Lunar Lander Beyond review

Fly me to the moon and let me crash into the walls…

As game concepts go, few are older than directing the descent of a precarious spacecraft. While Atari would popularize the undertaking with 1979’s Lunar Lander, the challenge dates all the way back to the 1969 moon landing. But Atari’s arcade version was the first time a visual representation of the task was playable by the masses. Subsequently, a generation of players would attempt the gentle touchdown of an eggshell-fragile spaceship while struggling with the pull of gravity and a restrained fuel supply.

Continuing their efforts to revisit their properties, Atari commissioned a reboot of their arcade classic. Lunar Lander Beyond makes it evident that revitalizing a 45-year-old can’t be an easy undertaking. Instead of asking frequent collaborator Adam Nickerson, the publisher opted to call on Dreams Uncorporated, creators of Cris Tales. Undoubtedly, the Colombia-based has a multitude of ambitious ideas. But at the core, you’re still cautiously piloting a slow-moving spacecraft, which might bore modern players born long after humans stepped foot on the moon.

A Critique That’s Nearly as Soft as a Lunar Landing

Beyond’s storyline places you in the role of a new captain working for Pegasus Aerospace. They’re an interstellar blend of Fed-Ex and Interpol, who both transport cargo and rescue people. And while science fiction dystopia is ubiquitous these days, Lunar Lander Beyond’s late capitalization isn’t just another dour retread. This is a game where you can give your pilots a four-day break to heal their heads or just opt for a quick fix with shock therapy.

Like some of the better sci-fi films of the 70s, the pilots aren’t rich playboys seeking intergalactic thrills, but working-class folks trying to earn a wage. As such, you can emphasize, even if their personalities are a bit one-dimensional. Play on the game’s tougher difficulty, and you’ll face permadeath and a reassurance that Pegasus won’t be paying benefits to a downed pilot’s next of kin.

Unfortunately, Lunar Lander doesn’t stick with the chastisement of choosing profits over people. Before long the title pivots toward the kind of destructive force that appears in homogenous blockbusters. That said, Beyond delivers a better storyline than anyone might have expected from an update to a 70’s arcade game, which is highlighted by sarcastic banter from your AI companion. Repeatedly, they seem surprised that you’ve dodged death after a mission.

“Hello, Major Tom, are you Receiving?”

Of course, the Lunar Lander’s main attraction is the two-dimensionally-based landing sequences. Initially, you’ll have access to a single ship nicknamed the Beetle that behaves just like the craft in the old coin-op. You can rotate your module and burn fuel to fire a thruster, which feels like a constant fight against the forces of momentum. Across a succession of increasingly complex stages, you’ll need to maintain complete control over your module, as colliding with objects can wreck your craft and push your pilot toward mental breakdown. These vicious mind-states manifest additional obstacles across each stage, potentially increasing your real-life level of uneasiness.

Fortunately, your lunar module can be outfitted with up to three different assistive components. One of the first ones that you’ll acquire is a stabilizer, which immediately stops the movement of your vessel but consequently consumes a significant amount of fuel. Later, you’ll earn eleven additional tools that range from shielding that’s an invaluable tool against defensive turrets to a tractor beam that’s helpful for grabbing items.

But even with these advantageous devices, piloting can be tough in Lunar Lander Beyond. Spaceships in most modern games are razor-sharp responsive, instantaneously reacting to your input. But Beyond requires you to think several seconds ahead, which can be tough when you’re dealing with narrow spaces and some antagonism. Mercifully, you will earn ships that radically change the way you fly in the game. But for some players, just getting to that possibility will feel like a chore. Just like the original game, Lunar Lander wants us to marvel at space flight and be in awe of a textbook touchdown.

Catching a Case of Space Madness

Across thirty-odd stages, repeatedly docking your spaceships might have easily induced tedium. But beyond the variety of ships with distinctive flight controls, there are also different pilots with randomized traits. Some are more efficient with fuel consumption while other hotshots might have a faster top speed. As pilots successfully complete missions, they’ll level up and gain additional skills. And like XCOM, losing a seasoned veteran can feel appropriately devasting.

But given the intermittent spikes in difficulty, it’s probably a good thing that permadeath isn’t compulsory. Battling various intensities of gravity and completing different mission goals contributes a sense of variety. But sporadically, there’s a complication that seems suited for a particular pilot/ship combo. Since you make selections before learning about the situation for a stage, expect to have to retry some levels several times. At one moment, I grew so frustrated I considered quitting the campaign and starting all over on the easiest difficulty setting.

Conclusion

Like most of my craft touchdowns, Lunar Lander Beyond is a bit bumpy. Not all the blame is on Dreams Uncorporated. Atari’s original Lunar Lander was an aggressively tough game and softening the experience would have not honored the source material. I would have enjoyed Beyond more if it adopted a more approachable, arcade-style, like 2014’s Gravity Crash Ultra.

That said, the developers aren’t blameless. Although the initial premise is interesting, there’s a tonal shift where the plot grows predictable. And at launch, there are a few challenges that are poised to piss off players. Beyond reminds us that creativity might get you off the ground, but it’s precision that lets you touch down safely. Prepare for a dodgy landing, pilot.

Lunar Lander Beyond was played on PC with review code provided by the publisher.