Roughly two weeks ago, J-Squared Software manipulated Lunar Module 3D to gently land at the app store. You are responsible for navigating a module to various landing sites across the surface of the moon; avoiding refueling sites is encouraged. Basically, think of yourself as Neil Armstrong’s chauffeur who is being rewarded with a medal (yes, literally a medal) for saving Uncle Sam some very expensive jet fuel (or whatever lunar modules run on).
A very nice touch by J-Squared Software is that the environments are generated from actual footage of the moon’s surface, and the sound sequence at the beginning of every mission is also an original recording. The menu is nice and simple – only three ways to go there and we will explore each in a minute. As you launch the game you are immersed into outer space tranquility, and if patience is not your virtue you will come to appreciate the meditative melody when you learn that if you wanted a fast-paced game you just wasted your money.
The slow pace is actually a refreshing experience from the usual hustle-and-bustle, which plagues 95% of the games on my device. In the options menu you can either reset your saved game or calibrate the controls. The calibration process is one of the best mplementations I have seen (maybe it’s me or my luck, but calibration is rarely a smooth sailing). The flight plan at the main menu will tell you pretty much everything you need to know. You have unlimited time to land at all the red platforms; avoiding refueling at the blue ones will win better medals. You lose by crashing or running out of fuel (which leads to crashing). Your speed gauges will turn green when you are approaching in acceptable speed; after several crashes at “green” speeds, I learned that old-school piloting skills still trump technology.
The third offering of the main menu is “missions,” surprisingly, that’s where the missions are. J-Squared Software starts you off with four unlocked levels, leaving you an additional five missions to unlock yourself. When you start the game make sure to play around with the camera, it’s really fun. You have absolute control of the view as you can drag the camera 360-degrees around the module, and pinch in/out to zoom. The learning curve of the game is well within the standard deviation – not simple by any means, but not frustrating either. You simply thrust slightly and tilt your phone in the desired direction; you get the hang of it after a crash or twelve. The other gameplay button centers your camera onto the closest landing site; this comes in quite handy especially if you’re lost or messed with the camera too much.
There are a few things I’d like to get off my chest. As I’m typing this review, I had to start the game about fifty times because apparently the game quits when the screen shuts off. While I am a strong believer that graphics are the least important thing in a game, I do feel that the module, the fire of the exhaust, and the landing platforms need to look better and more polished. Even though the lack of gravity feels fine as it stands (especially when you get the hang of it), I would suggest that the developer looks at Retro: Cave Flyer for some pointers. Finally, a bit more depth would not hurt; if not in gameplay then at least some features. For example, a “distance from target” gauge which will help learning to plan your fuel usage instead of just eyeballing it.
Don’t get me wrong, this game fully deserves 4 dimples, simply because it can easily fill the shoes. It does need some work, but with the foundation in place and good will on part of the developer, the expectations are more than reasonable. I have played nothing but LM 3D for about 3 days now and it looks like it’s moving onto my “frequent player” page. Good replay value is often hard to come by, so that alone is well worth your money.
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