“The ship is home. The ship is safe. The ship is your key to escape.” These great words have very true meaning when it comes to Cavernous Wastes by PouncingKitten Games. A game that slipped under the radar and had no real coverage or exposure, but totally works in VR. With a Descent playstyle with 6 degrees of freedom, it only takes a few minutes to get used to your ship as you zoom through the caves with ease and something so simple is so fun to play as you explore.
When you start, the game does not tell you much nor does it hold your hand and guide you. But the more you explore, the more it will reveal itself with diary journal logs to let you know exactly what happened and why you are here. The caves are random, so you are never sure what may appear. There are enemies that you will need to destroy and gather power-ups to help you along the way. And this is what is so great about VR and games like Cavernous Wastes. You don’t always have to know what is going on. You don’t always have to have your handheld. You get to explore and figure out what is going on and that is what I truly appreciate about this.
The controls are really very simple…control with the left stick, aim with the right and the D-pad lets you go up and down and strafe and the L1 and R1 let you rotate. Now the further you get into exploring Cavernous Wastes the more frantic it will become with enemies firing at you, so make sure you grab those power-ups and don’t waste those rockets or missiles. Now keep in mind PlayStation VR is optional, but truly recommended to add the immersion this game brings.
I didn’t want to get into the story as that is part of the fun of learning what is going on. But it is important to know that PouncingKitten Games only has one person. Yes, only one person made Cavernous Wastes and you can tell he put a ton of time and passion into this and to think that this was a dream of just one person! It goes to show that you don’t always have to have this budget and mass production values to actually bring a gem that is not always found and a dream that does not always become a reality to make an experience as wonderful as this.
Cavernous Wastes is out now. A review code was provided. To learn more about PouncingKitten Games, please visit their site, follow them on Twitter and subscribe to their YouTube channel.
In case you missed the trailer, please enjoy.
Mr. PSVR, July 17, 2017, theplaystationbrahs.com
