Moonbase Alpha, NASA Launches Into The Steam-o-sphere

What kid didn’t want to be an astronaut at some point growing up? NASA sets out to bring that dream to life with Moonbase Alpha, on online multiplayer game the Space Agency has developed and released on the Steam network.
The game starts off with a fictional base on the south pole of the moon (you guessed it, named Moonbase Alpha). The base is damaged by an incoming meteorite in the opening cinematic, and it is your job to fix it. You and your friends, that is. Players must repair solar panels and restore the flow of oxygen to the base before it runs out, which as any seasoned space adventurer knows, would result in your death.

The first thing that hit me on booting the game up was the high production value of the game. The graphics are pretty impressive; it’s pretty easy to believe that you’re walking on the surface of another planet. The colors are vibrant, the textures are detailed, and the models are complicated. This is definitely not a B-list game, NASA didn’t go halfway with the game’s look.
The controls are a little tough to get used to; but I think that was by design. It is awkward to walk on the moon, I’m sure, and the control scheme reflects that. Turning and jumping feel sluggish, and you won’t be winning any land speed contests on the lunar surface. While it took some getting used to, anyone who has played a PC shooter should feel comfortable with the controls within a few minutes.
The game plays just as it’s intended to: an educational game. While the science content in the game is pretty light, it is obviously based on a realistic vision of what a NASA moon base would look like. The player uses real or at least realistic NASA tools to repair the moon base. It encourages people to work together as a team to complete tasks in an organized manner. The whole time I was playing, it really felt like being on the moon; more like a simulator than an action game.
Moonbase Alpha is really just a proof of concept to show that NASA can combine realistic content into an engaging multiplayer game with a modern game engine. If all goes well, they plan on moving forward to a massively multiplayer online game project. The MMO would require players to learn real-world engineering and tech skills to play. That’s a concept I find myself actually being a little excited about.
Halo is safe. So is just about every other popular game. Moonbase Alpha will not win game of the year. That being said, it is an interesting concept and one that I hope NASA continues. I like to see real-world skills intersect with good game design; and this has both.
Official Trailer: