There are three solar panel stations to attend to in order to get the power back on. I never had to deal with running low on air, but having a constant resource like that to manage in the middle of a horror game has to be stressful, and I look forward to seeing how Moons of Madness explores it more fully. Glancing down lets you check your air levels, displayed on the HUD built into Shane’s helmet, which keeps the screen free of any intrusive UI. As I wander around and take in the sights, I make sure to swing by a nearby filling station to refill my oxygen supply. The ridge I’m on is a wide, umber cliffside where dozens of massive solar panels stand tall, raised up to the sun that hangs high over the valley below. Orson assures me there are more around, so I go out hunting. “While I’m investigating a nearby power station, Shane gets his first “vision.” It’s a momentary flickering in the fabric of reality, like a glitch in the Matrix - one moment, a power cell is there, plugged into its console, and the next it’s gone. I don’t mind a built-in hint system as an option. Puzzles are good in horror games, but the main argument against them is how obtuse they can get. The scanning mechanic seems like it will come in handy if Moons of Madness chooses to ramp up the puzzle difficulty, which could be a good thing. Glancing down at Shane’s Biogage lets me know what the power outlet I’m looking for actually looks like, and can highlight interactive objects in the immediate vicinity. Orson says something sarcastic about my “radio silence” - moments earlier, I had accidentally cut him off as I exited the rover, and found it amusing he’d noticed. David Bowie.) I ponder the family photo and the message scrawled on the back as I tug the power cable from the back of the rover loose and set out on foot to find an outlet to attach it to. (Just moments before the rover shut down, he was bickering with Orson about the musical merits of The Rolling Stones vs. Shane is a professional, stationed at the first research outpost on Mars, but he has a family life and a personality outside of being a scared horror game protagonist. “Being able to catch glimpses of Shane’s personal life while grappling with his rover’s technical issues, combined with the option to speak with Orson or ignore his transmissions, reminds me of Firewatch, with a little SOMA mixed in. After stumbling around the rover, opening cabinets and at one point finding a family photo of Shane’s, I figure out how to activate the arm-mounted scanning system Orson was talking about and identified the issue: faulty power distribution. As my character Shane Newehart’s rover comes creaking to a halt on the dusty surface of Mars, a voice over the radio - Shane’s research partner, Orson - tells me to scan it with something called a Biogage to locate the source of the problem. It’s possible to strike a balance between hopping from one scripted event to the next and trying to think straight enough to solve problems in the face of looming danger, and Moons of Madness seems to be on that path. More recent first-person horror games like Outlast 2 and Layers of Fear have largely ditched puzzles - a survival horror staple that I dearly miss - in favor of a haunted house-style approach. “What stands out to me almost immediately during my demo of Moons of Madness are the problem-solving elements.
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