Game Review--Moon Chronicles (3DS)

"Ever since Roswell we've known we're not alone.  Now, more than a century later, they've found this hatch on the moon.  Is this going to be our next giant leap?"
--Major Edward Kane, Moon Chronicles


Moon Chronicles is a graphically-enhanced port of a 2010 DS game called Moon, designed by Renegade Kid, the creators of Dementium Remastered, which I reviewed earlier this year [1].  A short sublunar adventure that contains some slight intellectual themes, it may appeal to some who want a portable science fiction shooter that plays like a retro title.

As with the photos on my reviews for the God of War Collection, Dementium Remastered, and Killzone Mercenary, all photos here were taken by myself (photos from my 3DS games are taken using Miiverse).


Production Values

The graphics exceed those of the original.  Environments and textures have much more clarity than before, all at a constant 60 frames per second that does not drop even with the 3D turned on.  Seemingly pulled right from the DS version without update, in contrast, the cinematics that do not utilize the in-game engine look terrible and outdated by comparison, having obvious pixellation and lack of clarity.  Neither graphical style equals the highest-quality visuals the 3DS has seen, still paling by comparison to the colors and clarity of other 3DS games.  The techno soundtrack largely repeats the same tracks, a trap Dementium also fell into.  Otherwise, the sound possesses clarity, with noises and music distinct and easy to hear.

As with Renegade Kid's other first-person 3DS offering, the inclusion of C-stick support greatly enhances the controls for those who don't want to hold the system with one hand and use the stylus with the other.  Overall, the controls and engine are practically identical to those of Dementium Remastered.

Renegade Kid also improved on its formula for Dementium by introducing more enemy variety than they did previously, a move that seriously alleviates some of the monotony that can set in.  Ultimately, the production values approximately match those of the previous remaster Renegade Kid released for the 3DS.


Gameplay

Moon Chronicles definitely is not the most action-oriented first-person shooter, instead combining sporadic shooting sections with exploration of structures under the moon.  Collectibles include alien artifacts that unlock bonus virtual reality training missions, health expansions, and ammo expansions.  As expected from a Renegade Kid game, multiple weapons await scattered around for discovery.  The weapons are basically just versions of ordinary first-person shooter weapons (pistol, shotgun, etc) with more of a science fiction aesthetic.  A mixture of bosses, sometimes reused, challenge the player at certain intervals.  Players may get a serious Metroid vibe--I mean, the game has map stations, save stations, optional data logs, doors with "eye"-like locks that fire at you, an escape section . . . I thought of Metroid more than once while playing it.

Two devices called the Remote Access Droid (RAD) and the LOLA-RR10 vehicle add some variety to the gameplay (you can see photos of both at the bottom of this section).  These two units of technology rescue the story and gameplay from the much greater monotony that would have resulted in their absence.  After a while, the game does seem repetitive because the basic mechanics don't change much.

Metroid Prime Hunters and Call of Duty: Black Ops (and Modern Warfare 3) for the DS were much more action-based than this title, both of them energetic games that demonstrated that first-person shooters on the DS could not only exist but excel at utilizing the system to its maximum potential.  Regardless of this, it still provides a welcome presence for the genre on the system.  Moon Chronicles still stands alongside its cousin Dementium Remastered as one of the only first-person shooters for the 3DS regardless of the comparative lack of energy in it.

Story

In the year 2058, American science and weaponry has progressed thanks to humans learning about alien technology leftover from the Roswell wreckage.  Major Edward Kane of the ETEO (Extra-Terrestrial Encounter Organization) finds himself summoned to a moon base because of the unexpected discovery of a hatch on the surface; markings on it match those from Roswell, attracting the attention of the ETEO.

Guards stationed at the hatch are unexpectedly overpowered by an unknown force, with floating drones invading the base and killing several technicians.  As he explores the facility, Kane stumbles upon a mysterious blue substance that revives him and discovers that it boosts vitality.  To recover his missing companions, he enters the shaft and travels below the moon's surface.  During this time scientists analyzing the components of the blue substance eventually identify them as human organs like hearts and lungs.

(Spoilers for things beyond approximately the first 45 minutes ahead!)

At this point, scattered computer terminals illuminate the background story: the moon has long been the location where a process by which human organs (and those of other species) are extracted for use in a potent and addictive drug is conducted, the drugs distributed throughout the galaxy to black markets, politicians, and other users.  Soon an unknown communicator contacts Kane.  Nothing ever clarifies if this mysterious informant is a human or an alien, not even at the end.

