The video game market is experiencing three very delicate situations: a noticeable rise in prices, performance problems in the main titles, and a lack of content that makes the initial investment unjustifiable. However, not everything is dark. The offer of free games is at its best, and today we discover Deliver Us Mars, an adventure with puzzles and exploration that will definitely keep you busy this weekend.
If you have been following the latest video game releases closely, you have probably noticed that: a) they cost a fortune, b) they have more bugs than we can count, c) their performance is disastrous, d) they seem half-finished, and e) all of the above. But beyond the 'escape valves' that the web offers to protest, we can also do something else: explore the free offerings and keep playing.
The list is enormous and grows every week. The Free to Play giants barely cover the tip of the iceberg, and even if the underlying reasons are obvious (say, giving away the base game to sell DLC later), we would be making a mistake if we didn't take advantage of such opportunities. That said, today I open a new section dedicated to free games, and the first on our list is Deliver Us Mars, available on the Epic Games Store.
Deliver Us Mars: A Family Matter
From a narrative standpoint, Deliver Us Mars works as a sequel to Deliver Us the Moon, but we are not forced to revisit the first game. Its events are described through a series of texts, documents, and museum pieces that add secondary details to the new story without overwhelming the player. Small spoilers ahead.
Its structure is very familiar: Earth is heading toward total ecological collapse, a group declares the planet lost, and with the best of human technology, they set out into cold space looking for a new future, while the WSA (like a worldwide ESA) does what it can to save it. Between these two visions, our heroine Kathy Johanson is caught.
On one hand, Kathy tries to be one of the best WSA candidates, following the example of her sister Claire. On the other, she must live with the consequences of the betrayal of her father Isaac, who abandoned his original mission to leave with the first group. This tension reaches its peak when the WSA receives a transmission from Mars...
Deliver Us Mars is definitely a member of the 'slow burn' category. If we can set aside some weak points like the character design (they didn't do justice to Ellise Chappell with her digitalization, I'm sure of that), and its emphasis on realism when performing certain actions (climbing being the most important), the game delivers several moments of grandeur, enhanced by a fairly decent Photo Mode.
Personally, I haven't found performance issues (the game received several patches), and it offers several visual options (including DLSS and FSR), but the type of action in Deliver Us Mars doesn't demand 60 FPS at all times. Once again, the game is a slow burn, with a very cinematic experience.
To finish, Deliver Us Mars will remain available on the Epic Games Store until next Thursday, so I recommend you go get it now. Its download is about 13 gigabytes, and it will be ready for you to play this weekend sooner than you imagine. Enjoy!
Deliver Us Mars on the Epic Games Store: Click here
