Was erwartet man von einem Tischtennis-Spiel für die virtuelle Realität? Vermutlich sollte die Kernkompetenz eines solchen Spiels in der akkuraten Darstellung der Bewegungen des Balles liegen, denn nur die richtige Physik macht das Spiel zu einem großartigen Erlebnis. Zudem könnten sicherlich unterschiedliche Modi nicht schaden und das Spielen gegen andere Menschen wäre wünschenswert. Doch kann VR Ping Pong diese Ansprüche erfüllen?
VR Ping Pong mit PSVR
Das Konzept von VR Ping Pong müssen wir sicherlich nicht erklären. Ihr nehmt wahlweise einen oder zwei PlayStation Move Controller, stellt euch an die Tischtennisplatte und startet das Spiel. Ihr habt die Wahl zwischen einem Training, einem Turnier, besonderen Herausforderungen und einem einzelnen Match. Auf einen Multiplayer-Modus haben die Entwickler leider verzichtet und deshalb müsst ihr mit der KI vorlieb nehmen. Zumindest lockern die Herausforderungen das Spiel aber etwas auf und bringen Elemente ins Spiel, die an einer herkömmlichen Tischtennisplatte nicht funktionieren würden. So verschwinden beispielsweise die Teile der Tischtennisplatte, die vom Ball getroffen worden. Wenn ein Spieler einen Punkt macht, dann wird die Platte wieder aufgefüllt. Der fehlende Multiplayer-Modus ist dennoch ein dickes Minus für das Spiel, denn es gibt bereits andere Tischtennisspiele für die HTC Vive und die Oculus Rift, die zeigen, dass Tischtennis mit Freunden viel mehr Spaß bereit.
Optik
Die Entwickler des Spiels setzen auf eine Retro-Optik, die sich aus kleinen Würfeln zusammensetzt. Prinzipiell sind wir auch Fans einer solchen Darstellung, doch dummerweise geht der Plan bei VR Ping Pong nicht so richtig auf. Irgendwie fehlt ein Hinweis darauf, warum wir in dieser Optik spielen und letztendlich scheint die Darstellung auch nicht sonderlich hilfreich für den Spieler zu sein. Auf uns wirkte die Gestaltung eher anstrengend und half uns nicht bei der Fokussierung auf das Wesentliche. Im Vergleich zu Paddle Up für die HTC Vive wirkt VR Ping Pong einfach nicht schlüssig und teilweise auch etwas billig.
Knockout League (2017) is a single-player, arcade-style boxing game that promises to get your heart pumping as you duck, block, and punch your way to victory. Harking back to NES classic Punch-Out!! (1987), you learn pretty quickly that a storm of punches—the moral equivalent of button-mashing—will get you nothing if you can’t time them correctly to your opponent’s repertoire of moves. So while Knockout League can’t promise what you might call “boxing sim” realism, it definitely delivers a lot of fun along with the stark realization that I clearly don’t get enough exercise.
Knockout League Details:
Developer: Grab Games Available On: Oculus Touch, HTC Vive (Oculus Home & Steam) Reviewed on: HTC Vive Release Date: January 24th, 2017
Note: This game is in Early Access which means the developers have deemed it incomplete and likely to see changes over time. This review is an assessment of the game’s current state, and will not receive a numerical score.
Gameplay
The game starts out with a simple training session that details all of the moves you need to know as you go against the 4 available opponents; Brazilian fighter ‘Tri-Tip’, warrior princess ‘Crimson Fang’, saber-wielding pirate ‘Scurvy Jones’, and posh English octopus ‘Sir Octopunch’.
Each of them has a signature power move that they unleash, oftentimes after you attempt a KO. Of course, taking one of these to the face can mean a near instant game over, but dodging a few punches afterwards thankfully lets you recoup your health automatically. You’ll know when you’re almost down for the count though, as each punch landed on your soft, baby face makes the world a little less colorful and also applies a ‘punch-drunk filter’ to further distort your vision.
