Three Fields Entertainment released their Lethal VR on the HTC Vive via Steam and now the game comes to the Playstation VR. The premise is rather simple as you step into the shoes of a recruit FBI agent and undertake various target practice stages. The game also comes with a low asking price of £9.99 so you can expect the game to offer some quick fix VR gaming rather than a fully fledged adventure game. That said, ultimately is Lethal VR worth your time and money?
In a nutshell, Lethal VR is a fun game but in many ways is one of many target based games afforded to VR gamers. Aside from blowing up zombies, robots and other stationary objects in other games, this one offers more of the same except under the guise of target practice for agents. You’ll face off against moving targets, those with time limits and others which will test your accuracy as in don’t hit the civilian being held hostage. The underlying onus is on speed and it’s here where you can compare times on a local leaderboard to see who’s top agent.
There’s not much to the gameplay aside from using a variety of weapons including some novelty items lifted from James Bond movies such as the Golden Gun. It’s not all firearms though as throwing stars and knives play their roles and interestingly as you delve deeper into the 30 odd stages you’ll have to mix and match where in one hand it’s a pistol and the other throwing knives. The objectives here require specific targets to be shot and the others to be impaled by knife.
At the end of the day this is a fun game to play in small doses. It’s intense and challenging especially if you’re the type who aims to continually get better with a one more go attitude.
Looking at the technical aspects and the Playstation VR move controllers work very well here once set up correctly, although some of the knife throwing seems more problematic when it comes to aiming accurately. The action of throwing seems to be flawless but aiming at the centre of a target might take several attempts. The game can be played seated in a relatively small area but for best results standing is preferred. There’s little lateral movement beyond 180 degrees so this is pretty playable for those who would rather chill than get fully involved standing and also means sickness shouldn’t be an issue for newcomers.
In terms of visuals it’s a simple looking game with the view distance deliberately kept close to avoid loss of clarity. Players remain inside a chamber which warps and moves for each exercise. The menu interface is also pretty easy to navigate which means the game is open to players of all ages. If there’s really any negative to be levelled at the game is the fact there’s no characterization at all. The premise of being an agent isn’t realized at all where there’s no introduction to make you feel like you’re being tested for some higher purpose. You could easily reverse the roles here and simply be training for bad guys considering the weapons being used here.
Lethal VR is a basic game that aims to test the speed, accuracy and target acquisition of the player. It’s a fun game in small doses and perhaps in this regard is a good fit for VR gamers who don’t require long and drawn out experiences. It’s also a fun game to play when there are others to compete with locally. It’s a shame then no second screen controller support is included here for party play which could have spiced things up quite a bit.
So, in answer to the question above, there’s little to criticise the game on a technical level aside from thrown objects being problematic. It’s a functional game that lacks any bells and whistles. It’s also pretty tame compared to some of the other shooter games available (no blood and gore or spookiness) which makes it open to wider audiences. Lethal VR is a cheap game at under a tenner to play but over the longer term might not hold your interest as much unless you’ve got some friends over and look to challenge each other. If you’re looking for a game which can ease friends and family into VR without inducing fear and sickness then this is not bad and can be recommended. For more hardcore players there’s perhaps too little here to be worthy of your time beyond the novelty factor of beating and unlocking all the challenges which you can accomplish within an afternoon.
Score 7/10