P4
Game Review - VR Invaders: Wave Shooter Winners
A) Genre
This is a first person shooter game, similar to many other new VR games, this is a first-person wave shooter that uses position-tracked controls to simulate a gun and, in this case, a shield. With many new upcoming VR games all basing around the same genre and theme of first person shooter games, it has became increasingly difficult to differentiate between these games, although what I have found is that VR Invader seems to be one of the most popular in the genre and is rated much higher than other similar games such as; Bandit Six, Dick Widle and Unearthing Mars.
B) Narrative/Storyline
The game is set in 2046, you play as a hacker that enters the VR world to attempt to take down and destroy viruses, which are represented as robotic drones. You roam round the map trying to take down and destroy as many robotic drones as you can, and when you kill a certain amount of a specific drone a virus will be destroyed. Outside of the story mode, theres a survival mode and a shooting range, this offers users something to play once they have finished the campaign in every conceivable way.
C) Characters
The only characters in this game are the character which you play, and the robotic drones which pose as viruses in the game. There is no online mode where you play against other opponents, instead once you have completed the story mode there's a shooting range which you can play on to keep you entertained.
D) Platforms
The platforms which this game is available on are: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and the PSVR.
E) Target Audience
This game targets the generic audience of teenage to adult males who play first person shooter games. This is one of the largest target markets in the gaming industry, hence why so many new VR games being made are first person shooter games, because they know that they have a good chance of being played and doing well as the market is so big. As most of the VR users at the moment are young adult males, who are virtually the exact target audience for this game and many others.
I think that this game would be ideal for teenage to young adult males. I believe that this is the best target audience for this game, however I think the game needs to make some changes to fully appeal to this audience. At the moment, the game does not have many features, only the campaign mode and the shooting range, of which is not that entertaining at all. So, to fully appeal to this audience, the game needs to develop an online mode, where users can play against one another, perhaps killing the robotic drones and viruses together. That would add an online element to this game, which would allow the users to play against each other. As most of the well known and good games which appeal to this market have online features, a great example being Call of Duty. As most online players are males, aged between 17-30, which is the same target audience for this game.
F) Gameplay
Invaders equips you with a standard, fast-firing pistol and a shield that can defend small energy blasts, but will need cool down time if it comes into contact with anything bigger. You can also shoot incoming attacks with your own bullets to stop them, which counts towards a multiplier. That multiplier is built up by killing enemies in quick succession, and they’ll fly in in coordinated patterns so that, should you choose, you can memorise levels and aim to high scores. Building up a multiplier is hard work and will require intricate knowledge of when and where enemies are going to appear from.
G) Personal recommendation
Personally, I think that there are both numerous positives and negatives to this game. First of all the positives, this game is one of the best first person shooter game available for VR at the moment. This is a very big positive, as there are loads of first person shooter games being made every week, so users will see this game towards the top of the charts and more people will buy and play the game. This game is much better than other first person shooter games for many reasons, one thing being that they have rock solid, reliable mechanics, with closer attention paid to important factors like enemy variety and difficulty than many other games in the genre. Also, the game has an addictive element, in the fact that you can get high scores, this means that people will want to keep playing the game to better there scores and rise up the leaderboards.
Moreover, there are few negatives to this game also. First of all, the game is lacking originality; it is becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate between first person shooter VR games, as this is the main sort of games being made at the moment. So, the developers need to think of a way of making this game different to many other first person shooter games being made. Furthermore, another issue with this game is that the campaign mode could be much longer, as once the user has completed the campaign mode they are left with not much to play other than use the shooting range, which is not that fun or interesting at all and users are likely to find much more fun starting another game, so the developers need to think or something the users can play once they have completed the campaign mode; like an online mode or a separate, offline, match mode where users can play against other players, or the computer.
Personally, at this moment I would not recommend this game to many people. I would only recommend this game to players who do not enjoy long campaign modes and enjoy finishing games quickly and moving onto other games. I would not recommend this game to people as at the moment I do not think the game has enough content, the only real entertaining thing you can play on the game is the campaign mode, and even that is not long enough and can be completed relatively quickly, leaving the user with nothing to play on the game once this is completed. So, the game needs to add another element if it wants to be popular and succeed, an online mode would be the best thing for the game, as it will allow users to play with their friends and complete missions together, this is the best online first person games are the best games, because they have both a good online mode and campaign mode, good examples of games like this are GTA and Call of Duty.
H) Rating
As there are different elements to the game I am going to rate every element of the game out of 5. This will make it easier to show you what elements of the game work and what needs improving:
Campaign mode - 3/5
The campaign mode is the game best element, however as of right now it is not long enough. The missions are enjoyable and fun to play but you can complete all of them relatively quickly, and once you have completed them theres nothing left to play. So if anything, the overall campaign mode needs to be extended.
Free roam mode - 2/5
The free roam mode only includes a shooting range, which is fun to use but it soon becomes extremely repetitive and a tad boring. The developers need to mix up this mode and add other elements, perhaps extending the map would help or adding new obstacles to the map to make the game harder, or adding different villains to act as viruses to change things up and keep the user refreshed and not bored of the same thing.
storyline - 3/5
I do like the games story mode, it is individual and I have not seen a similar game before. However, the game does not have much differentiation, all the robotic drones are the same and there are no other things that pose as viruses, so the game soon becomes rather repetitive, one thing the developers can do to change this is perhaps add different sorts of the villains to pose as viruses.
