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[SF Kosmo]

Moose Life
by Llamasoft Ltd.
Release Date: Aug 12, 2020 (Steam)
MSRP: TBD

Platforms: PC (Non-VR, Oculus Rift, and Steam VR)
Oculus Quest (future)

So what is Moose Life?

From Steam:

Moose Life is a trippy, psychedelic trance shooter. Created in the style of a 1980s arcade game, Moose Life offers you an exhilarating ride into the trance zone.
Spectacular shooty action and a top techno soundtrack will raise your mood. If you have VR, immerse yourself for greater satisfaction.

Moose Life is the latest psychedelic trance shooter from Jeff "Yak" Minter and Llamasoft, the developers of the
Tempest 2000 and Gridrunner series, as well as cult classics like Polybius and Space Giraffe. Like those games
it pairs over-the-top shooter action with trippy, colorful visuals and electronic music. If you've never experienced
a Llamasoft title, sensory overload is the order of the day.

This is Llamasoft's first new title since 2018's Minotaur Arcade Vol. 1, a two-game bundle of newly remixed,
VR-enabled versions of Gridrunner and GoatUp. Moose Life began as the "b-side" of a new Minotaur Arcade
collection, but after some development, Minter and Zorzin felt the game was too good to be buried in a
compilation and deserved a stand-alone release.

This will be the third officially-released title from Llamasoft to support VR, following Polybius and Minotaur
Arcade. VR is not required to play, and features the same controller-based gameplay, but amps up the
game's psychedelic effect. Unlike most of Minter's recent titles, which run on the Neon Engine,
Moose Life is powered by the same Voxel-based engine used by Minotaur Arcade. It serves up chunky
voxel sprites and garrish early 80s arcade vibes, underscored by a thumping techno soundtrack.

Black Mirror: Bandersnatch star Jeff "Yak" Minter

Trailer

Screenshots

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is it supposed to look like that?
A: Yes

Q: I have no idea what's going on.
A: That's not a question, but give it time. Minter's games are a lot and they rely on audio cues and patterns as well as visuals.
It can take a few hours to "click"

Q: Do I need VR to play this?
A: VR is supported and will enhance the visual experience, but the game plays identically with or without VR.

Q: Do I need drugs to play this?
A: Drugs are supported and will enhance the visual experience, but the game plays identically with or without drugs.

Q: This game looks really retro, does it really require a GeForce 960?
A: No, only for VR. It should run on a potato, but Llamasoft doesn't do outside testing so there's a limited range they can guarantee.

Look Who's Playing

Jeff Gertmann streamed it on launch day


Jonathan Blow has been obsessed with the game, and has even taken to the top spot on the leaderboards.

​

 

[SF Kosmo]

Anyone from the Polybius thread still alive? Hissing Sid DunDunDunpachi nowhat

 

[nowhat]

Anyone from the Polybius thread still alive? Hissing Sid DunDunDunpachi nowhat

Am I alive? *checks pulse* Something keeps ticking, I guess that's a yes. But I won't be trying this just yet, haven't had a gaming PC in ages. Don't have a VR set currently either - hopefully PSVR 2 will be a thing soon-ish and this will get a port.

 

[Laconian Sword]

It's like a Canadian version of Rez, eh!

 

[SF Kosmo]

Am I alive? *checks pulse* Something keeps ticking, I guess that's a yes. But I won't be trying this just yet, haven't had a gaming PC in ages. Don't have a VR set currently either - hopefully PSVR 2 will be a thing soon-ish and this will get a port.

Allegedly they've been having a tough time contacting whoever they need to in order to make PS4/PSVR happen. This runs on the same engine as MAV1, so a port should be easy, but it's more on the business end that they're having problems.

I gather Llamasoft are very bad at the business and marketing end of this whole thing. Polybius made like no money, and that was with a fair bit of hype and a NIN music video behind them. This one was "announced" like two weeks before release and I don't think anyone has noticed.

It's a shame because actually, I think MA Gridrunner and Polybius might be the best games Llamasoft has ever done. Maybe because VR is such a good fit for their trippy sort of thing, but also I think they're just at the top of their game.

 

[Come On Tars]

Is being high a requirement cus I can’t see shit

 

[jshackles]

This looks like quite the experience.

Is being high a requirement cus I can’t see shit

 

[SF Kosmo]

Is being high a requirement cus I can’t see shit

It's recommended, yes.

These games kind of ramp up slowly until they're just complete chaos and you can't believe you can even make out what's going on. Sound cues are as important as visual in all the madness. They're, as a rule, a bit of an acquired taste, but once they click, they're glorious.

 

[nowhat]

I gather Llamasoft are very bad at the business and marketing end of this whole thing

Jeff Minter is definitely one of the good guys. When he realized he couldn't compete with the F2P games in Apple's App Store, instead of hopping aboard the MTX train he quit mobile games altogether. There are some Android ports still available for free (there's one PC download there as well) - the usual caveats about installing APKs from unknown sources apply. "Goat Up" is a personal favourite of mine.

But yeah, he/LLamasoft don't seem to be that business-oriented. Hopefully the PSVR situation gets worked out.

 

[SirTerry-T]

God bless you Jeff. "Indy" since day one of this equal parts, stupid, glorious and fantastic hobby.

 

[SF Kosmo]

Jeff Minter is definitely one of the good guys. When he realized he couldn't compete with the F2P games in Apple's App Store, instead of hopping aboard the MTX train he quit mobile games altogether. There are some Android ports still available for free (there's one PC download there as well) - the usual caveats about installing APKs from unknown sources apply. "Goat Up" is a personal favourite of mine.

Did you play Minotaur Arcade? It was meant as an effort to "rescue" the iOS games from being lost but the result was more remakes/sequel than ports, including Goat Up. They were working on Super Ox Wars, but dropped it once they got excited about how Moose Life was shaping up.

 

[nowhat]

Did you play Minotaur Arcade?

I... was not aware of it existing. And also being on PS4. Thanks for the tip, bought and downloaded.

 

[digital_ghost]

 

[SF Kosmo]

Bump for launch. This came out a couple days ago, and is very good! I like it more than Polybius, even, especially in VR.

I've updated the OP with some streams and a Q&A.

 

[SF Kosmo]

Moose Life is out now on Playstation 4/5 and PSVR.