
Such is the accuracy of the one-to-one ratio offered by stylus control that, were it not for the recoil animations, every shot would be pixel precise. Arguably this interface is second only to an old fashioned lightgun or the Wii?s IR pointer in the hierarchy of shooting precision. Those who believes that a mouse is the perfect input method for dealing first person death really needs to experience what the DS is capable of.
Other controls are minimal. Movement is handled by the D-pad and firing by the left back button. Worthy of note is the option to switch to southpaw with the D-pad swapped for face buttons and left trigger for right. Other interactions are handled by action boxes on the touch-screen.
On the nit-picking side - Despite the plaudits I?ve bestowed above, the control scheme has one drawback. Moon is a mature game in the genuine sense of the word - that in which it requires intelligence, patience and skill to complete. However, if you have mature sized hands then you may have a little problem. The hand which holds just the stylus is fine but the other; which supports the DS, works the d-pad (or face buttons) and pulls at the trigger button is more of a problem. A decent sized hand will be twisted into an unnatural position that becomes uncomfortable after a prolonged bout of play.
There is also the occasional spot of clipping and one noticeably odd glitch: An enemy projectile which is still in transit when you destroy its source will pass straight through you, inflicting no damage.
More seriously the game does outstay it's welcome a little. Strange, that in these days where we're lucky to get ten hours worth of play from a single player campaign, that this at 5-6 hours feels like it's dragging it's heels. A level or two cleaved from the middle of the game would've kept things far fresher.
However it would be churlish to criticise Moon for concentrating on a deep campaign, especially as the game offers no multiplayer options at all.
Compensation for this comes in the form of 'free play' mode unlocked for any level cleared and additional VR style side missions as a reward for the discovery of three artefacts which are hidden within most levels.
All of these features, combined with a tally of 'extra merits' in your score (awarded for finding and reading all of the elusive Scientist's journal entries in a particular level) adds massively to Moons longevity.
This a game that doesn't get everything right. It can feel repetitive and some will not enjoy the backtracking between waypoints that is a staple of most of the games levels. The surrounding are indistinct and the controls, though excellent, might just cripple you for life.
Nevertheless Moon is an excellent game, particularly considering the limitations at hand. It's stratospheric production values alone make it a worthwhile addition to any collection. Combine the quality finish with the tightest of control sets and a compelling - if not astoundingly original ? plot... Factor in the paucity of this kind of game for the hardware and the result is an essential purchase for any DS owner.
In the world of videogames they are also expert scribes. They habitually make notes and keep journals... and they are just as adept at leaving these writings lying around on desks or unsecured computer terminals.
But where would we be without scientists and their odd compositional inclinations and complete disregard for security?
In a word ? Clueless.
Where would you learn about the dealings of the Umbrella Corporation? How would you discover the latest experiments on Metroid lifeforms?
In matters more pertinent ? how, In Renegade Kid's 'Moon' for Nintendo DS, would you discover the plot?
In Moon you play as Major Kane, the leader of an investigative team who, in true Dave Bowman style, has been sent to the titular satellite to investigate an unusual discovery on it's surface.
The retro-jets on his lander haven't even cooled before things start to go awry. His team are killed, the site is trashed and robot drones begin to appear. In case it needed alliterating: Making friends is NOT high on their agenda.
Before you can say ?Samus Aran? Kane is rummaging through alien tunnels, searching labs and negotiating conduits whilst guided by the voice of command on his comm unit and the computerised journal entries of a mystery scientist who proceeded him.
Much has been made of Moon's similarities to Retro Studio's Metroid Prime series - and with good reason. Rather than squeeze itself into the over populated 'shooter' section of the First Person genre this is very much an adventure game. Consequentially the game has far more in common with the GameCube iterations of Nintendo's first party franchise than the DS' own 'Hunters'.
Sceptics may consider this comparison to be false flattery and they would no doubt be incredulous to learn that, the previous points notwithstanding, Moon is also undeniably reminiscent of no less a gaming icon than ID's Doom.
The quality of production from Renegade Kid is of such a high standard here that, upon completion of Moon, you will have enjoyed a compelling First Person experience that rivals anything on any other system, hand-held or otherwise.
From the very start of the game the pre-rendered videos are well directed and the voice acting, though only present in the games opening, is extremely well done. The music is wonderfully dark too and combines with near perfect sound design to create a catastrophically tense, mysterious atmosphere. With these qualities duly noted, it transpires that it is in the minutiae that Moon excels still further.
The design of enemies is one example. Though early foes are little more than floating cubes, those encountered further into the campaign become wonderfully animated insectoid automatons. The Bosses and Sub-bosses follow this pattern too, their size magnifying the artistic flourish with which they have been conceived.
