Unearthing Mars 2: The Ancient War

Unearthing Mars 2: The Ancient War is a dynamic, first-person shooter whose action is set in an SF world (more specifically on the title Red Planet). The game offers a range of different missions and has been developed with virtual reality technology in mind. Winking Entertainment / Publishing (authors of the first part of Unearthing Mars, released in June 2017 and, interestingly, belonging to a completely different genre) is responsible for creating and publishing this title.

Plot

The player takes on the role of Unearthing Mars Deputy Commander, whose task is to uncover the secrets hidden in a fragment of Fobos - one of the two moons of Mars. Using a device called the Ark, our hero moves his consciousness in time, being given the opportunity to experience the events that in ancient times took place on Earth and the Red Planet.

Mechanics

In Unearthing Mars 2: The Ancient War we observe the action from first-person perspective. Most of the time the game resembles a classic rail-shooter. This means that our ability to explore locations is limited (we can do this, but the maps are small and there is almost nothing to look for on them), and the fun consists mainly of eliminating subsequent waves of enemies.

The title offers several different maps. During the game we can shoot various weapons (e.g. Plasma Beam Cannon or Laster Chain Gun), as well as use special skills that add a little more depth to the gameplay - they enable us to eliminate extremely dangerous opponents or attack whole groups of enemies.

From time to time we have to face a powerful boss - a general of the enemy army. Clashes of this type are extremely difficult, requiring true mastery of weapons and abilities. We also have the possibility of slowing down time for a short moment. Importantly, many enemies have specific weak points - by hitting them we deal much more damage.

Unearthing Mars 2: The Ancient War controls use motion tracking technology and allows us to, among other things, avoid missiles by leaning.

Game modes

Unearthing Mars 2: The Ancient War can only be played solo. The creators did not prepare any multiplayer mode.

Technical aspects

Unearthing Mars 2: The Ancient War boasts decent three-dimensional graphics. Locations and character models have been competently designed and lighting and shading systems are doing their job well. Also noteworthy is the artistic style, taking full advantage of the stylistics characteristic for the science fiction genre.

Winking Entertainment's game supports VR technology and the PC version is compatible with HTC Vive and Oculus Rift goggles and their dedicated controllers. The PlayStation 4 release uses the potential of the PlayStation VR helmet and the Aim controller (we can also play on a gamepad, but this is not an optimal solution).

Importantly, in all cases, this equipment is required for operation (the game does not have a traditional mode to play on a TV or monitor).

Last updated on 20 February 2019