Chances are you won’t ever make it to the moon, but there are other ways to get there. You can now slip into a bulky spacesuit and bounce around on a lunar-like surface through extremely realistic video games (some of which offer immersive virtual reality options). Once there, you can also explore fictional space stations and interact with ‘aliens’. Here’s a list of games that do it best.
Deliver Us the Moon (2018-2019)
Thegame lets you fly into space and travel about on the moon on foot and in a rover, with a trusty robot aide for company.
Set in the future, Earth has been depleted of its resources and a lunar colony has been set up to mine Helium-3 reserves there. The player is the lone astronaut from Earth sent to the colony after all communication with them was lost. He glides around the vast expanse of the moon in a lunar vehicle, carries out repairs, and tries to find out what happened by reviewing recordings and observations left behind at the now-abandoned facility.
Only one chapter is available, with the full release scheduled for later this year. But already the game lets you fly into space and travel about on the moon on foot and in a rover, with a trusty robot aide for company.
Earthlight: Lunar Hub (2018)
You get to operate a lunar craft to reach the moon and walk around the surface exploring its grey expanse.
This multiplayer virtual reality game made in collaboration with NASA has very realistic graphics and lets you explore a moon station as an astronaut and experience breathtaking views of Earth from the lunar surface. During the 40-minute experience you operate a lunar craft to reach the moon and walk around the surface exploring its grey expanse.
Elevator… to the Moon (2017)
As a ‘lunarnaut’ in this game, your one job is to repair an elevator that takes you straight up to the moon.
Gran Turismo 6 (2013)
There are no racing lines in this car racing game but you do kick up grey dirt as you race over bumps and rocks in what feels like a gravity-defying feat.
In the sixth instalment of the car-racing game, players get to leave Earth and speed about on the moon, in a lunar rover. They can use a GPS map to retrace the Apollo 15 expedition route, and must make it to the finish line to earn a place in the next round. There are no racing lines but you do kick up grey dirt as you race over bumps and rocks in what feels like a gravity-defying feat.
Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010)
On the moon you battle the stronger, faster-spawning astronaut zombie and survive in low-gravity zones with no oxygen, wearing a special suit.
This zombie-shooting game allows you to teleport from Area 51 on Earth to a base on the moon. Here you as a foot soldier have to battle the stronger, faster-spawning astronaut zombie and survive in low-gravity zones with no oxygen, wearing a special suit. You move from one lab to the other, struggling to stay alive while shooting the undead, making this one of the most challenging maps on the game.
Moonbase Alpha (2010)
The astronaut bounces around the moon, builds and pilots his own repair robot and rover, while trying to retrieve data obtained over 12 years of research.
This extremely realistic simulation game set in 2032 has you playing a lunar astronaut desperately trying to repair an outpost on the moon’s South Pole, which has been damaged by a meteor strike. The player bounces around the moon, builds and pilots his own repair robot and rover, while trying to retrieve data obtained over 12 years of research.
Rebel Moon Rising (1997)
Among the missions you are allotted, you infiltrate enemy camps and conduct rescue missions.
In this first-person shooter game, the moon has been colonised, and lunar colonies (represented by the player) are rebelling against the oppressive United Nation forces from Earth. Among the missions you are allotted, you infiltrate enemy camps and conduct rescue missions. You can use weapons that range from jetpacks to invulnerability powercels and gain access to oxygen recyclers that will boost your mission time.
First Published:
Jul 13, 2019 21:20 IST