The moment you time it just right though, and successfully dodge or block the move and deliver a series of counter blows, you really can’t help but feel like Rocky Balboa (the times he didn’t get beaten, obviously).
Knockout League reallyseems like its ready for prime time with its patently smooth scene modeling and character animations, but the paltry sum of only 4 AI opponents means you can complete the entire game in about an hour. This can be forgiven somewhat since it’s still in Early Access, and the developers have said they’ll be adding more unique opponents and additional game modes in the next 3-5 months. Hopefully it will be enough time to add more features, because as it stands currently, there isn’t any type of spendable in-game currency or any other customization options outside of picking your own name.
That said, this is one of those games you’ll force on your friends and family to try, because while definitely a shorter experience, it’s something that is sure to get plenty of laughs while testing the aerobic ability of everyone involved. Playing through each boss is certainly a workout, one that left me heaving a little more than I rightly should.
Immersion
Since this isn’t a boxing simulator, you should know there’s a few limitations put on you from the very beginning. Firstly, don’t think that you can back away from a punch in Knockout League or use the whole ring’s space to your advantage, because the game only provides you with about a square meter of space to move in—and that’s regardless of how large your room-scale setup can manage. Leaving this pre-set area will pause the game, so this forces you to actively engage your opponent in a few ways that the AI can react to, necessitating ducking and moving either to left or right of punches instead of instinctively backing up.
Fights are forward-facing, so besides ducking and moving out of the way of punches, you’ll have to block too. This wasn’t exactly my strong suit, as I could rarely activate a block in time. I couldn’t really tell if it was my fault, or the fault of the game, because quickly bringing my hands up to cover my face and activating the split-second blocking mechanic usually resulted in a smack to the jaw. I quickly learned to block though on the last boss, Sir Octopunch, because he would toss multiple impossible-to-dodge, boxing-glove clad tentacles at a time.
Punching, like in Punch-out!! is extremely mechanical, and relies purely on your ability to find out when the AI opponent is vulnerable—usually before a signature powermove, leaving them wide open to a sock right in the kisser. This, again, is another time when you have to abandon your real world expectations of fighting. There was zero reaction because I didn’t punch at the AI’s specified time, even when opponents seemed vulnerable and I clearly landed punches to an unprotected spot like the stomach or the head. Knockout League is an arcade-style game, so you’ll have to train your reptile brain to accept all of that as the punches fly.
Comfort
There is no artificial locomotion in Knockout League, meaning there’s little chance that you’ll feel any different from walking around in the real world. This makes this, and games like this, an exceedingly comfortable experience to play for extended amounts of time.
Through no fault of its own, Knockout League can get your VR headset a little sweaty after a while, so if you’re seriously thinking of playing the game for more than 15 minutes, you should consider some sort of removable cover to protect your headset’s facial interface from absorbing your smelly, bacteria-laced face goo. Both Best Buy and individual sellers on Amazon offer suitable solutions should you want to stop living like a grease-faced ham demon.
Summary
While still in Early Access, and in need of more features, opponents, and general customization to bolster replay value, ‘Knockout League’ is by far the most fun you’ll have getting punched in the face. The game’s art direction and atmosphere is extremely competent and the opponents movements, although necessarily predictable, give you quite a workout. There’s no denying the game’s charm as it harks back to arcade boxing days of old.
This game is in Early Access which means the developers have deemed it incomplete and likely to see changes over time. This review is an assessment of the game’s current state, and will not receive a numerical score.
At its core Racket: Nx is a game about a racket, a ball, and a futuristic dome. Players will come to love all three: the thwack of a good hit; the sweeps and whooshes of a ball whizzing overhead; the pop and fizz of particles as a target is hit sweetly right in the centre. Here comes the ball again… line yourself up and take the next shot. It succeeds in making you feel like an heroic player as you unleash fierce volleys and subtle dinks.
We have written about Racket: Nx a couple of times before. Now, launched today into Early Access on Steam, (ahead of an anticipated late 2017 full release) we have a chance to revisit the latest version, this time with the much anticipated multiplayer support enabled.
