In the past few years, we’ve seen a surge of developers take to various mythologies as inspirations for their games. While some are beaten to the ground, such as Norse mythology (sorry God of War), some take on more obscure references, like The Mooseman which is based upon the Perm Chud folklore.  Never heard of it? Me either, but it has some gigantic spiders involved, so I am all for it.

You take on the guise of a shaman by the name of the Mooseman, who can see into other realms that others cannot. You’ll use this ability to solve the game’s puzzles, which make up the bulk of gameplay. The game is extremely basic, as you’ll essentially be walking left to right, switching between the realms to avoid obstacles which will appear in one or the other realms. It is easy to determine which realm you are within, as the spirit realm will feature a number of contrasting white symbols and areas as well as the unique headdress that adorns the traveler in these areas. The story will be the main selling point of this title, as it’s more of a short experience than a game, more so than even the most basic of walking sims. This game clocks in at less than two hours with a small group of collectible relics being the only reason to revisit it. Since the game is extremely linear, almost all of the collectibles can be attained in a single run, with little to no effort in locating them.

As the title progresses, the puzzles become much more obscure and require some trial and error to solve, requiring the player to interact with the game’s worlds in a specific way such as nudging wildlife in the correct direction to provide paths around said barriers. Later into the game, an additional mechanic comes into play, allowing the player to absorb attacks and is incorporated into a single puzzle out of the blue. The game will occasionally switch up the mechanics for single levels, such as one where the player will be required to shoot enemies as they appear, or a later level that involves flying around on a giant creature Neverending Story style. These break up the monotony of the game essentially being a 2D walking sim due to the game requiring you to walk left to right for the duration of the game (Pro Tip: You can double tap the right direction to continuously walk forward, rarely needing to take control).

I found the basic puzzles to be a bit of a bore, with the “boss” fights offered being the high points of the game, particularly the previously mentioned ginormous spider battle. Since there is very little direction in the form of a tutorial, I spent a fair amount of time figuring out how to fight the enemies with no offensive attacks available outside of the short hunting segment. With frequent checkpoints and decent loading times, death doesn’t set you back much, thus limiting frustration.

The overall presentation is well done, with light ambient music and highly stylized visuals to set the tone. Much like Limbo or Deadlight, this uses dark silhouettes and muted backgrounds, with the occasional fixtures being added to the foreground to establish depth to add a sense of mystery to the stages as you proceed forward. I rarely encountered issues where I was unsure if it was safe to walk forward or not; however, the thought was always in the back of my mind that there was something out there, just outside of view while venturing into the unknown. The Mooseman has a nice mix of clear, crisp outlines, in addition to more stylized, cave painting style visuals.

My time spent was relatively bug free, with the single exception being the language defaulting to Russian anytime I returned after shutting down my console. At first, I thought this was intended and did not pick up on the fact that it was something within the options that I never visited prior to getting lost in the story. While I was still able to get the gist of the game’s message, I missed some key monologues that left a few gaps in the otherwise stellar narrative.

If you’re a fan of mythology or story heavy games that require little effort from the player, you’ll find a lot to love here. The artsy design and overall outstanding presentation make this an experience not to be missed; just be warned, The Mooseman is not nearly as action oriented as the games that inspired its unique visual style.

8 out of 10

Pros

• Engrossing Mythological Story
• Distinct Visual Style
• Giant Spiders

Cons

• Strange Language Bug
• Lack of “True” Gameplay
• Some Mildly Confusing Puzzles

The Mooseman was developed by Vladimir Beletsky in conjunction with Mikhail Shvachko and published by Sometimes You. It launched on PC in 2017, as well as NS, PS4, and X1 on July 18th, 2018 for $6.99. The game was  provided to us for review on PS4 and X1. If you’d like to see more of The Mooseman, check out the official site.

 

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