Mortal Blitz Review (PSVR)
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.
Mortal Blitz is a Playstation VR shooter from Korean developer Skonec Entertainment. With some of the VR games coming out of Asia seeming rushed, for example Weeping Doll (you can read my review here) – does Mortal Blitz follow the same trend?
The game starts off with a very simple and easy to follow tutorial and gives you a feel of how to play the game, then its straight onto the opening mission and the start of the story. Now I use the word story lightly, where there is meant to be one, it just jumps about so much it becomes nonsensical – it seems like it should have had some sort of cut-scenes to explain, but they were missing. From what I got you start by finding a robot on your beginning mission, as it is badly damaged you work on discovering what data it holds, and then set off a missile – that is practically all I got.
Visually Mortal Blitz is quite stong, very polished and very shiny to look at – it is quite evident that the game has been made using the Unreal 4 engine, as it gives off that Gears of War feel. To me everything is well polished in the game, from the guns straight in front of you, the AI characters/enemies, and even the textures that make up the levels – this makes it very appealing to play, and adds some immersion to the game.
Mortal Blitz takes some gameplay elements from two great games, it really feels like Time Crisis VR with the added little bit from Bulletstorm. The main gameplay being a shooter is very much like the light gun genre from the 90’s – but as just mentioned most notably Time Crisis. You will find that the enemies just come running in and take cover whenever you’re not getting a hail of bullets flying at you. However, as well as taking them out by shooting them, the enemy may become groggy this is where Bulletstorm comes in. As well as your guns you are also equipped with a laser-esc leash you can grab them with and throwing them in the air – then que the slow motion and you chance to take them out mid-air for bonus points.
I know you’ll be asking “so why notably Time Crisis for the shooting part?” Well I’ll answer this now – as well as the options to shoot and leash enemies, you also have to take cover behind objects if your taking damage. In this element of the game I found that it was best to play the game is stood-up if possible, for me this just seemed more responsive than when sat down. At times when I was sat down I just couldn’t get it to cover enough and was still taking damage.
Given the two elements that Skonec Entertainment have sort of blended together it made this a unique experience in what is available in the Playstation VR shooters that are currently available, and I would say the gameplay is a strong selling point for Mortal Blitz.
Control wise the controls respond well and work ok in the most part. I just found it can be quite fiddly, if you want to dual wield weapons (which can be important at times) and then switch to leash someone, for most I played the most the game with only one gun when possible to try to maximise the score I got on the level. For the movement in the game I am happy to say they have used the teleport system – which for me works better and minimises the motion sickness for people who suffer from this.
What they have done well is given mixed options for the controls. The game requires you to use two controllers – and its recommended you use two move controllers. But, lets say you don’t have two move controllers you can use a move controller and the Dual Shock 4 using it motion sensor in the other hand. Unfortunately due to not having two Dual Shock 4’s I can not say if two of those can be used – but from looking around the internet I would say it is not.
Length wise this is a short outing with the total of five missions if you are playing through the story, but you can always go back and try to get better scores and grades once it is done. What I can say is even though it was a short experience I enjoyed it while it lasted. However, to add more longevity they have added a 50 level training mode, which becomes a test in patience, frustration and skill at about level 30 on-wards. Now where this might sound like a chore and just a bolted on extra, there is cosmetic rewards from skins or laser sight colours for your pistol unlocked by completing the training.
Finally I would like to add that at the end of the game it informs this just the first episode, so there could be more to come – although it does not say if these will be free or paid for updates. But, given that none of the other episodic games have yet yo release any more parts at the moment, this could be a long wait.
Please note: This game is not currently available in the EU, but my understanding is that this will be available in the future.
Conclusion
Mortal Blitz does it’s best at and for me manages to become the best shooter available on the Playstation VR to date. This is due to its Time Crisis VR meets Bulletstorm feel, making a unique entrance into the VR gaming market. But, it does have some flaws due to length of the campaign mode, and how the cover tracking suffers when sitting down – meaning it may not be accessible to some people
Also available on HTC Vive and Oculus Rift
Developer: Skonec Entertainment
Article originally created for http://www.gamesbulletin.uk
