Somehow even though I have always been a big fan of the series. I have never played Doom 3. It was an error I had always meant to correct. A hole in my gaming knowledge that I needed to fix and yet for some reason, a hole I have never got round to filling. I had various excuses firstly the game wasn’t great, it didn’t control well, it was too dark, it needed a very, very expensive PC to run it and a whole other host of excuses I had given to myself over the years to justify my non-play.
Yet as these excuses were slowly fixed, the game was released on the XBox, PS3 and eventually the PS4, the ability to hold a torch was added in so you didn’t have to choose between being able to see or being able to shoot, for some reason I still couldn’t take the plunge. Had the game in my basket on numerous occasions on various different consoles and still couldn’t take the plunge. Something always held me back a little voice in the back of my mind always telling me to ”wait”
Now I know why. I held back because it’s coming to VR and (fingers crossed) it’s going to be amazing. The final and best way to play this game. After all who doesn’t want to scream into a headset as they curl up in a tiny ball on the floor, watching in disbelief in a CyberDemon tears you in half
It’s going to be amazing. Plus you can use your Aim controller on the PSVR
Dear fellow virtual reality flight-enthusiasts. Hello and welcome to a tale about Ace Combat 7 on PSVR
Let me tell you about one of the strangest video game sensation’s in my life.
The tale of how my eyes tried to remove themselves from my face via my nose.
Let me set the scene.
It’s early on a Saturday morning. Early enough for the rest of my household to still be a sleep. So I take a chance, the same chance as any other man-child would, and decide to play some video games.
Now, from past experience I know I have to be very careful and very, very quite in these near dawn gaming sessions. If I even so much as make a sound I will wake my cat and then the game is up. For my cat, full of anger from being woken from one of it’s many, many naps will decide to get even with me in the only way it knows how. The little Flea bag will wake my wife and then well. It’s GAME OVER. so as I crept around my living room making less noise than a dust bunny I tried to work out what to play;
Online gaming was out. An over exuberant whoop of celebration or the (much) more likely tears of defeat would give them game away far too quickly so I looked for something else, something that would give me enjoyment without making a sound
As I stumbled around my front room in near darkness, I tripped upon the perfect solution, VR. deciding that I could wear headphones for the sound and wrap myself in a blanket to hopefully mask that tell-tell clickity click of the controllers, I settled down to play Ace Combat 7
Now Ace Combat is a series that may be well known to some of you. It is after all a series that has been around longer than time but, somehow I hadn’t stumbled across it before now and where I found the traditional non-VR gameplay slightly uninteresting I had been told (quite sternly) to go back and play the VR section of the game as this is where it really shines.
So on that cold Saturday morning, wrapped in a blanket from head to toe, looking like a ghost that had run out of white sheets and with a gap in the blanket big enough for the PlayStation camera and lightbar on the PS4 controller to make that all important connection. I said down to play Ace Combat 7 and let me tell you
At first It’s wonderful. From the very first moment of lift off, it’s a pure adrenalin rush as your fighter jet races along the tarmac of the transport carrier, to the moment the jet tore up into the sky my heart tore along with it. As I pulled back ever tighter on the elevation and sored higher into the sky, it was for a moment as if a dream had come true – I was flying. It was great
But then the cold hard grip of reality tug on my heart strings and pulled me back to reality for as I flew along to meet up with my fellow crew I started to feel bored. I was flying at close to two thousand miles an hour but, it didn’t feel as if I was flying that fast. The ground below me didn’t whizz past, the clouds above my head didn’t vanish before my eyes. Nothing really made me feel as I if was in control of a state of the art military jet. It could of been anything. The plane just seemed to toddle along, not a care in the world. then I met up with my squad
Then I met up with my squad. This is where things changed again. Suddenly the game felt real again. Suddenly where only mere moments ago, it felt as if I was out for a nice Sunday afternoon fly, now I had to be careful, careful of not flying into my squad mates. Careful of not somehow flying into the sea, which now seemed to be moving with me. As I flew ever faster the sea too flashed before my eyes ever quicker. Then we met our enemy and the game started to slow down again, before suddenly and without warning handing me back the reigns and letting me fly, and fly I did with crazy abandon and utter ignorance of the laws of physics.
