Developer / Publisher – Trickster Games
Price – US $14.99 / EU €N/A / UK £N/A / AU $N/A
Release date – September 18th, 2018
Control Method – 2 x Motion Tracked Controllers
Pro Enhanced – No
Digital only – Yes
Reviewed on – PS4 Pro
Orcs, they are never shed in a good light (except in Warcraft) and for good reason. They are vile disgusting creatures hell bent on humanity’s destruction by any means necessary and more often then not, it’s up to you to vanquish these dastardly foes. Trickster VR tasks you with just that pitting you against the enemy horde in wave after wave of unrelenting action in dynamic environments that ensure you never play the same stage twice.
The action gets close more often than not!
Fantasy action is the name of the game here and those familiar with Skyrim will feel very at home with the Move controllers at play, no DS4 support here. Initially you armed with a sword and shield for melee and a bow and arrow for your ranged attack. What makes this way more immersive than other brawlers of this type is that enemy armour matters meaning that if you hit their shoulder guard, helmet or whatever, your hits will do substantially less damage. It’s really satisfying to strategically attack a lone orc, block his attacks with your shield then cutting into his exposed flesh. As you progress through the 35-stage campaign, everything only gets more difficult with new enemy types and objectives popping up to keep the action feeling somewhat fresh. There is a loot system in place that allows you to buy upgrades in the form of increased modifiers to specific weapons and whether you fail or succeed in that mission, you are always acquiring loot, so progression is assured, regardless of how good you are or aren’t. You also unlock an assortment of weapons from dual swords, a magic wand, frying pan and a few more options which do change the way you pay the game. Comfort options are also available for those looking adjust the game to their liking and I turned them all off and went for free movement over teleportation.
Trickster VR has a visual style that pops. Orcs are very cartoonish and remind me of the Warhammer version of those creatures and come in a wide variety of forms ranging from simple armourless peons to shamans with glowing fists and huge bosses covered in armour. While you will see a tonne of orcs and the same models over and over, the variety they come in makes each successive wave feel unique. What is very impressive is the level design, which basically boils down to a series of floating islands stitched together to create a stage. Some levels have you climbing up, or down or traversing huge bridges or old castle ruins and the draw distance in here makes the scale of these stages very impressive! Blimps may show up, dropping off enemy troops and some levels feature unique enemies that you may only see a handful of times. Enemies rag doll and react to your hits and blocks giving a nice sense of immersion rarely seen in games of this type though everyone has a health bar so don’t expect a 1 to 1 reaction to your attacks. You do have a few lives available to you should you fall in battle which allows you to hop right back into the action a few seconds after you have fainted.
The draw distance makes these stages look breathtaking!
The sound is also great with the Orcs constantly spouting out lines of just how they are going to kill you as well as screaming, grunting and all manor of orcish behaviors. The guardian, a crystal in your hub area, offers advice and commentary on your attacks though his quips are pretty generic at times stating that you need to do better after getting your butt kicked. Still, when there is some extra treasure around, he lets you know it’s in the area so make sure you look about. The music that plays reminded me a lot of the Elder Scrolls series and I mean that in a good way with the music having a fantasy feel that fits perfect with the action.
What the PSVR version of this game is missing from its PC counterpart is a coop multiplayer mode meaning the entire campaign must be played through all by your lonesome. It’s so unfortunate that this has been excluded, apparently due to the lack of power in the original PS4, as playing this with friends is an absolute blast. Because of this, Trickster does feel very hard at times with enemies coming at you from multiple paths which only really occurs during the final section of a campaign level, but happens steadily during the wave defense missions, which end up just feeling unfair when your weapons are lower level. Another very odd choice is that the turn buttons are mapped to the same controller as the walk/teleport button, so you can’t walk and turn at the same time making this feel like you are controlling a tank, not a warrior.
Muwahahaha!!!
Trickster VR is a very competent wave battler with a fair bit of depth. The mission may start to feel the same, though the inclusion of some light objectives does mix up the action a tiny but. I am crushed that multiplayer was excluded from the PSVR version, but with that said, once I got past that, I still had fun playing the campaign. Getting surrounded turns into a bit of a waggle fest as you try and climb your way out of a dire situation, but the smaller battles feel great as you block and parry your opponents’ attacks hitting their openings and weak spots. If you are looking for and a first-person fantasy brawler, Trickster for the PSVR is an all-around solid single player game.
What would I pay? This gets a little tricky as The PC Version outclasses the PSVR version with the inclusion of 4-player co-op and is actually cheaper. If you have the PC version, then I highly recommend that version. With that that said. There is enough content in the single player to justify the $15 price tag and if you were a fan of Raw Data for the PSVR, this is kind of the Fantasy Spiritual Successor to that title.
Trickster Games provided The VR Grid with a code for this title and, regardless of this review, we thank them for that!
