Hollow Moon BETA 3.0 Review

Hollow Moon is a single player UT2004 mod set in the never ending abyss where humanity is lost in the never ending silence. You are a lone heavy machinery engineer, lost in a moon research station without any human contact. You begin by searching the lunar landscape until you more or less 'accidentally' fall upon the gigantic moon research base. As you move slowly down into the base you see another human moving across the tunnels exit, only to loose him in your grasp.

What may come as a surprise to some, is the story which seems rather blank and missing, apart from the intro video you will on occasionally get a few snippets of whats going on, such as newspapers and posters. Many questions will be buzzing through your head as you play "Where am I? Who am ? What has happened here?" Some of these questions can be answered through reading about the mod, and yet there is still a lot left to question. Throughout the game you will find some old-fashioned radios, I would simply love to know what these are doing here!

Combat comes rarely and is generally quite simple, with no strategy or other weapons, combat is left feeling quite empty and just a simple button bash brawl.

Hollow Moon attempts to make a new artistic style, removing all sound effects what so ever from the mod, which leaves players completely devoid of any sound clues and making the player feel rather separated from the real world. But do not think that this leaves the player wanting for music, the mod boasts its superb music, which never stops or slows, only occasionally picking up speed and tone, making the player expecting to meet a hostile attack, yet it never comes, just yet.

Hollow Moon also deprives you from any colour (it is an art test after all) which may have been something new and interesting a few years ago, now seems rather bland and boring, just a hint of colours now and then would be a real treat. But this is not all bad, lighting and shadows become more contrasted and 'real' the darkness becomes more terrifying. Some may like this style, others though may not.

The HUD in Hollow Moon is again something quite different from what most people may be used to, a large portion of your screen is filled by the blank edges of your visor, here you can see your suit stability, health and stamina. Dirt and smudges fill the rest of your screen, and if you dare look into the light these smudges will be highlighted and you will loose even more of your precious visibility, this is an extremely neat feature.

The Level Design of these map is a real mix, at the begging the maps can really leave you begging for more, some areas can be extremely undetailed, using the same old UT2004 textures that every other map seems to use, whilst other areas of the mod can feel quite detailed and different. But what is really noticeable is the repetition of level style, every where feels rather the same and could really do with each level feeling slightly different. It is quite easy to get confused in the seemingly endless corridors and darkness, with every area ending with yet another door.

Pros:
- Fantastic music,
- Interesting style,
- Very cool HUD,
- A large-ish mod, lasting between 1 and 2 hours,
- Very easy to slip into the game,
- BETA, so updates should be expected.

Cons:
- No progression in story,
- Boring combat,
- Repetitive game play and level design.

Score:
7/10 - Any UT2004 owner should certainly play, but with no replay factor it will not keep you interested for long.