Turns out, this was a mistake.
Obvious really but, as I dog fought with my enemy, whipping through the clouds, with nothing but a blanket on my back and a smile on my face, I started to get cocky and cocky dear reader is something you should never do in VR. Not unless you have an iron congestion and a pretty strong stomach – two things I lack
But as, I flew through the clouds I started to grow ever bolder ever cockier, I started to barrel roll – it felt good. Started to do loop the loop – that felt great. Then my eyes and brain started to have a conversation. Brain said ”are we up side down” Eyes replied ” yes, wait, no. Yes I think so”. Brain ” can you check again? It’s quite important” Eyes ” okay, we’re sitting down, looking straight ahead” Me deciding to now fly the plane upside down. Eyes ” wait he’s done something, strange, we’re upside down but… sitting normally, straight up” Brain ” I don’t like it”. Eyes ”I know, I feel…” Brain” hold it in soldier!” Eyes ”I can’t” Brain ”be strong” Eyes ”I don’t know where I am” Brain (panicking) ”hold it together” Eyes ” I have to go”
The next thing sensation I feel is one of utter terror, of shame, panic all rolled up into one. Followed so closely by a feeling of nausea so strong that it makes gag out loud. Causing me to panic. In a frantic hope that I haven’t woken anyone up with that sound. A sound so disturbing I wouldn’t want to wake anyone up with it. Let alone the people I live with, quickly I try to tear the headset from face, momentarily causing another wave of nausea to rush through my body as a Brain still trying to come to grips with flying upside down is suddenly faced with a new reality. A reality that in the rush to be free of the PSVR headset has now managed to wrap a headphone cable around his neck and in the half light of an ever approaching dawn is now frantically trying to free himself along with trying to not be sick. It’s not a pretty sight but in seconds that felt like hours I am free. I stand up, stumble to the bathroom, not turning the light in a last ditch attempt to not disturb any of the household with the noise of the extractor fan connected to the light switch.
I think too my self. ” that could have gone worse”
and then I hear the meow.
Bugger
P.S Despite all my troubles, feline and otherwise. Ace Combat is a blast in PSVR. The VR really adds to the immersion of being in the plane, in flight. The only downsides are that you need to have some pretty strong VR legs and that the whole experience is about 30 minutes long. Although there are varying difficulty levels
P.P.S Top Gun soundtrack is optional but, brilliant to have on as you tear through the sky 🙂
Don’t worry your not the only one. I have spent much more time than I would like to admit trawling websites, hoping to spot one out in the wild or stalking the PS5UK Twitter streams in the hope that I may be one of the very, very few that actually manages to grab one of these new shiny console’s before they are either all snapped up by bots or by those lucky few that just happen be on the website at the right time.
I don’t even know why I want one, I really don’t. Just caught up in the hype. It’s not like I will suddenly overcome my aversion to Dark Souls. I don’t have the capacity to die over and over again, just to learn and be a tiny bit better next time. Plus and this is probably what’s really stopping me is with everything else seemingly released on the PS4 I know I should just wait until the consoles are readily available and there is something I want to play.
So as I given into the fact that I will playing on the PS4 for some time yet, I decided to do an inventory of all the PS4 games that I have played over the last six years and make a note of what I should play and in doing that I had a little run down memory lane. As I looked across old saved files and trophies half forgotten I remembered all the good times I had with the PS4 and remembered some of the more obscure games that had been forgotten, not just by me but maybe the gaming community as well. So I thought as I had the time and a need to do something with my laptop that wasn’t refresh Twitter every few seconds I decided to create a list. A list of five PS4 games that you probably have in your backlog but, for reasons now lost to time, forgotten to play
Some maybe obvious some may make you shake your head but, at least I am not on Twitter 🙂
Mad Max.