Information from the terminals provides more and more clarity as the game progresses.  The aliens had to develop greater security measures when humans, "Unlike species harvested elsewhere" (HISTORY LOG MDAT-0009), discovered spacecraft technology, and they made an error that resulted in the Roswell crash, an event that alerted humanity to the presence of aliens in the universe even if nothing more about the extraterrestrials was known.  Eventually the public learned of the procedures and in response the organization making the drugs developed stronger security robots to protect its investments.

Because of the interference with their operations the aliens (later called the Fermians) plan to destroy humans on earth according to the unnamed informant; Kane teleports to their homeworld and defeats their leader, and as he departs, he is followed by a trio of alien vessels.  Hopefully a second season (the present content is divided into four episodes called season one) will continue the story and explain what unfolds next.


Intellectual Content

Moon Chronicles does feature several collectibles, but almost none of them are concealed enough to warrant any more skill to discover them than whatever minor attention is necessary to explore unentered areas of the map.  People who expect an experience more like a Metroid Prime game will find themselves disappointed with the puzzles and collectible hunting here.

I have more directly talked about the possibility of extraterrestrial life and the theological ramifications of such a thing elsewhere [2].  It is logically and theologically possible that alien life exists; there is no evidence for any extraterrestrial life; nothing about the existence of sentient or non-sentient extraterrestrial life contradicts or threatens either theism or Christianity.  Speaking of religion, a readable terminal suggests that at least some religions were fabricated and disseminated among humanity by the aliens as part of a plan to manipulate the inhabitants of earth to make them more vulnerable to abduction.  One of the optional logs details how the abductions occurred before recorded history, when humans exhibited great proneness to superstition.  Exploiting this fact, the Fermians employed strategies that intentionally created ideological rifts in human civilization in order to weaken the possible resistance of the humans.  A computerized journal entry reads as follows:

"One tactic has been to introduce contrasting theologies to the Earth, throwing the population into factionalism and infighting".

Nowhere does the story hint that this tactic had anything to do with the "ancient astronaut" theory, the unverifiable and unfalsifiable hypothesis that at various points (or one point) in human history extraterrestrials visited earth and shared crucial knowledge or otherwise dramatically affected the trajectory of human civilization.  While the Fermians did visit earth consistently for millennia, they did not directly reveal themselves; that is the distinction between their interactions with humans and the ancient astronaut hypothesis.


Conclusion

Despite its successful elements, Moon Chronicles suffers from the same hindrances as Dementium Remastered: brevity and repetitive enemies, environments, and music.  The largest drawbacks may be its price and the lack of anything beyond a remastered version of the original game.  The developers have not released a second season that adds completely new content to the story.  With a current price of $8.99 for episode 1 and $9.00 for the season pass, which included episodes 2-4, the cost seems steep for only around 3.5 hours of enjoyment of a game that contains little replay value or incentives.  My approximate completion times for each episode on normal difficulty are below (and I found every collectible in each episode):

Episode 1--38 minutes
Episode 2--32 minutes
Episode 3--74 minutes
Episode 4--58 minutes

Players who desire to play a relic from the past of the DS will still want to explore this title, as will those who love Renegade Kid's efforts on the system.  So will people who want a sci-fi first-person shooter on the 3DS.

I hope that Dementium II Remastered will be released on the 3DS eShop this year!  Until that day hopefully arrives, both Moon Chronicles and Dementium Remastered are available on the eShop for those who appreciate Renegade Kid's style or want to experience the nostalgia of either DS classic.


Content:
1. Violence:  Combat involves the use of various weapons on robotic sentries and other enemies.  Shooting is bloodless and without gore.
2. Profanity:  A small handful of uses of "hell" that I noticed.  Kane says "damn" at least once.
3. Other:  All throughout the game Kane can read logs detailing various aspects of how the Fermian race has kidnapped a great multitude of humans (and members of other species) and, in a manner specifically intended to psychologically and emotionally and even physical harm the subjects for "maximum chemical output", harvested their organs, murdering the victims, and used the body parts to continue production of a controversial substance.  None of this is shown besides occasional areas with humans in containers, but the subject matter described will strike some people as rather grotesque.


[1].  http://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2017/01/game-review-dementium-remastered-3ds.html

[2].  http://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-threat-of-alien-life.html