Jeff Minter's latest psychedelic arcade shooter Moose Life comes to PC in August
And there's VR support too.
Moose Life, the latest psychedelic trance shooter from legendary game designer Jeff Minter and his studio Llamasoft, will be making its way to PC on 12th August.
Moose Life promises to deliver "spectacular shooty action and a top techno soundtrack" created in the style of a 1980s arcade game, and, as its newly launched Steam page explains, it's "specifically engineered to take you to a happy, tranced-out pleasure zone full of deer and mushrooms". To that end, players are cast in the role of a rainbow voxel deer as they fly ceaselessly into the screen, battling to rescue tiny sheep from enemy spaceships.
"Glowing stags will stream past your ears as you deploy the mighty 'Stag Party' weapon that turns entire screensful of enemies into harmless, grateful deer," says Llamasoft. "You'll smile. You might exclaim when a particularly lovely explosion blossoms nearby, or when the trip starts to kick in as you traverse the mushroom-strewn planes. You will feel lovely."
Moose Life will feature two high-score-chasing challenge modes with leaderboards and Achievements. There's Normal Mode, enabling players to dip into any part of the experience they've completed previously, and there's Pure Mode, which demands they start from the beginning each time. Additionally, those that merely want to hop in and zone out can play Free Ride mode, which does away with the stresses of scoring and limited lives.
Furthermore, those of a strong stomach and sturdy disposition can strap on a headset and play in VR (Polybius made great use of the technology, but, boy, was it intense), and Minter notes that doing so "makes the mood-enhancing, euphoric nature of our games even more effective".
Moose Life comes to Steam on 12th August, and you can get a glimpse of its frenzied action in the chaotic VR gameplay video above.