You forgot it even released on the PS4 didn’t you? It’s okay, until about six months ago I had forgotten it existed as well – I guess that’s what happens when you release your game on the same day as Metal Gear Solid V: The Forgotten Pain. It is however a solid RPG with decent fight mechanics, excellent driving and an open world that feels somehow alive despite being very, very desolate and you have a pretty decent game. With the added Cherry on the top of this once being a ”free” PS Plus game you to may have this one gathering dust in your digital library
Mad Max the forgotten king of the wasteland
Concrete Genie
Okay, I will forgive you for forgetting about Mad MAX an obscure title from a few years ago. The next title on my list; the wonderful Concrete Genie should not be such a blast from the past as it is currently one of the ”free” titles available this month with PS Plus subscription and a good game it is. It has been in my ”about to buy” list more times than I care to remember and yet despite numerous good reviews, I just didn’t get round to picking it up. Yet I am more than happy to be playing it now. Its a wonderful contrast to the grey, overcast days we are currently experiencing here in the UK, a colourful bolt of light in our grey days. It’s a game where all you do is create, to bring back to life an old derelict shipping village with the help of genies you create using the PS4 as a magical paint brush. It’s a lovely tonic for the soul, With no death, no fighting and nothing in the way of stress.
Firewall Zero Hour
Can you sense a pattern emerging with my picks? Yes you guessed it this is another game that was once, back in years past available through PS Plus. Don’t worry though as Firewall Zero Hour is completely different from the other two. This is a PSVR game. Don’t groan. It’s really good. I promise. If your into team communication and like shouting out strange army words like ”spector inbound” and are not surprised when random strangers shout out ”’GO, GO, GO ”for the 27th time in row then this is a game for you. The only caveats to enjoying it are A; having a PSVR headset and B; Having the Aim controller. This game was made for the Aim controller in mind and it really shows, the level of immersion is simply stunning it will have you thinking your in the military in a matter of minutes.
Abzu
The next game up on our list isn’t a shooter, doesn’t have you driving through a wasteland fighting to survive or even have you trying to reconnect with your community. It also has not been ( as far as I know) ever appeared on PS Plus but it is a completely delightful and utterly beautiful experience. Abzu is a game created by one of the creators behind the excellent Journey and if you have played that then you will know what kind of game this game is . For this is a game about starting again. About tranquillity, about peace. Maybe even the meaning of existence. Well at least that’s my take on it, on what I make of the story. The game world has been overpopulated to the point of extinction and that is exactly what has happened. Most things on what I think is Earth have vanished. You are a part of the last few reaming people left on Earth and your task is to see, what’s in the sea. A Sea that as first, is quiet, with only a few shoal’s of fish swimming here and there but as you progress through the game you are able to unlock various different species of fish (and some mammals) and as these new species are added to the game they add an extra array of colour and variety to the levels that truly has to be seen to be believed. A bit of sunshine on a grey day
The Order 1886
The most controversial game on this list by a long way. I don’t blame you for not playing it. It is a wildly indifferent thing, a deeply conflicted thing. The negatives are many it has; dodgy AI, indifferent character controls, a beautiful look but don’t touch world, sluggish pacing and too many other negatives to name, but it has some positives as well; it is utterly gorgeous to look at, a story that’s good when it get’s going, characters that are for the most part well rounded and cut scenes that are a thing to behold, they really are a thing of beauty. Yes the gun-play maybe be dodgy and the game may finish just as you start to get invested in it but, I left wanting more. I wanted the story to continue and that is why it’s in this list, plus it’s got werewolves, who doesn’t love a werewolf story?
Any on this list take your fancy? Any recomendations you can give to me?
Let me know in the comments below
P.S I am not actually allowed to play Firewall anymore. I live in a flat and apparently my neighbours don’t like it when a grown man screams out” Alpha, Tango, Charlie. GO. GO GO” at four in the morning
P.P.S Haven’t actually completed Concrete Genie yet, so if the cute little Genie creatures turn out to be a murderous horde conjured up from another dimension – you have been warned 🙂
Actually that’s not quite true, it’s more like of a bit of a pickle. Yes that’s it, I am in a bit of a pickle and one entirely of my own making.
Let me tell you how it started. It was a cold day in December and, as usual during this time of the year, with the nights drawing in and days getting colder. I was sitting at home perusing various video game websites and seeing which games the various sites had listed as their personal games of the year. This is something I do every year because, A I like to read good things about games the games I bought during the year and B I like to see if there is anything good that I may have missed
Usually I haven’t missed that many games for the various consoles I am lucky to own and can normally scroll down the list, with a growing sense of accomplishment as I realise that I have played many of the games that had interested me during the year but, for some reason, I seemed to have missed out on a whole load of games this year.