Gameplay
I’ll cut right to the chase: the multiplayer is a blast. Fast, fun, satisfying and guaranteed to bring out the competitive streak in anybody. The avatars are really expressive—I’m going to go with ‘Alien Lizard Robot with Sound Activated Brain’ as the best descriptor here—so you can see the effect of play on your opponent as they lunge for a fast moving ball or pull off an impossible seeming back hand while the integrated chat makes sure you’ll hear every grunt and curse as play progresses. And there will be cursing, believe me.
Unfortunately, due to a last minute issue, it looks like Racket: Nx will launch with a small bug that sometimes hangs the game when you opt for a rematch. Exiting back to Steam and restarting the game gets it working again. It’s the only blight on an otherwise very impressive Early Access debut, and hopefully can be resolved soon.
In the multiplayer mode the arena moves through a set number of waves and, at the end of the final wave, the player with the highest score takes the win. Each wave features a different set of target types all around the players and offers a unique challenge. Every point you score takes a point away from your opponent, and vice versa, so there’s a lovely tug-of-war aspect at play here after you both start with 50 points. You will take it in turns to strike the ball, whose excellent and very satisfying physics haven’t lost anything in the months of tweaking since the demo.
Each time the ball hits the wall surrounding the arena it will change colour, alternating between your colour and your opponent’s, and will then return towards the appropriate player with the angle and speed determined by the previous shot. In this way you can make life difficult for the opposition simply by applying excessive power to a shot or ensuring the ball will return from an unfavourable angle. If they miss their shot the ball will pass them by, hit the wall, and then it will be your turn again and they just lost a chance to put points on the board.
In essence when you strike the ball its trajectory feels real, controllable, and believable. When the ball is returning, however, it’s more game-like as it homes in on the next player and you really feel like you’re inside a futuristic sport arena playing hyper-Squash.
There is a welcome element of gamesmanship and far deeper tactical play than I was expecting, in terms of shot selection and thinking a few hits ahead and taking advantage of a slip (literal or figurative) from your opponent. Added to this, the game features power-ups: cells that require multiple hits to break down with the player that lands that final shot reaping a bonus, warp cells that suck the ball in and spit it out randomly through another warp point, hit streaks, moving targets, and the ability to angle your shot just so and see it slide across multiple cells thus raking in the points; and later on there are negative cells that drain your score….
At time’s it’s breathless entertainment, and a good rally will have you laughing at the sheer thrill of it all. It feels very pure, very old school, and very polished. For a game in the vanguard of the initial VR wave—embracing the most modern gaming tech—in the hands, it whisks you back to playgrounds and simpler times.
After spending an hour in the new multiplayer mode with developer One Hamsa’s Community Director Carsten Boserup (and despite being heavily beaten by Carsten in every game we played) I had a great time. As the matches ebbed and flowed I did occasionally find a flurry of good form that felt very rewarding.
One Hamsa describe this as a VR Sport game, and they want player skill and ability to be front and centre. It’s easy to see how, with regular play, I could evolve and improve as a player to the point where I would be far more competitive, as with any “real” sport.
Despite an hour of energetic but friendly competition, the game didn’t leave me exhausted. Obviously a lot will depend on your individual build, level of fitness, style of play and what you want out of the game. Those simply looking for a fun sports game can just play it in a more relaxed way. Those looking for a moderate workout, or as a way to burn some calories, can play it more energetically.
No matter how you game, you will want to make sure your play area is sufficiently spacious and clear. I’m quite tall, with a long reach, and was conscious at all times that a sudden lunge or desperate swing could end in disaster. Equally, it’s all too easy to potentially get caught up in the trailing cables if you’re not careful. By now most VR gamers are accustomed to this but newer players will want to take extra care.
The ‘Alien Lizard Robot with Sound Activated Brain’ avatars actually fit fairly well within the feel of the game.
