High Noon VR Review (HTC Vive/Oculus Rift)
For the purposes of transparency, this review was created using a code provided by the company or their respective PR company. The use of a review code does not affect my judgement of the game.
There is a new wave based shooter in town, yes another wave based shooter! Hight Noon VR is available on both the HTC Vive/Oculus Rift – does this do enough to clean up the town in the high populated genre or is it chased out by others?
In High Noon VR you are the new Sheriff in town, and as you expect in any Western movie/show premise in the game you are expected to clear out this town of the bandits. So, that is what the story and aim of the game is based around, the simple but only premise you could really bring being a new Sheriff in a Western setting.
Again as you would expect from the fact this is a wave based shooter, the gameplay is all about taking the waves out with the guns at your disposal. This is High Noon VR’s only aim, you are stood in the open right in the middle of that part of town, there is no moving around or cover to hide behind, it’s just you against the bandits in a pure shoot off. Now to keep the game fresh you will have a number of guns available as you purchase them, these come in the form of your standard guns like pistols and rifles, but opens up to the more fun and ridiculous harpoon and mini-gun. I really had so much fun with the harpoon gun, be attaching the enemy to parts of the environment, or sticking it in one of the outlaws on the roof and pulling them you, and using them as a human shield (your only type of cover, but requires that set gun). Don’t want them as shield? They have other uses like throwing them at others, stack them on an object or simply just put a bullet in their head.
As previously mentioned you have no cover system in place, meaning it is all about being quick on the draw and landing those headshots to clear out the enemies. The game does supply a quite hefty health bar to cover for the fact you have no cover, and really this makes the first half of the game quite easy, but after half way it starts to becoming a bit more difficult. Also at the end of each batch of waves/level you will face a tougher opponent in the boss battle, this is where your choice of weapon and how quickly you deal with the outlaws in the waves can be critical.
Now, what makes High Noon VR stand out from the others in crowd when it comes down to the nitty-gritty in this over-populated genre?… Given it’s price range you are not going to get better or more polished gunplay, unless you are dropping over double its price on something like Robo Recall or Superhot.
High Noon VR doesn’t only bring good gunplay with it, it also does a good job in the presentation department. Don’t get my wrong it is not going to blow you away in the visuals department, but it does come with a great style. Yes the character model and overall look are quite simple, but the cartoon style suits this. It will still make you feel like you are stood in the middle of this western town – so the immersion is there and with this gaming medium that’s the most important aspect of the presentation. You will also find some glitches in the audio as sometimes the voice of the narrator or the outlaws might suddenly end mid-conversation, but when it doesn’t although the lines come repetitive they will give you some laughs as the narrator can be light-hearted about the murder you are committing.
When it comes down the controls on both the Vive and Oculus they are simple, and keep your immersion in the game by doing so. On the Vive’s Tracked Motion Controllers you will be using only the trigger and the touch pad on each controller to shoot and reload. On the Oculus’s Touch Controllers you will be using the trigger and B and X to reload your weapons. So, simple but given the fact you are motionless it is all they needed. The tracking on both headsets worked fine, and it advised to play this from a standing position, however, seated works fine also.
When it comes to the time you can spend with the game, it comes with eight stages, and as aforementioned the first four will seem quite easy, then the second half will get a lot more difficult. Where getting through the eight stages will probably be done in couple hours, getting those weapon will drag you back at first – as you have to buy these with in-game currency you get from playing the stages. But, given the brilliant and smooth gameplay once you have all the weapons you will find yourself going back to play the stages again, even when you have unlocked everything.
Conclusion
High Noon VR brings with some of the smoothest and brilliant gunplay in this wave based shooter genre, and given its low price of £7.19 it ranks up there with some of the more pricey well polished titles like Robo Recall. Yes, it has some slight flaws in the presentation department, but it still keeps your 100% immersed in the game. If you are looking for a wave based shooter whether you are new to the VR platform or even a veteran, do yourself a favour and jump into the Western setting and get to feel like the gunslinger it will make you.
Developer: Octobox Interactive
