Incoming Lunar Strike targeting PC and consoles

• Announcements by Jack Allin
• Published:

Third-person "hard science" sci-fi adventure on the moon blends exploration and realistic survival mechanics

A title like Lunar Strike might sound more like an arcade Asteroids spin-off, but it's actually an upcoming exploratory sci-fi adventure game by indie developer Cognition Europe.

The year is 2119, and the last of mankind's lunar colonies at the south pole is now facing a "sudden and catastrophic threat from above." In order to document humanity's presence there, a junior "tech-augmented archivist" is sent to the station to scan and preserve "scientific, cultural, and personal records ... before its inevitable collapse and destruction." It seems like a straightforward mission, but the moon "doesn't do easy," and when "sabotage destabilizes the colony, the task shifts to survival under real lunar conditions ... while deciding what knowledge and memory must endure." As you navigate the rapidly "deteriorating base in lunar gravity," it's up to you to "prioritise what real-world historical space artefacts are saved, and what is lost forever." 

While based in "speculative fiction," Lunar Strike is "inspired by real-life heritage efforts" and "grounded in hard science" in consultation with actual space researchers. Its realistic third-person 3D art style reflects the attention to detail in its similarly "realistic systems and hazards, including orbital dynamics and applied astrophysics, 1/6th lunar gravity, toxic moon dust, and real-world physics." There will be no combat but plenty of potential danger, requiring you to "manage oxygen, suit energy, and habitat systems under lunar constraints." To complete your mission you'll use "archival scanning tools [to] recover, analyze, and prioritize data" both personal and professional. At times you may even need to think like a detective in order to forensically reconstruct crime scenes from what you uncover. It's up to you how the story plays out, as you'll face "increasingly difficult challenges to build and preserve the archive, with multiple outcomes driven by [your] decisions and values." As you wrestle with "ethical questions of legacy, memory, and responsibility," the "multi-faceted narrative" will branch and shape the colony’s legacy according to what you choose to keep or discard.

No launch date has yet been announced, but Lunar Strike is "coming soon" to Steam for Windows PC, along with console versions for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.