On the single player side there is a Solo mode featuring five challenges, each of which has a different and escalating combination of waves to master. This is a great mode in its own right, and very difficult to beat, but also acts as a primer for the multiplayer. The enemy here is the clock, as you fight against time to clear each wave, making just a little more progress each time.
When playing solo you can squeeze the trigger to change the ball’s trajectory by attracting it to the racket like a magnet, and the risk here is that the ball can shatter your racket if you don’t release the trigger in time, costing vital seconds as it regenerates. The reward is that you can potentially set up some crucial shots that keep you in the game.
There’s also an Arcade mode offering infinite play against the clock, but the Custom mode (whereby you can build and share your own set of waves) is currently unavailable, clearly intended for a later version.
Racket: Nx is available via Steam for the HTC Vive initially, though the developer has confirmed to Road to VR that they plan to add Rift and Touch support later this year. Though there isn’t yet “official” support, apparently people have been able to play it on the Rift through SteamVR, but I’d advise waiting a while to see the extent to which it’s playable in this way (as the game is built for 360 tracking, which not everyone with Touch has). As we move through the three planned quarterly Early Access updates (with tweaks and hotfixes as necessary in between) One Hamsa’s feature and post-Vive plans should become clearer.
It’s in those plans that the potential of Early Access could be maximised. While the developers have their own vision of where they want to take the game in the coming months, they are very much looking to the community to help shape their priorities and suggest new avenues that the game might explore. Modding is potentially on the table if there’s enough interest, and—given its Unity underpinnings and presence on the Steam platform—I’m certain there would be no shortage of people keen to experiment.
It’s a shame we have to wait until the end of the year for the finished article then, but there’s already enough here to warrant your consideration if you enjoyed the demo (available for free on the game’s Steam page), and the promise of more to come.
At $20—a price that will likely rise throughout the year as features are added—it falls into what we might consider the lower middle tier of VR pricing. Some people might baulk at the value proposition, and on the face of it there are cheaper VR experiences, but in a dollar-per-hour analysis there is a lot of potential play to be had in the game and the production values are above the norm.
Most of you will know from trying the demo whether this floats your boat, and whether it’s worth twenty bucks to you or not. If it is, I hope to see you in the multiplayer. I’ll be the tall British guy with the insane power shot who is slowly improving, match after match.
Immersion
The whole package is presented neatly with a front end that smoothly moves between modes, builds up the 360 arena around you at the start of each match and explodes it away at the end. The sense of presence is excellent and the sound is clear and precise, which lends an air of believability to the notion that you’re bounding a futuristic ball off of futuristic walls using a futuristic racket.
It’s not Discs of Tron (1983), but it is very much like being in the Tron universe. Everything seems very real and solid, from the game world to the simple act of hitting the ball.
Comfort
The fact that you are always located in the same position whether selecting options or playing the game means that comfort is excellent throughout. You are always in control in how you move in your play area and where you look; the only discomfort might come from the act of exercise itself, as it’s all too possible to wind up for a really big hit and overstretch yourself if you’re not careful.
You’ll want to make sure your play space is on the upper end of recommendations. Don’t play this if your ceiling is low or there are walls close to the edge of your play area unless you can be very disciplined in your movement.
The whole experience is so comfortable that spending a lot of time in the game is very pleasant—at least until the warmer weather arrives, at which point you’d better have air-conditioning or things are going to get very sweaty very quickly.
We partnered with AVA Direct to create the Exemplar 2 Ultimate, our high-end VR hardware reference point against which we perform our tests and reviews. Exemplar 2 is designed to push virtual reality experiences above and beyond what’s possible with systems built to lesser recommended VR specifications.
Summary
In Racket: Nx the HTC Vive can claim another worthy roomscale experience. It feels like a real sport, and when you’re in there everything else just fades into the background as you find yourself in the zone trying to beat your previous performances or the opponent standing opposite you. Time will tell how much One Hamsa can evolve and broaden the experience throughout its Early Access run, but what we have here is a very impressive beginning. Even if you’re not quite ready to jump in now, this is one to watch.
