Moon review (DS)

As you descend into the hatch, you'll encounter initially impressive alien architecture. The walls and floors sport strange geometric designs, and pulsing neon light highlights corridors and pillars. Rooms occasionally feature odd machines, and different levels have different wall patterns and color schemes. Every detail scrolls by smoothly as you progress, but the further you go, the more familiar everything starts to feel. Despite the changing color schemes, each level is a lot like the one before it. There are a few brief outdoor vehicle sequences to mix it up, as well as a remote-controlled droid that you can use to zip through small tunnels, trigger switches, and collect bonuses. The various bonuses (weapon upgrades, health boosts, alien artifacts) make you more powerful and unlock extra training missions, but they aren't exactly hidden. So though it can be rewarding to seek them all out, it's just a simple matter of referring to your map, going into every room, and sending your droid into every small tunnel.

The music of Moon is quite good and sets a great tone for your descent into the alien installation. Atmospheric tones are punctuated by the low thrum of machinery and intermittent bass beats. The sound effects are rich as well, offering a helpful aid for locating and identifying foes. There are a few miscues, though, notably the clunking moon-boot noise that accompanies your every step and the Zelda-esque beeping that sounds incessantly when you have low health. Fortunately, these aren't enough to ruin the generally high-quality sound design.

Moon is a technically proficient game that affirms what we already know: It is possible to make a quality first-person shooter on the DS. Without any multiplayer modes, the adventure will last you a solid 5-6 hours. Unfortunately, though Moon builds a solid launchpad, it fails to reach orbit. Repetitious enemies, a ho-hum story, and uninspired level design hinder the stellar potential of the sharp control scheme and speedy action. Though you might dream of what Moon could have been, you can still have plenty of fun blasting your way through this lunar adventure.