Moo Lander Review

Game: Moo Lander
Genre: Action, Adventure
System: Steam (Windows & macOS) (also on Xbox and PS4)
Developer|Publisher: The Sixth Hammer
Controller Support: Yes
Price: UK £14.49 | US $18.99 | EU € 17,59
Release Date: May 27th, 2022

Review code provided with many thanks to The Sixth Hammer

The Cow Gets its Turn

Cows are probably not the most prominent of animals when it comes to the video game sphere. Often confined to farming sims or sometimes used for comedic effect in retro classics like Earthworm Jim. But now the cow gets a game worthy of its strong proud stature and it comes in the form of Moo Lander.

Moo Lander is a 2D adventure with RPG elements, a Moo-troidvaina if you will. This title follows a familiar framework when it comes to this genre but with its beautiful graphical design and original premise, this is one game you will likely not forget anytime soon. 

Mooving Story 

The civilization known as Landers has been at war with the Anunaki and is losing their most precious resource, milk! Yes…you heard that right milk is used as an energy source to power all Lander tech. You play as a pilot with the last interstellar spaceship, tasked to uncover an ancient device which will provide your people with an infinite amount of milk and prevent the extinction of the Landers. After crash landing on the planet, you soon learn that the resident cows may also provide a solution to the milk crisis.

The story is brought to life thanks to some excellent voice acting from the pilot and the computer AI for your spaceship known as Hamilton. As you traverse these two will constantly communicate about the world you’re exploring the mission and of course the cows you discover. It’s a nice mix of humour but also heart that I couldn’t help but be sucked into despite its very unusual premise.

No Happy Cow

The gameplay is a nice mixture of level exploration, puzzle-solving, shooting enemies and taking on the cow bosses. The latter of which is easily the biggest highlight of the experience. These cows come in all shapes and designs. Some are skinny, some are armoured and all are pretty darn furious. Taking on these beasts was highly enjoyable with the formula constantly being mixed up. I did find myself having to repeat a lot of the cow fights over and over which is something that may not suit everyone looking for a more casual experience. But one thing is for sure, these conflicts are memorable and highly enjoyable.

When you’re not fighting cows you’re flying about in small caverns shooting at a variety of insect-like enemies and deadly foliage. You’ll pause every so often to find a switch for a locked door or complete a physics-based puzzle but none of this feels overdone or too taxing. The next angry cow is just around the corner. When it comes to combat your ship has three key features which are easy to access.

Weapons

You have a lethal weapon to take out the enemies in the game, a non-lethal weapon to stun enemies and cows and a shield to defend you against hazards. All the weapons are powered by milk which can be rejuvenated at points on the map. Various new weapons can be acquired in each category, each of which can be upgraded as you level up through the game. Shooting or dropping weapons can lack accuracy at times but I decided to put this down to them being powered by milk, a design feature I couldn’t help but warm to. 

Flying around in your flying saucer is comfortable and simple to pick up and play for all gamers. If the difficulty is a concern the game offers a wide variety of difficulty settings to suit your preferred tone, choose carefully though as this can’t be changed during the game. Abilities are unlocked at a steady pace. The game feels smoothly paced throughout its over 10 hours of run time. Mechanics don’t feel drawn out or overdone. It’s a formula that plays it kinda safe and familiar, yet easily the main draw of the experience is hunting down and taking on the angry cows. 

Best In Show

The hand-drawn artwork for the games is nothing short of stunning. With incredible detail to the level design and featuring some of the best-looking cows you have ever seen in a video game. Even if they are trying to kill you, one can’t help but stop and admire their beauty. It’s not just the cows, there are many insects and foliage to discover whose lore is explained thanks to Hamilton. But if this stuff doesn’t interest you it can be skipped. The soundtrack feels like it takes more of a backseat in the game but this is more than made up for thanks to the dialogue between Hamilton and the pilot. 

Added Multiplayer 

In addition to the campaign, a multiplayer mode is provided. Since I have no friends I was unable to put a lot of time into these modes but there are some features worth highlighting. Since friends or loved ones might not play the campaign the developers provide a handy quick tutorial which is brief and to the point to help most gamers jump into the experience.

There are 4 modes on offer featuring co-op modes where you take on hordes of enemies to competitive modes like cow football (soccer if you prefer). These modes harken back to the old gaming days where multiplayer featured prominently as an added on feature and it feels welcome to see here. Consider grabbing a loved one and saying ‘wanna play the best cow game ever?’ That might convince them to jump in. 

Conclusion – The Cow Flew Well Over the Moon

Moo Lander checks all the points for a good adventure game. One can argue that some of the shooting is not as tight as other space shooters. And the challenge from the cow bosses may be a little steep for some gamers. For me, the controls and pacing have just the right amount of challenge. I decided to rate Moo Lander higher because it just goes that one step beyond with its memorable premise and excellent art and story presentation. Moo Lander is a game that’s easily going to stick with me for some time. When I do come across someone that asks the important question ‘what’s the best video game with cows,’ I’ll know where to direct their attention. 

Final Verdict: Two Thumbs (or Hooves) Up

A free demo is available now on Steam to try this mootroidvania game for yourself. A Switch version is on the way in the near future.