This game is in Early Access which means the developers have deemed it incomplete and likely to see changes over time. This review is an assessment of the game’s current state, and will not receive a numerical score.
Ninja Theory is a well-known AAA game development studio responsible for marquee games like DmC: Devil May Cry, as well as cult classics such as Enslaved: Odyssey to the West and Heavenly Sword. With their big, forthcoming follow-up to Heavenly Sword on the horizon, simply known as Hellblade, Ninja Theory have also released their first completed VR project as a surprise: DEXED.
Born from an internal game jam at the Ninja Theory studio, DEXED is a modern re-interpretation of the classic on-rails shooter genre, heavily inspired by Panzer Dragoon and Ikaruga. Using a “paint to target” mechanic similar to those games, DEXED puts you in VR through the HTC Vive and turns each motion controller into an elemental projectile blaster. What ensues is part puzzle game and part shooter, which adds up to a fun, albeit brief, experiment.
When we originally caught wind of the game’s release, we were (along with the rest of the world) caught a bit off guard. Instead of investing resources into a big VR project for Rift, Vive, and PS VR to kickstart the new medium, the studio opted for a smaller, experimental game. There is a lot of potential with this concept, even if much of it is lost in the earnestness to complete the tiny project.
The entire game consists of four base levels — a jungle, an underwater level, a fire level, and a snow level — climaxing in a boss battle against a menacing octopus. Throughout the experience, the controls remain simple: one hand shoots ice crystals and the other shoots fire bolts. You hold the trigger and paint the corresponding hand’s cursor over enemies of the opposing element, then let go once you’ve marked several to shoot them all. For example, I would hold the trigger on my ice controller, paint the fire enemies, then let go, and the bolts all home in on the marked targets.
You can also cancel targets if you mark the wrong type, because if you do accidentally hit the wrong type, they’ll fire back. Getting hit by fire will “burn” your score, causing it to decrease over time, whereas getting hit with ice will “freeze” your score, preventing you from gaining any points. Since each level takes place on a rail, with a steady pace that can’t be altered, each and every enemy you miss are massive missed opportunities to build your score multiplier.
The stages each have three difficulty levels (Easy, Medium, and Hard) and only last around 5 minutes each, totaling anywhere from 20-30 minutes of content. There is a leaderboard showing both Global and Friend rankings, so you have plenty incentive to keep trying levels to get better.
It’s a simple game that accomplishes its purpose well and the stages are all strikingly beautiful to behold. It would have been nice if there was an option to just stop and look around, or a fly-through mode to explore the worlds in more detail. I’d have enjoyed a Zen mode as well, without enemies, to just enjoy the scenery and music. Nothing like that exists right now.
There is also a ton of room for improvement and iteration on this concept, with different enemy types, more elements, and potentially more diverse gameplay options. Combining these mechanics with a more open world design, or the ability to freely explore, would dramatically open up opportunities. But what we have at this moment is nothing more than a simple experiment.
Final Score:7/10 – Good
DEXED by Ninja Theory is a fun on-rails shooter that brings back a classic gameplay mechanic tasking you with targeting enemies as you pass them by to rack up points. There are only a handful of levels and it takes just around 30 minutes to play the entire game, so despite the fun, it’s short-lived. Fans of the genre should check this one out, but it’s far from being a must play in the Steam VR library.
DEXED is now available on Steam with HTC Vive and Oculus Rift support, Oculus Home with Rift support, and PlayStation 4 with PlayStation VR for $9.99. This review was originally published in September of 2016 and has since been updated to include information on the PS VR release. Read our Game Review Guidelines for more information on how we arrived at this score.
Being dropped into the cockpit of various vehicles is one of the most fun and immersive experiences of VR. Whether in competitive arenas or in outer space, throwing on your VR headset and settling into your powerful ship or mech is empowering and fun. Estudiofuture specializes in 3D animation, video production, and VR experiences across educational and entertainment disciplines and their new game, Fusion Wars, is aiming to bring a white-knuckled arena shooter to the Samsung Gear (with an eventual Rift release also planned).
