After a Deliver Us Moon which I really liked, I was waiting with great impatience to put my big fingers on the rest of the game: Deliver Us Mars. The studio wanted to reassure those present in the room: whether or not we played the first opus, it doesn't matter, we can enjoy this sequel without worry, which also acts as a stand-alone taking place in the same universe. First good point therefore, since the game does not deprive itself of a part of the public who would have risked sulking this opus for lack of having done the first.
Taking place ten years after the events of Fortuna on the Moon, the game puts us in the shoes of Kathy Johannson, the youngest Earth astronaut, who embarks on board the Zephyr with her crew to recover the ARCHES ships, which will save a part of humanity, stuck on an Earth on the brink of extinction.
Our protagonist, however, has a more personal motivation to go to the Red Planet, since his father has been missing for many years there, and Kathy would like to know what happened to him. This demo ignores the initiatory journey and takes us directly to Mars, in a quarry. After a quick glance, we quickly understand that we will have to descend into the quarry to go up a hundred meters further. Problem: although less than on Earth, gravity exists on Mars, and you can't decently jump off the top of the cliff hoping to land in one piece. We will therefore discover a new part of gameplay, which is that of climbing.
Armed with 2 ice axes, our heroine will imitate a certain Lara Croft (in the 2013 trilogy) and descend while clinging to the wall. However, the game is a little more demanding than tomb raider, since we will have to alternate the pressure on the triggers to manage the attachment of each ice ax individually. If you have the misfortune to let go of both buttons for even a quarter of a second, you are good for a free fall... However, you can use this technique to your advantage to descend more quickly, by briefly releasing the triggers , we will "slide" a few meters, which will allow us to reach the places we want more quickly.
In addition to this interesting addition, we remain on familiar ground as long as we have played the first game of the license. We always find a heavily scripted game, with holograms and other audiologs scattered here and there in the level, and more or less simple puzzles to solve, such as playing with the camera to ensure that 2 pieces of an object are linked to one another. Without being insurmountable, the grip can seem a little confusing, especially since nothing appears on the screen to explain how it works. I think I would have struggled for a few minutes if the nice lady hadn't explained the maneuver to me. Hopefully a small tutorial will be added (although I think it was in a previous chapter) for these kinds of puzzles by release.
Regarding the technical part, not much to report, except the absence of Ray-Tracing during the demo! Not to mention an essential, I sincerely hope that the game will be grafted with ray-tracing support by its release, as it added immersion on Deliver Us Moon. We also feel that the game is managed by a slightly larger team. A step has been taken, the game is more detailed, more richly decorated and has not suffered from any bug during my handling. The narration also seemed to me to be better managed, with a more intimate discourse linked to the relationship between father and daughter. However, we will have to wait to get our hands on the full game to confirm this feeling or not!
Deliver Us Mars has a release date set for February 2, 2023. It will be released on Playstation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series, as well as on PC (Steam/Epic), at the recommended price of €29.99.