Personally I blame The Last of Us 2. It’s a game I absolutely love but something I found incredibly hard to move on from. So from June until a few weeks ago, when I finally got over my funk and got back into my games I have already got a bit of a chunky backlog. You see I may not have been playing anything apart from a few things I had bounced off but I had still been buying games and coupled with a Christmas where I was lucky enough to get the new Spider-Man, Assassin’s Creed and Star Wars VR games I suddenly had a bit of a backlog of things I wanted to play and now you fund me trying to juggle all the new games I am lucky enough to have.
So that’s where you find me today wallowing in a problem that isn’t a problem at all. wondering just how to find time to play all the games that need to be played. I feel like a kid trying to give juggle his play time with his favourite toys and give equal play time too each.
Afternoon all, from a Galaxy, far, far way and welcome to my first impressions for Star Wars: Squadrons.
What a first impression the game gives. It is a delight to play in VR, so much of a delight that I have not even played the game without the headset on. It just feels so right. If you have a VR headset and have any positive feelings for the Star Wars universe or just love flying games in general. I would hunt this game out. It really feels as if you are on the rebel or imperial pilot in the given mission. The cockpit layout’s are outstanding in their detail and more than once I lifted my hand up to touch the roof of the X-Wing as it closed above me.Feeling rather silly as my brain suddenly realised that there wasn’t actually a lid too close above me. It is clear that an incredible level of detail has gone into making the various ships feel alive.
Motive have to be applauded for really bringing our daydream’s of flying an X-Wing to life.It really does feel that good to ”fly” the ships. They feel weighty and solid in the universe and are lovely to look at. Plus and, this is very important to me, the ships don’t seem to explode if you happen to collide with another ship, friendly or otherwise. This is great news for me as I am a terrible pilot who has only managed to play through the opening few levels but, also gives hope that the multi-player component won’t have people screaming at me as I completely fail to spot a large Star Destroyer on the horizon and continue to fly absent mindlessly straight into it, exploding and getting shouted at by the rest of my team. This can only be a good thing. Yes it can be strange to bang into another ship, to have your pilot scream out in fear, only for your ship to be slightly damaged in the process but, leads to less stupid deaths and more time having fun
Fun is the most important thing.
The game is a great time. It want’s you to sit back relax and have a good time, the levels are short and at the moment don’t feel too taxing with a nice emphasis on you being the new hot-shot into the team. A hot-shot who is instantly well liked and one your squad seem to want to do well. It’s a nice game that seems to want to make you happy and at the moment it’s doing a good job.
A demo for the PSVR game Paper Beat has just made a quiet appearance onto the demo section of the EU PS store and as it was something I have always been eager to play but never quite eager enough to pay money for, I was more than happy to play what turned out to be the opening section of the game for free.
Was It worth a download?
Yes and yes again, I am so glad . The demo is an absolute delight to play. You start off in what feels like a very closed in space with curtains closed around you blocking you from seeing the outside world which did make me feel quite tense but, as you tear the curtains down you realise that you weren’t in a box or a closed in space at all but you were in fact sitting in between the legs of a giant origami beast. I think it’s an Origami diplodocus Its an incredible sight and as my jaw hit the flaw I looked around the world I now found myself in and was completely amazed, the environment looks beautiful, a stunning little world populated with other origami animals that seem to be living their own independent lives, paying no notice to the player, unless you interact with them first, in the initial few minutes I came across some small white origami animals that paid me no notice but, I was able to pick them up ( they all seem to be made from paper) or offer them fruit from an origami tree. With the fruit I was able to get some of the animals to follow me around the level, like a dog chasing a toy and that really helped make me feel immersed in the world. Soon the large origami animal called me back to it’s side and As I followed it through the level I realised that I had given it a name – It’s Bonie. we walked for a few more minutes and came across what looked like a hole. A hole which in true gaming fashion turned into sink hole as soon as I jumped into it. Thankfully – just as I started to panic a storm raced through it, from the bottom turning what was a hole into a climbable pit with letters streaming out of in a Tornado effect I soon managed to climb out of this hole, which lead me to realise I had lost my friend. Where was Bonie had they vanished, fallen in the hole? Was it all part of the game – had I missed something? Thank fully I soon heard a low mewing sound and was soon reunited with my friend. Sadly my happiness at being reunited was soon turned to fear my heart soon dropped as with the storm suddenly raging again Bonie usherd me into a cave. Thinking that we would be save in here, I started to relax and look for somewhere to make a fire – I was really immersed! Only to hear a shuffling sound behind me I turned around to see what the noise was only to see Bonie blocking up the opening of the cave with a giant border.