In Fusion Wars you pilot a tank in a futuristic arena with a very Tron-like aesthetic to it. Those aware of the PS VR exclusive, Battlezone, will immediately recognize the aesthetic. There are bright colors and sharp edges with not too many layers to the visuals, so it maintains a degree of simplicity and sameness across the levels. The sound is dominated by laser beams and rapid weapon fire coupled with explosions over the top of a song that is likely influenced by the most recent Tron: Legacy film. It seems a missed opportunity not to at least have a slight design difference and different music on the various levels.
The game has full (required) controller support, so you pilot a propelled tank that you can move forward and backward with your controller’s triggers. You boost and fire with your hands while you aim at your targets by turning your head and you take out enemies with two firing modes you switch between while seeking out an objective. It takes some getting use to, especially when attempting to move, aim, and fire in reverse, but it became second nature overtime.
Within the levels, you take on waves of different types of enemies and even a few boss-like tanks and structures as you return fire and pick up health to stay in the fight. You seek out fusion cores in order to move on to the next level, but you’ll have to take out all the enemy spawn gates in order to do so. The flow of gameplay takes place across four difficulty settings: Cadet, Agent, Legend, and Insane.
Fusion Wars is a co-operative experience on multiple levels. Immediately, the base experience is an online co-operative one and you can fuse with a teammate to create a super tank that one player fires from within while the other drives. In addition to that, the game is cross-purchase and cross-play, so once it’s available on Oculus, players can play on both devices and team up with players on either platform. While listed as only in Early Access right now, the game is mostly feature complete. It’s already looking like one of the better multiplayer titles on the Gear VR and it still has potential to grow further.
There’s a solid effort to tailor the comfort levels to different players via a moderate and high comfort setting in the options. With the moderate option, your sight is dimmed and narrowed as the tank turns and the max setting narrows your field of vision to an even higher degree. I experienced slight discomfort when moving at high-speeds on the middle setting, but none at all on the higher setting though it was annoying to have a reduced field of view when turning. The option can be turned off if you’re better acclimated to virtual experiences with this type of movement.
Final Score:7/10 – Good
Right now you have a capable and fun game that doesn’t sacrifice speed and excitement but includes design that makes it a comfortable experience for players at different points of acclimation to VR and on different platforms. I didn’t come across a great many players online, but the eventual Rift release along with the PvP patch should change that in a big way. At is there’s already a solid amount of content available and with the further updates and new players entering the fray from the Rift, the value will certainly be there.
Read our Game Review Guidelines for more information on how we arrived at this score. You can purchase Fusion Wars on the Oculus store for Gear VR at the price of $6.99.
Trebuchet, or not to trebuchet? There really is no question when it comes to Siegecraft Commander, a tabletop strategy game that combines traditional real-time strategy (RTS) elements with a unique base-building mechanic that’s designed to significantly change the way you create structures and attack enemies. By making you physically fling—as in, put in a slingshot and shoot out—everything from explosive barrels to defensive buildings like outposts and armories, Siegecraft successfullygameifies the most banal part of traditional RTSs and summarily smothers what might otherwise be a dynamic and interesting game.
Developer: Blowfish Studios Available On:SteamVR (HTC Vive, Oculus Rift) Reviewed on: HTC Vive, Oculus Touch Release Date: January 17, 2017
Gameplay
In Siegecraft, your base is composed of essentially two main types of buildings that help create a sort of fractal defensive web:
Primary Structures
From the heart of your base, called ‘the keep’, you launch outposts, which are essentially self-replicating nodes that allow you to grow your base larger and closer to the enemy. Primary structures are useful for manually destroying the enemy’s keep or any pesky foot soldiers that slip by—accomplished by launching explosive barrels. But more on that later.
