Apollo 18: Mission to the Moon is a late nineties release from Artech. It is an extremely detailed space simulation game that relies very heavily on the gamer’s ability to follow intricate instructions to the letter. The Commodore 64 was home to the initial release of the game, but Ted Gruber Software reworked the game and released it for play on the personal computer running MS-DOS. If space simulation fans are willing to overlook the less-than-realistic flight dynamics of their spacecraft in this game, they may enjoy it.
However, players looking for a realistic flight experience will be disappointed, despite the many positive other details that Apollo 18 has to offer.
One of the ways in which Apollo 18 is probably a lot like piloting a real spacecraft is that there are a lot of details and precise timing is required when executing instructions. There are a lot of instructions, to the point that the entire game is pretty much doing what you are told, when you are told, perfectly. There is not a lot of free thought. Mission Control will issue commands, and if you do not follow them or hit a wrong button, the mission will fail. Presumably, this is to emulate the checklists and countdown
commands of an actual space launch. Every move an astronaut makes is logged and the appropriate responses to each action or issue are dictated from a team of scientists, astronauts, and important people on the ground.
While all of this sounds pretty mundane…and it can be…it is more grueling than it sounds. Often times the commands come at you pretty quickly and familiarity with the enormous number of buttons in the cockpit is a must for success. While it is not a joystick killing space shooter, it certainly keeps you on your toes and will challenge your brain. There is a minor amount of reflexive ability needed as far as finding the appropriate knobs, levers and gauges quickly, but Apollo 18 is mostly a head game.
Aside from that, the game does progress in difficulty. With each completed mission, the ensuing mission will become more difficult and must be performed a little bit quicker. It is sort of like the old game of Simon, where every round gets one move longer and gives you another chance to screw up. In this case, however, you will blow up if you screw up. So don’t.
