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LUNAR LANDER BEYOND (PS5)
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Publisher: Atari.
Developer: Dreams Uncorporated. Released: April 2024. Genre: Lunar lander. Other versions: PS4; XSX; XONE; SWI; PC. Posted 5th January 2025. By Tom Clare © 2025 |
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As abruptly as the Apollo missions ended, so too did the lunar lander’s brief flirtation with popularity. It’s genuinely curious that the genre, whose popularity peaked in the late 1970s, disappeared so abruptly. Against a backdrop of creativity and technical advancement, the gaming landscape of the following decade seemed an ideal fit for its high-stakes, challenging gameplay. New and more sophisticated titles of this kind never really materialised, however, with only a meagre selection to sate fans over the following 40 years. What’s old is new again, however, and somewhat out of the blue, Lunar Lander Beyond would hit the market in 2024. It’s fitting that Atari, who in their former guise developed the 1979 Lunar Lander arcade game, would be at the helm for what is likely the genre’s most significant representation in four decades.
For the (understandably) uninitiated, the appeal of a lunar lander game lies in the delicate ballet that is balancing propulsion against gravity, using directional control to land safely and avoid crashing into the landscape. There is no combat, as the mixture of environmental hazards and physics should in theory be more than enough to keep players busy. Lunar Lander Beyond has been well fleshed out: five worlds host 30 levels, with each new planet or moon presenting different tests. Players will have to battle the electrical storms and limited visibility of Venus, the cavernous lava flows of Mars and the labyrinthine biohazard nightmare that is Etimus.
The early levels on Nueva Luna reveal an attractive, minimalist style
LLB looks clean, if a little bland at times, with the most fully realised visual design coming in the game’s opening destination, Nueva Luna. This features a nice, sci-fi metropolis and is the most distinctive and detailed the game has to offer, as the art style reverts to a slightly more simplified and generic appearance thereafter. It’s tidily presented, showcasing a smattering of pretty animated cinematics and a top soundtrack. You’d be forgiven, early on, for thinking you’re in for a fairly impersonal space synth-fest, but there are a plenty of notable grooves that will have players humming along.
Developer Dreams Uncorporated should be credited for weaving a decent storyline, something the genre has never tackled. The crew, which includes a scientist, a capitalist-sceptic, a red-neck star pilot and a well-spoken executive, make for a likeable bunch, successfully capturing the heart and bombast of an eighties action flick. There’s also significance to your pilots, whom the player can rescue and recruit during missions. Each individual comes with a raft of specific perks, including speed and acceleration boosts, fuel-saving, and perhaps most usefully of all, imperviousness to stress. Stress accrues when the player takes a few knocks, resulting firstly in screen distortion and then actively dangerous hallucinations, which can be quelled through the collection of conveniently placed red pills found in the vicinity. It’s not a game-changer, but a modern idea that chimes with the old-school gameplay surprisingly well. On the Insane setting, roguelike elements such as pilot permadeath come into play, whilst failing or restarting missions will result in monetary penalties, and pilots suffering stress or insanity will need either to undergo expensive treatment or sit out several missions.
Developer Dreams Uncorporated should be credited for weaving a decent storyline, something the genre has never tackled. The crew, which includes a scientist, a capitalist-sceptic, a red-neck star pilot and a well-spoken executive, make for a likeable bunch, successfully capturing the heart and bombast of an eighties action flick. There’s also significance to your pilots, whom the player can rescue and recruit during missions. Each individual comes with a raft of specific perks, including speed and acceleration boosts, fuel-saving, and perhaps most usefully of all, imperviousness to stress. Stress accrues when the player takes a few knocks, resulting firstly in screen distortion and then actively dangerous hallucinations, which can be quelled through the collection of conveniently placed red pills found in the vicinity. It’s not a game-changer, but a modern idea that chimes with the old-school gameplay surprisingly well. On the Insane setting, roguelike elements such as pilot permadeath come into play, whilst failing or restarting missions will result in monetary penalties, and pilots suffering stress or insanity will need either to undergo expensive treatment or sit out several missions.
