Mayday! Deep Space

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Mayday! Deep Space
Mayday! Deep Space (logo).png
Developer(s) Daniel Wilson
Publisher(s) Iron Cloud Entertainment
Platform(s) iOS
ReleaseJanuary 7, 2015
Genre(s) Science fiction
Mode(s) Single player

Mayday! Deep Space is a science fiction video game created by developer Daniel Wilson and published by Iron Cloud Entertainment on January 7, 2015. [1] [2] In the game, the player must use simple voice commands to instruct a man who is stuck on a spaceship full of monsters. [3] As of May 2016, the game is available on the Apple App Store, [4] and an Android version is in development. [5]

Contents

The game follows the story of an unnamed man, who is stranded on a space ship after the rest of the ship's crew members were mysteriously killed while the man was asleep. The player's role is to guide the man, and keep him alive using commands to tell him what to do.

Mayday! Deep Space generally received mixed opinions from reviewers. Critics praised the voice commands and the unique way the game allowed the player to control the main character. The main criticism for the game was the lack of length, with only a total of forty minutes of gameplay.

Plot

The story begins as the player receives a call from a ship, which is named the USS Appaloosa. [3] The player discovers that a mysterious incident led to the massacre of all of the crew members onboard, bar one. After this, the game follows the sole survivor on the spacecraft, who was on a mission. [6] The goal of the game is to keep the man alive, by avoiding enemies and navigating him through passages and corridors on the ship. [7]

Gameplay

In the game, the main character is portrayed as a blue dot, whilst his enemies are shown as red. Mayday! Deep Space Screenshot.jpg
In the game, the main character is portrayed as a blue dot, whilst his enemies are shown as red.

In the game, the man is controlled by simple voice commands from the player, such as "go left", "run faster" and "stop". [8] However, touch controls are also available and can be used instead. [9] There are a total of five playable levels in the game. [10]

Mayday! Deep Space also includes a map on the device the game is being played on, which shows the current surroundings of the player. [11] On the map, the player is displayed as a blue dot, whilst his enemies are displayed as red dots. The game also contains environmental obstacles which must be avoided. [12]

Since the player is leading the man in the game, rather than controlling him, the game only gives partial control over the character. The man generally listens to the player, however, if the player too obviously tries to kill the man, he will not listen to commands. [12]

Reception

The game received mostly average to positive reviews from critics. [13] Many reviews found the use of voice commands to be unique and one of the highlights of the game as a whole. [1] [16] The Verge called the gameplay "simple and intuitive". [17] David Shimomura from Kill Screen praised the game for its pace and mood, and how the games makes the player want to protect the main character, and keep him safe. [8]

However, with only around forty minutes of gameplay, [15] the game was criticized by some reviews for its lack of length. [4]

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References

  1. 1 2 Nelson, Jared (2015-01-07). "'Mayday! Deep Space' is an Incredibly Unique Interactive Story that Uses Apple's Voice Recognition Technology". TouchArcade . Retrieved 2016-05-05.
  2. ↑ "Mayday! Deep space". Pocket Gamer. 7 January 2015. Retrieved 2016-05-05.
  3. 1 2 3 Cymet, Eli (2015-01-12). "Mayday! Deep Space Review: Siri, Where's the Nearest Airlock?". Gamezebo. Retrieved 2016-05-05.
  4. 1 2 3 Thomas, Rob (2015-02-10). "Mayday! Deep Space Review". www.148apps.com. Retrieved 2016-05-05.
  5. ↑ "Official Site of Mayday! Deep Space". www.maydayapps.com. Archived from the original on 2014-12-16. Retrieved 2016-05-05.
  6. ↑ "This creepy iOS game requires only your voice to play". The Daily Dot. 2015-01-08. Retrieved 2016-05-05.
  7. ↑ Mohan, Mark (2014-12-31). "'Mayday! Deep Space' is Portland author Daniel H. Wilson's newest, and most interactive, story". OregonLive.com. Retrieved 2016-05-05.
  8. 1 2 3 Shiomura, David (2015-01-21). "Mayday! Deep Space relies on the panic in your mind". Kill Screen. Retrieved 2016-05-05.
  9. ↑ Gil, Lory (2015-01-09). "Mayday! Deep Space review: talk your way out of danger in this stealth game". iDownloadBlog. Retrieved 2016-05-05.
  10. ↑ "'Robopocalypse' author releases Mayday! Deep Space voice-controlled survival game". AppAdvice. 8 January 2015. Retrieved 2016-05-05.
  11. ↑ Stark, Chelsea (9 January 2015). "Answer the call for help in this captivating iOS space adventure game". Mashable. Retrieved 2016-05-05.
  12. 1 2 "Mayday! Deep Space". Future of Storytelling. 2015-01-14. Retrieved 2016-05-05.
  13. 1 2 "Mayday! Deep Space". Metacritic . Retrieved 2016-05-05.
  14. ↑ "Mayday! Deep Space - Playing With The Power Of Your Voice - AppleNApps". AppleNApps. Retrieved June 5, 2016.
  15. 1 2 "Mayday! Deep space". gamer.nl. Archived from the original on 2016-04-10. Retrieved 2016-05-05.
  16. ↑ "Smooth operator: The voice-controlled Mayday! Deep Space is out on iOS right now". Pocket Tactics. Retrieved 2016-05-05.
  17. ↑ Webster, Andrew (January 7, 2015). "This game lets you help a stranded survivor using only your voice". The Verge. Retrieved June 5, 2016.
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