Moon starts slow, but is very difficult to get through, and it won't let you know from which direction you've been hit. © Mastiff.

Moon for the Nintendo DS; Publisher: Mastiff; Developer: Renegade Kid; Release Date: January 13, 2009; ESRB Rating: T for teen; Genre: first-person shooter; Players: 1; Support: N/A; Online: N/A

Traditionally, the absolute best way to control a first-person shooter is with a mouse and keyboard. But if you're playing on a console and you're unable to use a mouse and keyboard, then the most widely accepted "next best thing" is a set of analog sticks. I beg to differ, although analog sticks are very useful among non-PC first-person shooters. For me, the next best thing to a mouse and keyboard is the DS touch screen and stylus. Not many shooters have been released on Nintendo's portable meal ticket, but the ones that have been released have turned out to be, as Frank West would say, "Fantastic!" Metroid Prime: Hunters is a perfect example of a good first-person shooter for the DS and let's not forget that Call of Duty 4, Call of Duty: World at War and Dementium: The Ward for the DS have all turned out to be really good titles. Now, from the same guys that created Dementium comes a new shooter for the DS called Moon.

It's the year 2058 and you play as Major Edward Kane. The U.S. has set up a research facility on the surface of the moon and during one of the excavation missions, they discovered a sealed hatch with unknown markings. After prying the hatch open, a bunch of cadets go missing and soon Major Kane plunges into the hatch to see what is going on. Aiming is done by sliding the stylus across the touch screen and moving is done with the cross-pad. As Kane ventures through the underground alien structure, he stumbles upon a strange glowing substance that absorbs into his body through his suit, which makes him feel stronger.

Going against conventional first-person shooter wisdom, Moon takes full advantage of the DS touch screen and stylus.

Aiming is quick and responsive with the stylus and touch screen and also requires some skill as some guns will recoil. The game starts off pretty slow at first; you're basically just shooting small droids with a pretty boring rifle. Soon after, you pick up a droid of your own that allows you to access areas you weren't able to before. This adds a little bit of a puzzle-solving element to the game. You then start finding additional weapons such as a pistol and a sniper rifle. Moon is actually not all shooting; later in the game you take control of a land vehicle with a mounted gun called the LOLA; the camera then backs out to a third-person view so you can better see what is going on when driving.

The music is creepy and fits pretty well in the game without being annoying. Graphically, the animation is smooth, which like I always say, is extremely essential to any first-person shooter. The visuals are good but could use a little variation due to almost every enemy being a robot of some sort. The difficulty of Moon is no joke; this one is tough and requires some serious FPS skill. As I said before, the first weapon you get is pretty weak, but the weapons you find later make it so much more fun to blow stuff up. The only gripe I have about Moon is the fact that there is no damage direction indicator; in a traditional FPS when you get hit, an arrow appears to tell you what side you got hit from. When you get hit in Moon, the whole frame of the screen just flashes red so you just have to figure it out for yourself. Also, there are no multiplayer options. Otherwise, Moon is a perfect example of just how awesome a first-person shooter can be on the DS.

Peter Rizkalla is a life long enthusiast of videogames and the videogame industry. He has been writing freelance for the game industry for over two years and has worked in various videogame companies such as THQ, Namco and 2K Games. Peter also avidly attends many game conferences and events and can be reached at PRizkalla@gmail.com.