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Mission objectives don’t lack for variety, either. Yes, there are quite a few search and rescue events and checkpoint-to-checkpoint meanders, but there’s quite a bit besides that keep things interesting. Speed junkies will enjoy a couple of races, whilst a gauntlet run through a tunnel of turrets and a battle to fight through rush-hour traffic on Ganymede get the adrenalin pumping. Most of the levels are decent enough in principle, though there’s a single missile defence level early on that, on the harder difficulties, is a horrible experience.
Sadly, Lunar Lander Beyond is undone by its failure to nail the basics. The controls hinder the game, whilst conservative level layouts lack impact. The initial Beetle craft makes a tepid first impression. The analogue controls are lumbered with a bafflingly large deadzone, rendering precise movements cumbersome. Worse are the spongy thrusters, which take an eternity to impart resistance or motion, making it really easy to over or under-correct. The result is a fiddly experience, and though the game is still easy enough to complete, this is mostly the result of spacious and untaxing level architecture.
Sadly, Lunar Lander Beyond is undone by its failure to nail the basics. The controls hinder the game, whilst conservative level layouts lack impact. The initial Beetle craft makes a tepid first impression. The analogue controls are lumbered with a bafflingly large deadzone, rendering precise movements cumbersome. Worse are the spongy thrusters, which take an eternity to impart resistance or motion, making it really easy to over or under-correct. The result is a fiddly experience, and though the game is still easy enough to complete, this is mostly the result of spacious and untaxing level architecture.
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Next to the one-hit deaths and hold-your-breath, claustrophobia-inducing tightness of Playdate gem Gravity Express’s levels, Lunar Lander Beyond feels tame. It lacks a necessary degree of peril as crafts can typically sustain bumps and scrapes, with the player even capable of deploying a shield to nullify impacts and projectiles. Whilst the Beetle proves a handful, the Dragonfly, unlocked during the second chapter, has the opposite problem. This small ship is controlled entirely by the analogue stick, requires no directional thrust or correcting tweaks, and is never significantly affected by gravity. In the navigational sense, it requires very little thought or care. What should have been a challenging second half of the adventure is abruptly rendered rather routine.
This isn’t to say you won’t have fun, however, and some nicely gauged trophies generate some appetite for return runs. Completing every level with the Beetle proves a sterner test, as particularly in the latter stages, its tricky controls make outrunning lava flows, and indeed defeating the last boss, a little more complicated. Additionally, the player must finish levels within a time limit and at 100% health to unlock a gold medal. This too is a smart means of encouraging replayability, though once you’ve found a pilot with a speed perk, you’re sure to make short work of these with the Dragonfly.
This isn’t to say you won’t have fun, however, and some nicely gauged trophies generate some appetite for return runs. Completing every level with the Beetle proves a sterner test, as particularly in the latter stages, its tricky controls make outrunning lava flows, and indeed defeating the last boss, a little more complicated. Additionally, the player must finish levels within a time limit and at 100% health to unlock a gold medal. This too is a smart means of encouraging replayability, though once you’ve found a pilot with a speed perk, you’re sure to make short work of these with the Dragonfly.
"Winning the space race" in its most thoroughly literal form
Despite these teething troubles, Dreams Uncorporated got a lot of things right with Lunar Lander Beyond. It retains the spirit and feel of the games that inspired it, whilst the storyline, pilot roster and stress concept are all examples of LLB helping the genre break new ground. Intelligent structuring allows a relatively arcade-centric experience to rack up a very respectable eight to nine hours of play. Underwhelming controls and safe level design prevent it from scoring more highly, but if this is the last we see of the genre for a while, then it at least marks a game effort.
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VERDICT
"Underwhelming controls and safe level design dent its potential, but a strong storyline and innovative stress concept are examples of LLB successfully moving it's venerable genre forward." OVERALL: 6/10 |
OTHER FLIGHT GAMES WITH PRECISE NAVIGATION REVIEWED
Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf (1992, Mega Drive)
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Gravity Express (2023, Playdate)
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