Greed can be a dangerous trait to have. You keep wanting and wanting, trying to feel a void that for some, can never be filled. But when that greed becomes greater than we ever imagined that even wars would start, then it’s time to stop wanting and start trying to do what is right. But does developer Cactus VR Studio continue to allow our inner Cacti out, or do we become part of the crossfire? Let’s find out with Cactus Cowboy – Desert Warfare for the PlayStation VR2.
Cactus Cowboy – Desert Warfare is an action-packed VR experience where it’s an alright war between the bugs and the cactus that will take us into the act of war. So before you go in shooting every bug in sight, there are a few things that you should be aware of. First, as always, find your favorite place to sit. Second, make sure those Sense controllers are charged. You don’t want to be shot down while in a chopper because you forgot to do so. Third, I am not going to spoil anything for anyone. And finally, just have some fun. With all that said…let’s continue…
If you haven’t played one of the fun PlayStation VR2 launch titles called, Cactus Cowboy – Plants at War, you might want to go play it. First, it’s free, and second, it will at least give you some idea of what to expect. If you don’t want to wait, no one is stopping you, just make sure you go play that one as well because you can never have enough Cacti in your life.
When you first start, make sure you go into options to make sure that Adaptive Triggers and Headset Vibrations are turned on as it does add to the experience. You may want to also go into the movement portion of the Settings so you can decide if you want to have Snap Turn on or off, select Left-Hand mode if you are left-handed, as well as have the fixed height mode on or off. Once you have everything the way you would like it, it’s time to actually get in the game.
Playing as a new recruit, you will be greeted by one General Cacti. If you want to skip the training, then head for the General’s helicopter as he cannot legally force you to go through the training. But you might want to go through the training if nothing else so you don’t have to sign any waivers for touching any of the equipment. Also, feel free to move around the base at your own pace. It’s not like a war or anything is going on where your assistance is needed or anything. But going through the training does allow you to learn the basics of moving, jumping, and using weapons.
So after testing movement and going through training, it’s time to start the reason why you enlisted, to help serve and protect all of the Cacti’s freedom. Meanwhile, at an excavation site, it seems that you and your coworker Carl, discovered an old tomb that gets attacked by the bug army. You know, the same army we thought we handled from Plants at War? Well, it seems they have a new leader now who cast a mysterious power into so-called caves that start a full-scale invasion of the Cactus World as we know it. That’s when you, Cowboy Cactus, and your team are called in to handle the situation. So being Cowboy Cactus, you are in no way going to let some bugs ruin your say or world. In fact, you are going to take things into your own cactus arms and show those bugs who the actual boss is.
While you are trying to get from point to point, you will have different variations of the bug army trying to shoot at you. Dodging the gunfire is not hard, but it becomes more of a challenge when you are trying to concentrate on hitting your targets, ejecting ammo, grabbing new ammo, and then trying to reload your weapons. But the good thing is that you have a chance to replenish your health if you can you can find Hilga, the flower, who will nurse you back to health. You also have chances to find money just lying around. Make sure you grab all the money you can as you can then use this to upgrade your weapons from skins to the grips.
Let’s talk about the graphics and sound. With the graphics, they still work. You have this cartoon-style art that works really for this type of setting. There is no need for an ultra-realistic graphic setting that you might see something like off of Discovery +, even though having that type of mode may actually not be a bad idea. Explosions make themselves known with a pop of color and even the variety of enemies is a great touch and yes, that does include all the spiders that are thrown in. With the sound, you hear everything loud and clear in that Cowboy Cactus way that we have all become accustomed to.
There are a few things that I would love to see. For one, even more types of weapons. We do get a variety of weapons, but it would be pretty fun to have a rocket launcher on our backs that we could use at any time. Second, the weapons belt. I would love to be able to manually adjust the height for this as there were a few times when I would go to grab for a weapon and grab the one that was in my belt instead. Third, more vehicles. One of my favorite missions is being a gunner from the chopper and it just left me wanting more of these types of missions. And finally, just more Cowboy Cactus titles in the future.
Cowboy Cactus – Desert Warfare continues the path of destruction to let our inner Cacti come out and play with more of not taking itself too seriously and just wants you to have fun. It’s a game that you can go from start to finish or take a break here & there and easily get back into the swing of things without missing a beat. Sometimes we go through life without taking a break and just enjoy what life has to offer, but it’s when we can finally see what life has to offer do we we fully appreciate it that much more.
Cowboy Cactus – Desert Warfare is now out for the Quest 2,3, Pro via Oculus App Lab on the Oculus Store, PlayStation VR2 on the PlayStation Store, and Steam VR. A review code was provided.
To learn more about Cactus VR Studios, please visit their site, like them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter, and subscribe to the YouTube channel.
In case you missed the trailer, please enjoy. Until next time, I’m going back to some desert warfare.
