While the DS may be the most popular system to grace our lifetimes, the success has not guaranteed that all types of games are catered for as generously as others. Specifically, technical shortcomings may be a reason for the distinct lack of high profile, handheld first-person shooters. Nintendo themselves gave us the multiplayer blast that was Metroid Prime: Hunters, but you'd have to look to smaller companies to grasp a wider spectrum of 3D shoot 'em ups. Renegade Kid have already produced the cult horror-FPS that was Dementium: The Ward, so does Moon provide an even more refined, high-quality experience?

An initial piece of advice is to not be duped into thinking that Moon is a dumb-as-nuts, Hollywood shooter with little depth. The blurb may appear to suggest a fairly light dilemma of the discovery of a strange hatch on our nearest natural satellite; and alien action predictably ensues. But credit must be given to the writing team where it becomes apparently due. Perhaps the most interesting thing about the whole experience is how layered the entire narrative is. We obviously won't spoil even any of the more subtle plot twists as part of the experience is unravelling the mystery for yourself, and you'll be doing that through examining the many log terminals throughout the game. If it's beginning to sound like a little more than inflection from the Metroid Prime series (which is no bad thing, obviously), this is only the beginning of the clear inspiration.

Ground control to Major Tom... uh, we mean Kane.

Control is what you've come to expect from a dual-screened FPS. The D-Pad controls movement forward and backward as well as the trusty strafe, while that friendly trigger is mapped to the L button (there's an option to flip this set-up for you lefties). Aiming is achieved by sliding the stylus across the touch screen, which is also where your weapon-list is mapped to. This is the only other action that the touch screen handles; markedly less than in Hunters, which eliminates virtually all chance of control-fumbling. The whole set-up feels splendidly intuitive and you'll be belting round corridors, blasting away alien scum with confidence in no time.

The action itself arrives early on and comes thick and fast throughout. As soon as you lay hands your hands on the trusty Super Assault Rifle in the first 'episode', you're dropped in the deep-end with the hoards of sentry drones, androids and turrets baying for your blood. While there isn't too much variation on the enemy types, you will gather a veritable smorgasbord of exotic weaponry to keep those fire fights feeling fresh. The combat is also punctuated by segments involving riding a moon buggy around the surface and navigating your Remote Access Droid around tough-to-reach areas. The former parts offer little more than essentially an obstacle course with mines and turrets dotted about, but taking control of the RAD becomes essential to progressing through the alien structures much in the same way that the Morph Ball is in the home console Metroid Prime games. The little drone can even sniff out hidden artefacts which unlock bonus training missions.

Of course, an ambitious game with plenty of action on paper is nothing without a decent engine behind it, and that's exactly what Jools Watsham's team have crafted. Moon is powered by the Renegade Engine 2.0 – an updated build of the engine that powered the gory Dementium: The Ward. It would be something of an understatement to say that this game impresses on a technical level; you really need to experience the game in your hands to grasp how slick the action moves. While you rarely see too many enemies on screen, this design choice means Renegade Kid have given players a stunning 3D game – quite possibly the best-looking, 'true 3D' game on DS - without sacrificing the kinds of abstract geometry you'd come to expect from the sci-fi genre. All this wrapped up in a silky smooth frame rate that barely dips below 60fps, complimented with a genuinely ambitious score, some wonderfully moody CGI cut-scenes and even some neat voice acting. Without droning on too much about the technical side of things, kudos does need handing to the tiny, Texan company for getting the most out of the DS hardware, and then some.

Moon takes influence from titles such as Metroid, GoldenEye and Bioshock, as revealed by Jools Watsham in an N-E exclusive interview last year.

In fact, it's difficult to pin down any significant faults with Moon as a whole. It's not a particularly long game; veteran players might blast through the main campaign within five hours on the normal difficulty, but it will still pose a tough challenge with several deaths guaranteed throughout. Add in the hard mode and the extra missions waiting to be unlocked into the equation, and there are plenty more hours in another playthrough or two to be found. Perhaps the biggest missed opportunity is the absence of any multiplayer element. It's clear that an engrossing single-player experience was the chief priority here, and while Renegade Kid have more than achieved that, the fruity menu of weapons makes you wonder what could have been. A true competitor to Hunters? Don't bet against it; we just can't wait for the day Renegade Kid has a sequel for us, or maybe even a Wii instalment for the franchise.

But honestly dears, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Don't be fooled into any initial impressions that what we have here is in some way a dull, corridor shooter. Moon is so much more than a technical showpiece. It nails the Prime-inspired sci-fi atmosphere, but adds gigatonnes of nifty FPS action to give it its own originality. Renegade Kid have again proven that they have all the makings of being a highly creative development team, and we hope they reap all the success they deserve so we continue to see more high-quality projects.