Deliver Us Mars: release date, Deliver Us The Moon sequel explained, gameplay, price - and trailer

A new video game looks to take players to the Red Planet, though maybe not in the “one small step for man” sense that many may expect.

Instead, in Deliver Us Mars, you’re sent to the Red Planet to retrieve important tech that could save humanity, reversing climate change on a desolate Earth and preventing a similar fate for humanity on its colonised otherworlds.

Along the way, you’ll come across tough puzzles, as you navigate a rusting colony hammered by dust storms, exploring what remains and uncovering the mystery of the outpost’s previous inhabitants.

It looks to be an excellent adventure in all respects, and though the game isn’t receiving the same hype a huge blockbuster release might see, Deliver Us Mars looks to be a mid-size virtual experience worth diving into. Here is everything you need to know about it.

What is Deliver Us Mars?

Deliver Us Mars is the sequel to space-set adventure-puzzle title Deliver Us The Moon, first self-released in 2018 by Dutch studio KeokeN Interactive. In that game - a science fiction thriller set in an apocalyptic near future - you played as a lone astronaut, sent to the moon on a mission to avert humanity’s fate towards extinction after Earth’s natural resources have been depleted.

The sequel is set ten years after the events of the first game, and features new protagonist Kathy Johannson. Johnson was mentioned as a child in recordings in the first game, creating a narrative bridge between the two, and Deliver Us Mars picks up as she reactivates her companion robot after an apparent ship crash on a semi-colonised red planet.

She’s been sent there to retrieve the ARKs, powerful vessels that contain the technology to reverse climate change. But things get complicated after she discovers that her long-lost father, Isaac, may still be alive on Mars. To find him and retrieve the ARKs, players will ascend the red cliffs of Mars, solve puzzles and explore in zero-G as they uncover the mystery of what happened to the planet’s previous inhabitants.

Like its predecessor, Deliver Us Mars is a narrative-driven game, featuring exploration and puzzle solving among some action-packed set pieces as you work your way through the story.

The trailer shows Kathy jumping between crumbling platforms high above the dusty surface of Mars, and using her trusty ice picks - gifted to her by her father as a child - to clamber up the sides of vast, rusting (space)shipwrecks.

“Players will enjoy precision-based climbing mechanics that evoke classic action-platformer games,” say the developers, “as well as a set piece-style approach to puzzle design that builds in challenge over the course of the game.”

The first game received some glowing reviews, and was particularly warmly welcomed as an almost out-of-nowhere indie-game with big, space-faring ambitions. It was particularly praised for its atmospheric sound design, which won the game awards nominations.

Deliver Us Mars, this time overseen by Cambridge-based studio Frontier Developments alongside KeokeN Interactive, looks to expand on the scale of the first game, and with improved visuals - and from what we’ve seen, an increased budget - it’s looking very promising.

It’s being described as a “standalone sequel” by its developers, suggesting that players won’t need to have played the first game or revise on the ins and outs of its story to enjoy the new entry fully.

When can I play it?

Deliver Us Mars was released on Thursday 2 February 2023. It is available on PC (through both the Epic Games Store and Steam PC storefronts), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

Deliver Us Mars will be available on all platforms for £24.99. The PC-only Deluxe Edition - featuring the base game and the original soundtrack - will be available for £29.99.