This is where the demo ends
Please let me know if you have also played the demo and want to get the full game?
Normally I don’t tend to write about games, I haven’t enjoyed. Pretending instead to treat it as something that never happened, a mistake on both my part and the part of the game. Something that is best forgotten and left in the past.
Sometimes however, rules need to change. Words need to be typed and things need to be said. This is where I find myself with the PSVR release of Gorn. I can’t stand this game. For me it’s like a relationship that has gone wrong, we didn’t get on from the start and now its best we keep apart. These are the reasons why my initial hope for Gorn turned into Hate.
Overhype. I watched videos of the game for months before it’s release, admiring it from afar, the game looks incredible, it’s a mindless gladiator simulator. with cartoony graphics with realistic physics, Everything is very cartoony, the crowd are giant heads peering down on you you can where the gameplay is just you trying to survive a gladiatorial onslaught you can pull opponents apart throw them out of the arena, stack them up into little piles of dead pixels, shoot arrows, hit opponents with hammers and a whole range of other options, with the end goal being for the player to smash each opponents into a messy pulp and generally have a fun time. Think Bar Simulator with a lot more care and attention
Controls . The controls for the PSVR Version of this game just don’t seem to work for me, I have seen videos of people gliding around the arena dishing out death at every single angle like some sort of gladiatorial avenging Angel, where I am stuck going backwards when I want to forwards and forwards when I want to go backwards. I know the game has a cartoony feel with it with your opponents moving more like giant jelly babies than real people but I just can’t get the hang of it, my opponent’s must laugh as the seem me edging nearer and then further away.
The Health System The health system is by far my least favourite part of the game. It runs like this as soon as you are hit be it a fist, a hammer or an arrow you start to blead out with a portion of red to indicate you are bleeding filling up the screen, the red will very quickly fill up the players vision meaning that the player has bled out and that they are dead with the only way to avoid this is to quickly quickly kill an opponent in the few seconds you get before dying. Now I don’t know if you have played this game but, this mechaninc is something that fills me with absolute panic and more than a few curses being shouted around the house, trying to fight whilst you can’t quite get to where you want to go is one of the most frustrating gaming systems I have ever come across. I hope that something like a three hit and your out system is implemented in a future patch,
Variety I know, I knew what I was getting the moment I first picked the game up Gorn its a fighting sim, what did I expect? Well, I think I expected a bit more fitness to the combat than just grabbing a weapon and walling my arms about hoping for the best outcome but, it still doesn’t hide the fact that you can pick up a weapon and throw yours about in the hope of winning (good for fitness, I guess)
It could just be me Of course it might just be me, my camera could be too low (tried it) I could just be crap – fairly likely or and my probably most likely the game isn’t for me. Not everyone can be a winner, I hope if you have played the game and if you have any tips please let me know
Welcome friends, fellow VR enthusiasts and anybody who has just happened to stumble across this page. Come in, but remember to close the door behind you, there is a storm outside.
This week’s PSVR game of choice is Audica an action rhythm game by masters of the rhythm game genre the one the only Harmonix
Audica is a game I have been on the fence about for ages, I have had it in my trolley over on the PS Store far more times then I care to remember and haven’t until yesterday felt ready to take the plunge from wanting to actually owning the game. The reasons for this are two-fold for one, the price it’s an expensive game and I’m cheap so I waited patiently for the inevitable price drop as all PSVR games are quickly reduced (apart from Beat Saber and Job Simulator) but it hasn’t happened and yes I am well aware that as I finally bit and got the game, it will be the PS Stores bargain of the week. Sometimes you are just unlucky.