During his exploration Kane will discover smaller passages, mazey conduits whose size makes them unnavigable. To explore these areas you must employ the RAD, a small robotic vehicle armed only with a weak pulse weapon that stuns, though does not damage, any electrical device you should fire at.
The RAD (Remote Access Device) element is at it?s best on the rare occaision where it?s deployed to assist in the defeat of level guardians. However, sending the RAD into the aforementioned passages occours far more frequently. Doingso is required throughout the game to operate switches that will then allow Kane to pass force fields.
In truth this is an imperfect mechanic that is both overused and artificially expanded (passages that could easily link place A to B instead wend their way via M and L). However, these sections are enlivened by both the RAD's eye view camera effect and the sight of Kane, upon your return, down on one knee working the controls on his wrist.
Later still there are brief vehicle sections. These are similarly embellished with a realistic animation of the protagonist alighting or boarding his transport.
In these sections you are tasked with crossing the land-mine littered lunar surface, often with a time limit, controlling direction and speed with the D-pad and aiming the mounted weapon with the stylus. The ?Lola? buggy has a fun, loose feel and you can egress at any time. This nice touch means that if the buggy has taken an excess of damage you can clear the way on foot while you wait for the shields to regenerate.
Touches like this may not add depth to an experience but they certainly add a feeling of quality and polish.
On the more problematic side the stand out issue is the scene in which this is all set. Although there are definite highlights along the way (which it would spoil the plot to reveal here) the environments, regrettably, are largely interchangeable.
Despite their best efforts Renegade Kid have been unable to convincingly disguise the re-use of many backgrounds and thus the structures you travel through at the end of the game are nearly identical to those at the beginning. Colours and the occasions pillar change but the general shapes and stuctures remain the same.
A battle with a handful of drones in one corridor will sometimes feel like exactly like any other. Thankfully your arsenal of weapons steadily increases throughout the campaign. This, and the steadily elevating challenge, helps to keep things fresh and prevent repition from ruining the experience.
The weapons themselves are nicely designed despite following a well worn path. They emit a range of satisfying effects, both visual and aural. Muzzle flash reflects on the wall around you, lasers zip, assault rifles clatter and each model offers relative recoil and accuracy ? an essential requirement when considering the control interface.
Such is the accuracy of the one-to-one ratio offered by stylus control that, were it not for the recoil animations, every shot would be pixel precise. Arguably this interface is second only to an old fashioned lightgun or the Wii?s IR pointer in the hierarchy of shooting precision. Those who believes that a mouse is the perfect input method for dealing first person death really needs to experience what the DS is capable of.
Other controls are minimal. Movement is handled by the D-pad and firing by the left back button. Worthy of note is the option to switch to southpaw with the D-pad swapped for face buttons and left trigger for right. Other interactions are handled by action boxes on the touch-screen.
On the nit-picking side - Despite the plaudits I?ve bestowed above, the control scheme has one drawback. Moon is a mature game in the genuine sense of the word - that in which it requires intelligence, patience and skill to complete. However, if you have mature sized hands then you may have a little problem. The hand which holds just the stylus is fine but the other; which supports the DS, works the d-pad (or face buttons) and pulls at the trigger button is more of a problem. A decent sized hand will be twisted into an unnatural position that becomes uncomfortable after a prolonged bout of play.
There is also the occasional spot of clipping and one noticeably odd glitch: An enemy projectile which is still in transit when you destroy its source will pass straight through you, inflicting no damage.
More seriously the game does outstay it's welcome a little. Strange, that in these days where we're lucky to get ten hours worth of play from a single player campaign, that this at 5-6 hours feels like it's dragging it's heels. A level or two cleaved from the middle of the game would've kept things far fresher.
However it would be churlish to criticise Moon for concentrating on a deep campaign, especially as the game offers no multiplayer options at all.
Compensation for this comes in the form of 'free play' mode unlocked for any level cleared and additional VR style side missions as a reward for the discovery of three artefacts which are hidden within most levels.
All of these features, combined with a tally of 'extra merits' in your score (awarded for finding and reading all of the elusive Scientist's journal entries in a particular level) adds massively to Moons longevity.
This a game that doesn't get everything right. It can feel repetitive and some will not enjoy the backtracking between waypoints that is a staple of most of the games levels. The surrounding are indistinct and the controls, though excellent, might just cripple you for life.
Nevertheless Moon is an excellent game, particularly considering the limitations at hand. It's stratospheric production values alone make it a worthwhile addition to any collection. Combine the quality finish with the tightest of control sets and a compelling - if not astoundingly original ? plot... Factor in the paucity of this kind of game for the hardware and the result is an essential purchase for any DS owner.
