Jed Whitaker's Reviews
The beauty of Epic Dumpster Bear is how it isn't afraid to say "This is fucking stupid and ugly, I admit that, but that's the point." The overall presentation somehow mixes great music and tight platforming with a hilariously dumb story and purchased assets to make something surprisingly playable and enjoyable. This one goes in the so bad its good category.
Whether you're a season Ratchet & Clank player or if you're new to the series, this one is well worth the budget asking price.
That said BlazeRush is easily recommendable as one of the experiences to show off your fancy new toy if you get a Rift. It certainly has that initial "wow factor" even though it isn't the kind of game that comes to mind when most people think virtual reality. It just isn't an experience I can recommend for gameplay as it leaves much to be desired; such as people to play with online, as there were none.
If you are tired of always playing Cards Against Humanity, Monopoly, and that Gargoyles board game on Laserdisc, then Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes will certainly give you the fix you're looking for, pending you have friends ready to be committed to the task at hand. If not, Gargoyles is always a good choice. Trust me.
Only clocking in at roughly two and a half hours, the whole experience is over rather quickly, but that's enough time to give players a clear satisfying story for those that paid attention to notes. It isn't all that innovative but truly, it doesn't have to be. If you're playing this, you're playing for the narrative.
I'd estimate the entire game took me around seven or eight hours maximum, though it could be finished quicker by skilled players. The deciding factor on whether or not Chronos is worth the $50 asking price is probably how much you love Zelda games or how hard up you are for something that feels like a fully-realized game for the Oculus Rift. Even with satisfying combat, an art style reminiscent of Guillermo del Toro, and virtual reality, I can't help but feel $50 is a smidgen too expensive. I guess that is the price you pay as an early adopter of VR.
Currently the best multiplayer experience on the Oculus Rift, if only the servers were more populated due to the bungled launch of the Rift. Easily recommendable once more people have headsets if you've got a hankering for space dogfighting.
Lucky's Tale comes free with the Oculus Rift headset, so you might as well play it, especially if you yearn for the colourful platformers of yesteryear.
Yet, I can't stress enough how much I loved The Call of Starseed, it hit all the right spots for me. The story feels like the dark adventure films of the '80s and '90s, the voicework is great, and the immersion is unmatched. If you've got an HTC Vive and can spare the $30, do yourself a favor and buy this game, you won't regret it. Those holding out for PS VR and Oculus Touch are in luck as well, as The Gallery is planned to release for those too.
Shadow of the Beast is as dull as it is brown, which is to say extremely. The platforming is clunky, the AI is bad, the story requires multiple playthroughs, the game defies its own logic, and it reeks of other laughably awful design decisions. Don't bother with this beast.
Unless you're an aquatic dinosaur fanatic who has a thing for submarines and listening to facts about dinosaurs, you're probably not going to enjoy this. Your time would be better spent at a local museum; at least they have the cool dinosaurs there and not just the underwater ones.
A decent hero-based shooter that is light on content and heavy on grinding for cosmetics, unless of course you'd like to buy some micro-transactions.
FATED: The Silent Oath is a two-hour long snooze-fest that serves as the first part of an episodic game that consists of mostly walking, and talking, neither of which are entertaining.
Aside from the graphics, everything here stinks, which makes sense because a lot of the game takes place in the sewers, and also because this game is crap.
If you're looking for a puzzle game that will make you both laugh and jump, I can easily recommend Please, Don't Touch Anything, even if you've played the original. For $15, you get hours of gameplay in a polished experience, which is a steal compared to most of the other expensive titles on the Oculus Store.
A beautiful yet bleak platformer that deals with serious topics while staying lighthearted, On Rusty Trails is easy to recommend for fans of platformers. If Pixar made a platformer, this would be it.
Edge of Nowhere could have easily been on other non-VR platforms and be passable as a budget title at around $20, but instead, here it is as an Oculus Rift exclusive costing double that thanks to what I'd call the 'VR tax,' which in this case is for a mostly worse experience. While there is an interesting story to be found, barely anything else here stands out as being original. It all feels very safe. Not a terrible game, not a great game, and from my point of view, not worth $40.
The developers of OmniBus decided to put humor over fun and created a game that might do well for a couple of Twitch streamers or YouTubers, as I can imagine it might be fun to watch. But it sure isn't fun to play.
If you're a fan of Nier and looking to get your fix until the proper sequel is out, it is easy to recommend Anima. RPGs rarely hold my attention but I happily sank my time into this one no problem. There's enough quality content here that it feels like the developer or publisher is selling itself short by setting the price so low, as I would have easily been satisfied with this at double the price. It's even more impressive knowing the game was developed by three people. Just know going in that toward the end, you're going to be frustrated with some boss fights, pending the developers don't tweak them in a future update.
This boring and bland game isn't the spiritual sequel to Mega Man we were hoping for. Mega Man is dead, long live Mega Man!