A) Genre
This is a first person shooter game, similar to many other new VR games, this is a first-person wave shooter that uses position-tracked controls to simulate a gun and, in this case, a shield. With many new upcoming VR games all basing around the same genre and theme of first person shooter games, it has became increasingly difficult to differentiate between these games, although what I have found is that VR Invader seems to be one of the most popular in the genre and is rated much higher than other similar games such as; Bandit Six, Dick Widle and Unearthing Mars.
B) Narrative/Storyline
The game is set in 2046, you play as a hacker that enters the VR world to attempt to take down and destroy viruses, which are represented as robotic drones. You roam round the map trying to take down and destroy as many robotic drones as you can, and when you kill a certain amount of a specific drone a virus will be destroyed. Outside of the story mode, theres a survival mode and a shooting range, this offers users something to play once they have finished the campaign in every conceivable way.
C) Characters
The only characters in this game are the character which you play, and the robotic drones which pose as viruses in the game. There is no online mode where you play against other opponents, instead once you have completed the story mode there's a shooting range which you can play on to keep you entertained.
D) Platforms
The platforms which this game is available on are: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and the PSVR.
E) Target Audience
This game targets the generic audience of teenage to adult males who play first person shooter games. This is one of the largest target markets in the gaming industry, hence why so many new VR games being made are first person shooter games, because they know that they have a good chance of being played and doing well as the market is so big. As most of the VR users at the moment are young adult males, who are virtually the exact target audience for this game and many others.
I think that this game would be ideal for teenage to young adult males. I believe that this is the best target audience for this game, however I think the game needs to make some changes to fully appeal to this audience. At the moment, the game does not have many features, only the campaign mode and the shooting range, of which is not that entertaining at all. So, to fully appeal to this audience, the game needs to develop an online mode, where users can play against one another, perhaps killing the robotic drones and viruses together. That would add an online element to this game, which would allow the users to play against each other. As most of the well known and good games which appeal to this market have online features, a great example being Call of Duty. As most online players are males, aged between 17-30, which is the same target audience for this game.
F) Gameplay
Invaders equips you with a standard, fast-firing pistol and a shield that can defend small energy blasts, but will need cool down time if it comes into contact with anything bigger. You can also shoot incoming attacks with your own bullets to stop them, which counts towards a multiplier. That multiplier is built up by killing enemies in quick succession, and they’ll fly in in coordinated patterns so that, should you choose, you can memorise levels and aim to high scores. Building up a multiplier is hard work and will require intricate knowledge of when and where enemies are going to appear from.
G) Personal recommendation
Personally, I think that there are both numerous positives and negatives to this game. First of all the positives, this game is one of the best first person shooter game available for VR at the moment. This is a very big positive, as there are loads of first person shooter games being made every week, so users will see this game towards the top of the charts and more people will buy and play the game. This game is much better than other first person shooter games for many reasons, one thing being that they have rock solid, reliable mechanics, with closer attention paid to important factors like enemy variety and difficulty than many other games in the genre. Also, the game has an addictive element, in the fact that you can get high scores, this means that people will want to keep playing the game to better there scores and rise up the leaderboards.
Moreover, there are few negatives to this game also. First of all, the game is lacking originality; it is becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate between first person shooter VR games, as this is the main sort of games being made at the moment. So, the developers need to think of a way of making this game different to many other first person shooter games being made. Furthermore, another issue with this game is that the campaign mode could be much longer, as once the user has completed the campaign mode they are left with not much to play other than use the shooting range, which is not that fun or interesting at all and users are likely to find much more fun starting another game, so the developers need to think or something the users can play once they have completed the campaign mode; like an online mode or a separate, offline, match mode where users can play against other players, or the computer.
Personally, at this moment I would not recommend this game to many people. I would only recommend this game to players who do not enjoy long campaign modes and enjoy finishing games quickly and moving onto other games. I would not recommend this game to people as at the moment I do not think the game has enough content, the only real entertaining thing you can play on the game is the campaign mode, and even that is not long enough and can be completed relatively quickly, leaving the user with nothing to play on the game once this is completed. So, the game needs to add another element if it wants to be popular and succeed, an online mode would be the best thing for the game, as it will allow users to play with their friends and complete missions together, this is the best online first person games are the best games, because they have both a good online mode and campaign mode, good examples of games like this are GTA and Call of Duty.
H) Rating
As there are different elements to the game I am going to rate every element of the game out of 5. This will make it easier to show you what elements of the game work and what needs improving:
Campaign mode - 3/5
The campaign mode is the game best element, however as of right now it is not long enough. The missions are enjoyable and fun to play but you can complete all of them relatively quickly, and once you have completed them theres nothing left to play. So if anything, the overall campaign mode needs to be extended.
Free roam mode - 2/5
The free roam mode only includes a shooting range, which is fun to use but it soon becomes extremely repetitive and a tad boring. The developers need to mix up this mode and add other elements, perhaps extending the map would help or adding new obstacles to the map to make the game harder, or adding different villains to act as viruses to change things up and keep the user refreshed and not bored of the same thing.
storyline - 3/5
I do like the games story mode, it is individual and I have not seen a similar game before. However, the game does not have much differentiation, all the robotic drones are the same and there are no other things that pose as viruses, so the game soon becomes rather repetitive, one thing the developers can do to change this is perhaps add different sorts of the villains to pose as viruses.
Well done Oli. To reach the Merit criteria you still need to:
ReplyDelete- explicitly discus target audience.
- offer a personal recommendation of the game
- offer realistic ratings for different aspects of the gaming experience