The second reason is that up to recently the reviews just haven’t been that good. I checked out a lot of reviews from Eurogamer to Without Parole and none really sold the game to me. That was until this week when I read a review on the Road to VR website (although this was the Quest version) and suddenly other websites started to revisit the game Without Parole had another look and decided that the games was fun on the harder difficulties, PSVR Underground did a live stream and really seemed to like it. So with the views of the internet behind me I decided to give the game a go
Here’s What I thought…
The Soundtrack, As with any rhythm game it’s not fun if you don’t like the sounds your body is trying to move to and Audica is no exception and for me, for the most part the soundtrack is great yes, its very heavily leads to EDM but I felt that it really nits in with what you have to do in the game, after the game is basically hit a target in time with the song and hitting a note seems to work with the EDM selection they have here. Of course there is a couple of tracks that aren’t reminincent of a night out in a local night club but, they are few and far between. Basically if your not into EDM this is not the game for you. What I will say is that the game is full of songs bands and artists that I have heard of from Billie Ellish to Youngblood, its a game full of stand out tracks, that had me dancing a long as I tried and oftern failed to shoot along to the beat.
The Graphics
The graphics are great, they do what they have to do. There basic, with the stages little more than shapes and to put the things you need to shoot in front of, functional, there is one to start with and a few more to open once you have played through the campaign. The targets themselves do explode into a shower of light once shot that nice to look even on the standard PS4
Difficulty
Is it hard? Well that all depends how good you are at rhythm games. I am not very good at rhythm games, I found the beginner stages very easy and I feel that anyone new to the game should start here first because after the beginner stages everything after that you will have you multi-tasking as you look out for the visual clues of where the next note to come from, whilst still trying to battle the current note. Trust me anything harder than standard will have you pulling your hair out as you try to master each song. I suffered more than my share of fails simply because I couldn’t yet move quickly enough to the song. That’s with the game giving you a very generous amount of auto-aim as well. This is a game that wants you to win but, wants you win by learning each track as you go.
Are the guns good to shoot?
Yes, yes it feels great to fire the guns in Audica. Once or twice I felt myself making a pew pew noise as I fired my guns around the menu before the start of each level, even missing is great as hitting the outside of selection box has the bullet making a fantastic pew sound as the bullet hurstles back (harmless) towards the player. Add in that they feel great in the hand, you can throw them in the air and twirl both guns around in your hand and there a great time in their own right
Is it a Beat Saber killer.
Beat Saber. The big VR rhythm game on the block. In fact scratch that the big VR game full stop. It was the first question my friends asked me when I said I had the game, is it better than Beat Saber? The answer is the same now as it was then. It is and yet somehow, it isn’t both games do something similar in a very different way, this is more than one game using swords and another using guns. Audica feels different to Beat Saber it’s its own game, not a Beat Saber clone. I found Audica a little less intense than Beat Saber, with the notes popping up around the screen, rather than marching relentlessly towards you ala Beat Saber. A little bit more relaxed maybe, Audica is a lot more forgiving especially on the beginner levels, its a game that wants to put its arm around you, wants to help you improve, where Beat Saber will keep hitting you until you master it, until you prove to the game and yourself that you are good enough to play. Yes both ramp up to a very high difficulty, both are excellent games with Beat Sabers tough love a very different to the arm around the shoulder approce of Audica.
Hi future me hope your well? If your reading this note, you are now waiting for the PSVR exclusive Blood and Truth to either install from the disk, download a patch or possibly, if the gaming Gods are really against you, your sitting there twiddling your thumbs as not only has the game taken ages to install but, you now have to install a soding great update file as well. Only time will tell, but right now in the what is your past, I think? Your sitting, looking at your phone far, far too much as you wait for the little message to pop up saying that your delivery has been dispatched. Your having a great time, aren’t you? Lucky boy. just try and remember a few things in the time between the you now and you in the 24 hours between typing this up and you playing the game
1: Spoilers are real. Try not to watch to many trailers, game play throughs and video reviews. Try and save something for your first play through. Try not to ruin it before you have even played it
2: Appreciate the moment. Give yourself a chance to enjoy the game, no rushing through to get to the end as quickly as possible, relax, take a deep breath take in the sights. You only get one first time.
