Developer: PatchNoteStudio
Publisher: PatchNoteStudio
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
Moonbase 332 – Review
Moonbase 332 is a fast paced arcade shooter game in first person mode by PatchnoteStudio. You’ll mostly be running and gunning with an arsenal of the usual firepower you’ll pick up along the way. Your enemies are a myriad of different monsters who’ll do everything to stop you, with bullets, grenades or just by clobbering you. Alongside these you’ll fight the urge to rage quit and you’ll experience bugs, lots and lots of bugs.
Story
Germany and Austria waged a war in the not-so-far off past of 2007 and their weapon of choice was a virus. The crux of the story is that the virus has been released and that the testing station in space has been taken over by the strain.
You are a nameless soldier sent in to see exactly what happened on the station and try put a stop to it. The backbone of the story is interesting, as this is an alternate history that hasn’t been put forth. Usually it’s the normal contestants. Germany versus America, Germany versus the world, etc… It’s still Germany, but against Austria of all countries. It makes you want to find out what happened between them. That being said, story wise the game doesn’t give you more than that.
Graphics
Graphic fidelity isn’t the strong suit of this game. However let it never be said that a game that doesn’t have high resolution graphics or life like textures can’t be a good game. Moonbase 332 doesn’t renovate with its graphics and at times it seems that they have “copied” enemies from other games. The biggest offenders are nazi zombies, the necromorphs from Dead Space and the floating skulls from Castlevania. Skeletons and zombie Nazis are generic enemies so those aren’t the biggest offenders. The level design is confusing, then again, you are on unknown territories, so it’s only normal for you to lose your way. Nonetheless, there are some creepy setpieces that set the mood for the devestation the virus has brought.
Enemies just pop out of the ground. Seeing as the enemies in question are zombies it’s quite appropriate, other enemies just appear when you push a button. No audio queue to add to the immersion, just pop the button and they are there, magically. It stretches the limits of the wilfull suspension of disbelief.
Sound
When you think about a what an American exterminator should sound like, you think manly and grizzly. A gritty voice to narrate the story which underlines the gravity of the situation. What you don’t expect is a voice like Windows Sam. If the voice was consistent and it would be easy to hear what’s being said, then it’s a designer choice well made. When it is like it is now, then you will often wonder what he said. The guns sound as destructive as they are. The enemies are mostly mute which is a shame, because if they were to have voices, the atmosphere would be chilling to the bone.
Gameplay
Moonbase 332 goes back to the old run and gun fun that can be found in Doom and Unreal tournament. You are given ten lives and once those are up you have to start all over again. The game advises you to save often as the loading screen shows you the two buttons for quicksaving F6 and quick loading F9. Saving often doesn’t seem necessary at first, but as the game progresses, the difficulty jumps. Enemies will kill you with a single bullet and though the stages are short and having to start from scratch isn’t that big of a deal, it can be quite grating to have to start over and over again once you encounter a certain point. Health regeneration isn’t an option, but you can’t really tell what damage your character has already sustained. There is no health bar nor is there an indicator of damage. So you never know how badly damaged you are. This can lead to you becoming overconfident and running into a room to get shot down in one shot, thinking you can take several hits. At least some indication would have been nice. Bullets are invisible, so it’s near impossible to dodge them. Having produced a fast paced run and gunner is all fine and dandy, but without being able to dodge bullets, speed means nothing. The only indication of them shooting you is a fast red flash every time you eat a bullet or take a hit. What makes running and gunning fun is the fact that you can dodge bullets by rapidly strafing, jumping and ducking, to see the bullets whizz by. The dodging of the bullets or at least the illusion adds to the power trip that is akin to first person shooters.
Enemy artificial intelligence is another matter altogether. At one point enemies walk up to you and if they aren’t wielding guns, you can easily trap them in a corner, but if they are wielding guns, all of a sudden they snipe you silly. They seem to know where you are or know where you are heading as they take you down, over and over again. This can be quite aggravating, it’s also quite exhillerating when you do finally manage to beat that part of the game.
What does diminish the exhilleration is the fact that the game will probably crash multiple times and at several times you’ll be stuck in the floor or ceiling when you die. At one point I just plain black fell through the floor. If you restart your computer and boot up Desura, and you want to dive back into Moonbase 332, the game prompts a reinstallation. When this happens the save files get deleted. All the work you’ve put into it, all gone. Frustrating to say the least. Then again the stages are short and you’ll blaze through the levels, if you aren’t held down by the bugs.
Conclusion
Moonbase 332 could have been or still could be a great game, with the promise of the many updates to come. At its reasonably low price, the fast paced shooter could be a great buy if it weren’t for the bugs and the strange enemy behaviour. The game comes with a lifetime of free updates, which it badly needs as the bugs can be a damper on the fun. Moonbase 332 is equal amounts of fun as it is frustration. Be warned. As they say on Moonbase 332: “Never forget to take chewing gum…”
Moonbase 332 - Review,
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