They warned that war was not pretty. They said there would be casualties and that my life may be gone in one blink of an eye. But I didn’t care, it was who I was meant to be. For I was a Joe…a G.I. Joe…part of an elite team and this is my story. But does Developer Mastiff help make the story complete? Let’s find out with Heavy Fire: Red Shadow for the PlayStation VR.
Before we go any further, I want to point out that Heavy Fire: Red Shadow is played in full 360 degrees. That means if you are wanting to sit, then you have some choices to make. If you have a swivel chair, get that, but remember that your PlayStation VR headset is still attached by a cord to your PlayStation 4/PRO and you wouldn’t want anything to happen. If you do not have a swivel chair, there is an option in settings, under Gameplay, and then select Attach View to Turret. This way you will be able to rotate in all 360 degrees without worrying about any cords that you may have, but by selecting this, there may be a chance for a little motion sickness for some. I personally didn’t experience in any way, shape or form. But I just wanted for those who may be starting out with Virtual Reality or for those who may have to build up a tolerance to be prepared and if nothing else, there is a non-VR mode included.
But what is Heavy Fire: Red Shadow all about? This new installment of the series has you battling with North Korea who has somehow gained the trust of Soth Korea and feels the need to do things as they seem and the United States is not going to stand for it. Playing as Sgt. Will, it will be your job on turret duty and defend. But it’s not going to be easy, but being part of the elite…you got this.
So make sure your DualShock 4 controller is fully charged and get ready to take out waves of enemies. What I do like is the circle around where you are aiming as this is also the indicator of where the enemies are and where they are coming from. So with all the action is going on and you are trying to figure out where you are taking the most damage from, this is where you be able to tell.
There are plenty of enemies to take care of. You have enemy soldiers, you have boats out in the distance and even enemies riding in vehicles to name a few. What I was not expecting were the enemies who run fast like they have been part of some “experiment” of super-soldier supremacy running up to you and then explode right on you. I mean really…really? But yea they will come and they will go bang, so make sure you take out every enemy as best as you can because there is no love lost here.
What I also like is how you start off with a machine gun as well as rockets which are limited. Great thing you can call in air support that will deliver extra supplies such as health and weapons. Another great thing about air support is the ability to have them attack enemies from above. But when the air support starts to run out, get ready to call in the ground troops as they will be beneficial as well…that is until they die because you were to busy trying to be the war hero and not actually covering your team. R.I.P. team…R.I.P…you will be missed.
When enemies are riding in vehicles, you can shoot them which when they crash and explode it gives you that satisfactory feeling. But I did notice something with a few of the vehicles. What is the A-Team and either Mystery Machine and/or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle van doing here? I mean it’s great that they are here for support…unless they are not here for our support and in fact, are being held against their will and forced to be here…that must be it.
As you defeat the waves of enemies, there are checkpoints that you will be able to reach. You also have the ability to upgrade not only your weapons but your health and support skills…go air support upgrade. Some upgrades may take 1 point, while others take more. So depending on how much points you earned by being promoted or completing side missions, will determine how much you can upgrade. What I also enjoyed is that some of the environments are destructible and it just adds to the chaos.
When you are through with the campaign there is an endless mode you can attempt where are just endless waves of enemies and without someone yelling at you…I mean telling in you a very compassionate way of things that can and should be done. There are some things I wish were here. I would love if there were global leaderboards so that you can see who is the best in the world. Sometimes it’s just fun to beat your friends, send them a message and see if they can beat your score. Also, yes you are on a turret, but it would just be awesome to have Aim controller support. Does it need it? No, but it would just be an added bonus.
Sound-wise the explosions are loud, you can hear when then gunfire is going off, and hearing the planes fly above you really sounds like something is about to happen. Plus when you have enemies scream at you as they are about to run up to you so they can explode near you along with all the other action going on is a nice touch.
Graphically speaking in VR, your machine gun looks sharp and explosions are nice to look at as they explode in pieces. Distances are not as sharp and some of the enemies are hard to make out. But this doesn’t make it not playable, it’s just with all the action going on, your focus is not going to be in the far distance as it will with the action that is closer to you. Playing in non-VR will have a bigger graphical boost, but you don’t get the immersion as you do with VR. The great thing is the Developer is already working on a patch that will help improve on some things.
Well, my story is far from over, but knowing is half the battle. Heavy Fire: Red Shadow shows that sometimes it is fun just to go in and let out some aggression with anything that may cross your path and honestly isn’t that’s a lot better than other ways to let some aggression out?
Heavy Fire: Red Shadow is out now on PlayStation VR and if you want to play in VR made sure to get the VR add-on. But if you want to try it out first, there is a demo available. A review code was provided.
To learn more about Heavy Fire: Red Shadow please visit the site. To learn more about Mastiff, please visit their site, like them on Facebook, and follow them on Twitter.
In case you missed the trailer, please enjoy. Until next time, I am going back in and upgrading my air support.
Mr. PSVR, November 4, 2018, theplaystationbrahs.com
