Having had the chance to test several VR shooting games (including the fun Guns 'n' Stories: Bulletproof VR which took place at the Far Wars or the brutal VR Invaders), it is with a certain expectation that I launched in the adventure of Bravo Team, released on PlayStation 4 VR at the beginning of March, hoping to find the thrills of these shooting games so adapted to the support of virtual reality.
At the start of the game, the interface is quite confusing, because the different game modes are grayed out, you must first go through the partner's choice menu and opt for a possibility: play online, play with a friend or play with the AI. Only then, the parts are unlocked with, again, several possible choices depending on the case:
- online cooperation mode (if online partner)
- solo game (if AI partner)
- online / single player co-op score attack mode
- tutorial in single player mode (if AI partner)
Character customization is limited to selecting one of three different avatars for each gender, with no other options, so don't expect your alter ego to look like you (unless it's coincidental), you'll have to do with what's there. at. Same on the outfit side, they only wear one lattice (and do not change).
That chosen, I landed in the middle of a city with a fairly basic decor and emptied of everything that ordinarily exists in a city! The rendering is correct, without being of extraordinary quality. The sound environment is also classic, with action thriller music, but the place does not give the impression of being really inhabited, the sound effects being limited to close sounds (shots, not ...). In the tutorial phases, the instructions are given on the low walls that serve as a cover, but, as a result, the text is partially hidden by the character's head, forcing them to twist in order to successfully read (or climb on a chair). to be higher, but I do not recommend such acrobatics!).
Movement is not free and is therefore limited to defined cover locations indicated by white markers when accessible. The title is therefore played sitting down, without the possibility of taking control of our super-soldier in his environment. Only the head rotates, coupled with an animation of the unrealistic model that makes him take impossible postures (unless he has the genes of an owl to turn his head 360 °).
I tested to get started with the controller, after all they indicate that the game supports the classic controller so I lent myself to the exercise. But forget immediately, it is laborious because the weapon is wedged on the position of the lever, which makes the accuracy of the shot catastrophic, not to mention that in addition to playing the owl, the hero ends up with his weapon across of the skull ... The movement is just as difficult because the markers are displayed only a very short time, leaving only one or two seconds to choose the direction (suddenly) or otherwise the character does not move any more , forcing then either to get up (and to put oneself in danger) to reactivate the marker, or to turn back. With the PS Moves, it improves even if the whole remains very erratic. If you really want to get out of it, you need a priori the Aim Controller, without having had the opportunity to test, not having this accessory (nothing indicated that this is necessary in the details of the game) ...
Interaction with AI is very limited, there are only two orders to collaborate with its partner: move forward or wait. We cannot speak of a collaboration, the AI does (more or less) its cleaning job, it is up to us to kill what remains without taking too many bullets while struggling to move forward, even if it means waiting for the AI pushes herself because she squats the best angle of shot (which therefore becomes inaccessible as long as the partner remains there). It will therefore be necessary to play with a real player to feel the "team" effect promised by the title.
The FPS is quite simple, very arcade oriented. On the one hand, fortunately, because I can no longer count the number of times I have found myself exposed, dying stupidly. But here comes the partner who revives my character, without any penalty or limitation. As long as one of the two is alive, the war continues and as he can take a phenomenal amount of bullets, we arrive at stupid strategies where everything depends on the loop resuscitation of our character, the enemies being totally disabled as soon as 'they find themselves facing someone in contact (with aberrations of the kind that we do not even react when we pass by them, staying focused on our partner from a distance).
The hero only has two weapons at the start, an assault rifle and a handgun. Then he subsequently retrieves a sniper rifle (often useless) and a well-nagged pump shotgun that cleans a corridor with outrageous efficiency, no need to go into detail. Ammunition crates abound, it suffices to sprinkle, without trying to save, without the need for strategy, on the bad guys who land in droves. We go up tight spaces, sometimes a train, sometimes a street, then we come to a larger place, like a square, where the bad guys are even more numerous, always so stupid, without developing any tactics to try to overwhelm us despite their numerical superiority. The cover elements are not destructible, so there is no tension on this side either, the fighting could drag on with each of the camps well hidden behind its low wall. Then they die and our team continues to other corridors ...
Bravo Team could be summed up in just a few words: moving from point to point, without freedom or reflection, then to saucer, to continue in an ultra linear scenario. It's quite a chill out, of course, but the laborious controls make it all quite frustrating and repetitive, and ultimately not very fun, far from the thrill of virtual reality combat. I can hardly recommend the title to you, especially if you do not have the Aim Controller, especially considering its rather steep price of 39,99 €.
Bravo Team (PSN Store)
