Deliver Us Mars is the sequel to the 2018 video game Deliver Us the Moon. Set 10 years after the events of the first game, you don’t need to have played Deliver Us Mars to understand how the game plays out. Although the story of Deliver Us the Moon influences this world and many of the characters return, even if we haven’t played the first one, we won’t miss anything of the plot from the start.
Instead, Deliver Us Mars is one of those good sequels that doesn’t force you to know the previous game to enjoy it. It’s easy to get drawn in by the mysteries of Outward, the world, and the bleak but plausible future KeoKeN has created for Deliver Us Mars.
In the not too distant future of Deliver Us Mars, the planet is dying due to mankind’s actions and ignorance. Not that it’s a very original idea, but the way Deliver Us Mars embedded its sci-fi into reality was amazing on so many levels. As far as gameplay goes, it seems like a lot of research has been done in this game to figure out how to connect Deliver Us Mars to reality as much as possible. Launching a rocket in particular turns out to be something very complicated because of all the tasks you have to carry out before pressing the big button that will launch you into space. But none of that realism makes Deliver Us Mars a bit boring, instead allowing us to delve even further into the kind of realistic sci-fi KeokeN is looking for.
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Just as reality is one of the foundations of the world, our new protagonist Kathy brings a lot of power to the narrative. Aside from being a very well-written character due to her personal interest in Outward and the crew sent to find the elusive group, Kathy’s point of view increasingly blurs the lines between the two sides until they don’t know more about what follows. Also, something very interesting about Deliver Us Mars is the way we unravel the mysteries of what happened on Mars while delving deeper and deeper into Kathy’s story, which the player encounters as two elements of intrigue throughout the game and tension are offered.
And that brings us to the narrative of Deliver Us Mars, the heart of the matter. A linear and short game that shouldn’t last more than 8 hours, Deliver Us Mars bets all on its narrative. Most of the time he gets it to work. Deliver Us Mars takes off with a bang, inviting you to explore the history of the red planet and solve the dark mystery behind Outward. Throughout the first and second acts of the story, these mysteries will captivate you as you launch into space and uncover more information. In this regard, the development of the story is good as it moves quickly but without seeming too fast to follow. There are also many slower moments that allow us to get to know all the characters better and to develop relationships with them.
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However, in the last part, Deliver Us Mars loses all this and crashes. The last hour of the game feels like we played three hours straight as we work towards an abrupt ending that bears no resemblance to the dramatic ending intended for the rest of the game. It’s not bad enough to leave such a bitter taste in our mouth, but it’s a bit disappointing.
Aside from the story, Deliver Us Mars also offers you different levels of puzzle-like adventures where you have to connect electricity at one point to proceed or use two climbing spikes to move around the environment. The puzzles are fun and offer challenges that are mostly exciting without being frustrating. But over time they get a bit repetitive so it would have been interesting to add something different or give them a different approach. Climbing is difficult and a bit frustrating, especially with a mouse and keyboard, but once you get used to it, it’s a pretty good game mechanic. I didn’t jump for joy every time I came across a new crag, but I wasn’t scared of coming across it either.
There’s something else that made the crags in Deliver Us Mars so much better; the stages. This video game has some impressive visuals, from the dying earth to the red planet itself. In both locations you can see many different landscapes that are worth stopping and appreciating. However, these gorgeous backdrops are contrasted with the strange designs of the characters. With the exception of Kathy and the core team, the other human characters in the game are quite odd and can spoil the player’s sense of immersion when trying to connect the shocking face in front of them to a human. The impressive voice acting and dialogue ensure this doesn’t detract too much from the overall experience, but the character designs feel like they belong in older games, while the rest of the visual content is on par with many other recent titles. .
Deliver Us Mars has a lot to offer. It has a good narrative complemented by the work of great actors and actresses providing their voices, particularly Ellise Chappel who plays Kathy, as well as excellent gameplay and impressive visual effects. For all its strengths, there are a few key elements that make Deliver Us Mars more “very good” than great. It has a lot of good things, but not enough to get a higher score.