Primary structures let you create secondary structures like armories and garrisons, and also some limited defensive structures like land-to-air ballistas. If the enemy knocks out an important node in your primary structure chain though, it destroys everything linked to it from that node forward, effectively undoing a lot of your work.
Selecting secondary structures in ‘Siegecraft Commander’
Secondary Structures
After placing a primary structure, you can then have to option to select a number of secondary structures. Placing an armory for example opens up a new branch of the tree, letting you create infantry barracks, and gads of defense structures—all of which are basically dead ends when it comes to growing your base though. Because secondary structures can’t build primary structures, you need to think tactically about how to get past tight terrain, and advance through the map without filling a crucial bottle neck with a library or a mortar when you actually need an outpost to help push forward.
After a successful match, it almost feels like Siegecraft has me creating a sort of primitive intelligence, like a brainless slime mold that eventually takes over a Petri dish bit by bit. And while I really want to like Siegecraft solely based on this self-imagined premise, the activity of physical launching structures is consistently unnerving and just comes too close to ‘unnecessary gimmick’ territory for comfort.
Sure, launching an explosive barrel at an enemy outpost should rightfully require a keen eye and a good understanding of how the launch mechanic works, but hampering forward progress in the heat of a match because you launched an outpost too close to a rock, or too close to a river, or too close to your own building, or the wall that trails behind it is too close to anything—you begin to ask the most important question of all: Am I having fun yet? Because I’m honestly not sure. I should be worrying about the enemy marching at my gates, and not aiming, pulling back and whiffing my second outpost on a row.
Admittedly, the game is available in two flavors, turn-based and real-time, so you can dial down the chaos if you so choose. While I played the real-time single-player campaign, online multiplayer is also available in both flavors, but I wouldn’t risk being matched with anyone using the PC or Xbox/PS4 simply because of the disadvantage of playing in VR. Moving your POV to get a good look at the game board, fiddling with unit selections and physically reaching back to fire every 20 seconds takes both time and patience in VR, something RTS players know is in short supply. Simply put, I found game’s VR mode too encumbered for the all-out chaos of real-time strategy play.
Immersion
The beauty of motion controls in virtual reality reveals itself almost immediately when you try it in a made-for-VR game. Picking up items and interacting with them as if they were actually there is something magical, something that we’ve never been able to do as a species before in the digital realm. Since Siegecraft is more of a VR-mode than a bespoke VR game, both general object interaction and haptics are an absolute afterthought, and there’s certainly no magic to be had using either Vive controller or Oculus Touch (which still renders as the Vive controller in-game).
While you do have a beautiful controller skin and a ever-present book glued to your hand so you can read some of the game’s useless story banter, I can’t help but feel that the game would benefit more from gamepad support—not a damning verdict by any means—and a complete removal of the book in favor of voice overs for campaign mode.
Immersion-wise, finding a comfortable angle to see the gameboard takes time to suss out, because too far away and you can’t accurately select units, and too close… well, you get this:
Instead of sacrificing some of the inherent coolness of a unified color pattern and architecture for the VR mode, the game insists on using labels so I don’t feel lost. The problem is, I feel more lost with the labels on the otherwise beautifully rendered gameboard, truly underlining this as a PC-first, VR-second game.
Comfort
Since Siegecraft Commander doesn’t require room-scale locomotion, and can be played entirely from the seated position if you so wish, users may suffer slightly from manipulating the gameboard too much, as you can grow in size and rotate the board to see better. This sort of world-shifting is known to cause nausea if exaggerated, but Siegecraft offers enough opportunity to rest in between so that little to no discomfort was felt personally.
You may also be tempted to look down at the board to get a good bird’s eye view most of the time, but keeping your neck pointed downwards with a VR headset can be a big pain in the neck after a while if you’re not careful.
We partnered with AVA Direct to create the Exemplar 2 Ultimate, our high-end VR hardware reference point against which we perform our tests and reviews. Exemplar 2 is designed to push virtual reality experiences above and beyond what’s possible with systems built to lesser recommended VR specifications.
