Think about the times when you were around a campfire and ghost stories were being told. It was a special time as the sounds around you in darkness other than the light of the campfire would almost come alive adding to the fear of it all. Tales being told from the ones before us, hold a special place in our memories and heart. But does the developer, Carbon Studio, allow us to live through the adventures of those telling the tales? Let’s find out with Crimen – Mercenary Tales for the Quest 2.
Crimen – Mercenary Tales is s a VR hack-and-slash adventure game set in a comic book-inspired world where players take on the role of different mercenaries, each with their own unique abilities and playstyles where you try to complete a series of quests, defeat enemies, and collect loot. So before slashing at whatever comes your way and trying to take all the loot, there are a few things that you should be aware of. First, make sure you have some arm’s length to play. You can play standing or sitting, but you don’t want to hit anyone or anything and then regret your actions later in life. Second, make sure your headset and Touch controllers are charged. You don’t want to be in a heated battle because you are trying to take all the loot only to have something run out of juice because you forgot to make sure everything was fully charged and ready to go, do you? Third, I am not going to spoil anything for anyone as you wouldn’t want anything spoiled for you in a tale being told. And finally, get ready to have some fun. With all that said, let’s continue…
When you first start, you might want to go into settings so you can adjust things the way that you would like such as your Movement Hand, Rotation Mode & Speed, and Game Audio preferences. Once you are ready to begin, select New Game and that is when you will notice a few things. One is the fantastic art style that is used and that really works here. And the other, you will notice the world that puts its comic book world and immerses you in its glory. Since the very beginning serves as your tutorial where you will learn how to move, climb, and use your weapon, one of the very first things you have to do is search for your donkey friend. As you move along the area, it’s when you enter different sections that the narration appears both visually and auditory which helps guide you along.
After finding your donkey, this is where things start to get a little more interesting. As you head inside the tavern, you will come across some different characters that want to tell you their stories. To do so, you must give them a high five to have their story to start. Each character narrates their own story that you are the star in. I found this to be an interesting concept that kept me wanting to play. The story settings vary from shipwrecks where you will need to fight some skellington pirates to the strange world of Baba Yoga.
Besides the mele fighting, there will be the climbing aspects where it is not just by climbing a ladder to get to a higher location but having to climb sideways to get to the higher points. If you fall, then you will need to start over from the closest point from which you have fallen. Climbing is not difficult, but there were a few times when I fail when I grabbed on the ledge. There will also be puzzles that will need to be solved. Don’t think too hard about these as the answers may be in plain sight.
When facing enemies, you do get a sense of how they will attack. This is great if it is you versus one enemy, but when it starts to become multiple enemies versus you at the same time, things can become a little challenging. This is where making sure you have enough arm’s length space comes into play as you will be swinging swords to attack. Some weapons such as guns and bows and arrows don’t require as much room, but it is better to be safe than sorry later on. I did find the tracking with my movements to be pretty spot on, which comes in handy when you have to face the bosses for each story.
Let’s talk about the graphics and sound. As I mentioned earlier, the art style that is used works extremely well. From the different story atmospheres to the way the lighting is used, just immerses you in the story that makes you feel that you are part of this comic book world. With the sound, hearing the movement of the different voices that are used that represent each story, just brings everything full circle of some escaping of reality fun times.
There are a few things that I would love to see. First, more challenging fights. What we have here is a game that anyone of any age can pick up and play which is great all around. But for some players who may want more of a challenge, it would be good to have different difficulty options. And finally, I would love for the game to have been longer. You do have eight different stories, which were different in their own ways, but left me thinking of additional story ideas that could be added. So hopefully there will be some additional stories in the future.
Crimen – Mercenary Tales put us at the forefront of the adventures in a comic book world while just trying to have some fun along the way. We go through life without taking the time to hear the stories being told, but if we would just take the time and make the effort, who knows how the adventures of our lives would be different?
Crimen – Mercenary Tales is out now for the Quest 2/Pro on the Oculus Store and Pico. A review code was provided.
To learn more about Carbon Studio, please visit their site, like them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter, and subscribe to their YouTube channel.