3: Charge the Move controllers. You know you should have done it by now
4: Re-calibrate the Move controllers. This, you really should have been done by now. there veering to the left more than Nan after few seasonal sherries. It won’t just fix itself
5: Try not to say ”have it” too much, you are not a South London gangster. No matter how much the game tells you are
6: You have neighbours – try not to shout too loud. Just because you can’t hear them with your headphones on, it doesn’t mean they can’t hear you swear
7: Take a break. Too much VR gives even the most hardened gangster a headache
8: Ask your self why some of the baddies roll around like they are auditioning for a part in the N64 game Goldeneye. Then shoot them before they get a chance to stand up
9: Try and not get too upset when you try and catch a grenade – miss and blow yourself up
10: Try and not make a phew phew sound every time you shoot. Its not cool, your an adult, apparently
And there we are 8 tips to hopefully help future me enjoy Blood and Truth, if it turns up tomorrow and 2 things I really should do now. After all you can’t play with the Move controllers if you should be shooting left but all the controllers want to do is show you the right side of the screen and charging them up is really going to help getting the whole thing going.
What about you, are you planning to release you inner villain?
I am someone who is always looking for that quick fix, always trying to find the quickest way to improve everything, From general intelligence, to map reading skills, arts and crafts to blogging and back again to Bloodborne, just how are so are some people so good at this game? Well, where there is a will there a way and I would of looked for it, scraping the barrels of the internet for any speedy quick I can find, and of course that the quick fix approach to the Holy Grail of quick fixes, the need to shed a few pounds (and generally improve my overall fitness) before the British summer descends on our pale and slightly chubby heads.
So With the eagerness of a man that is tired of breathing in every time he looks at his torso in the mirror, I ran (wobble jogged) to the internet, to find what could be found on the internet. Of course being a gamer, I tried a gaming approach first and that led me to the game in the aforementioned title BOX VR.
The Box VR first impressions were all great, a great little batch of videos on YouTube all devoted to what looked like a boxing game that could be played in VR. Well my friends, that made my heart sing. A game, that could be played in my house, in front of no one but my cat and let me get in a full blown boxing workout in. Well how could I say no? I dug deeper into the depths of YouTube trying to find someone who said something negative about the game, and the only thing that came up, but came up on nearly every video I watched was the fact the people playing the game, were in their own words, not fit. Now this is a big caveat, I am fairly fit, I do more than my ten thousand steps a day, I do {mostly) eat a healthy diet and I generally do anywhere from 3-4 exercise classes a week. Was I doing the right thing, buying a game that wasn’t developed with me in my mind? Id this a game with the beginner in mind? Which is a great idea, but is built for me, will it help me loose a few pounds and more importantly have any sort of challenge to keep me motivated?
Friends, I shouldn’t have worried. BoxVR has more that enough ”game” to it from the beginner to the workout savvy this game has everything from quick 2 minute work outs to anything in-between with the longest lasting a mind boggling 57 minutes. With tons of variety thrown in the mix. You will be ducking, squatting, squatting, hooking and upper cutting (as long as you have the required Move controllers). Add into the mix a whopping 120 different tracks to box to with everything, from Hip Hop to Pop covered. Its a great time and one I can see myself coming back to, especially as I have set myself a daily goal of 30 minutes exercise.
SET YOUR WEIGHT
A little bit of public service announcement now. At first I had my weight set to roughly 22 stone. It sets, your weight in KG and being from the UK I had no idea how much I weigh in KG so just put in an arbitrary number, thinking that it didn’t matter and wouldn’t have any relevance on anything go forward. This is wrong set your weight as correctly as you can. This game comes with a calorie counter and where I thought I had managed to burn through 844 calories in only 44 minutes of play and declared this game, the new saviour of man kind, a long with an order of milkshake for breakfast followed by a breakfast of bacon, eggs and sausages and everything in between, Imaging a small workout afterwards would leave me calorie free, I decided to first have a little Google and see if the calorie counter was actually correct. Of course it wasn’t, Firstly as said above my weight is not currently 22 stone, I sit more around the 12 stone mark, so this is wrong but, also that the game itself counts calories as if the player was throwing every, punch, duck and weave at 100 per cent of their total output, this is impossible. It turns out that the calorie counter is half right. So take the calorie counter with a pinch of salt, divide any number given by 50 per cent and you should be okay, don’t get me wrong its still a great way to burn calories.
A full review is coming. I just need my arms to stop aching so much first:)
