If you had a chance to make a deal to become the rockstar you have always wanted to be, would you take it without any hesitation? What do you think you would do as a rockstar and what would your reputation be? Maybe you sing such an original song that it connects everyone for peace. Maybe you play an instrument that everyone knows as soon as it plays? It’s always nice to dream about what we would do even if we didn’t possess the talent to do so. So does developer Wolf & Wood Interactive show us the lifestyle and reputation of being a rockstar? Let’s find out with Hotel R’n’R for PlayStation VR2.
Hotel R’n’R is the gonzo VR rockstar simulator that encourages bad behavior. Sell your soul to The Devil, smash up hotels, and become Infamous. Pressure from hotel staff and your own limp wrists are against you, but with over 36 weapons, and a World Tour ahead of you, it’s time to get creative. Hit up the varied ‘Challenge mode’ or try out ideas at your own pace in ‘Sandbox mode’. Hotel R’n’R is a satirical journey of selling your soul and then trying to take it back along the way there’s no shortage of luxury hotels, sarcastic maids, and ragdoll physics mayhem.
So before trying to live out your rockstar life, there are a few things to know about. First, have some room. You will be moving your arms and hands throughout your career, so you don’t want to hit anyone or anything. Second, make sure those Sense controllers are charged. You don’t want to be causing all the damage you can only to be caught all because you forgot to charge them, do you? Finally, just have some fun. This is what being a rockstar is about, right? With all that said, let’s continue…
When you first start the game, you are presented with a warning to be cautious of your surroundings. So again, make sure you have some space or at least some arm-length space before continuing. Also, the game does have leaderboards, and your “Online ID” will be shown next to your score. If you don’t want this to happen, don’t check the box, otherwise, like in the game, you will sign your life away (not really, but for dramatic purposes, I am leaving it here). Now, that we have that out of the way, your life as a rockstar can finally begin.
Starting on stage, it’s you in a bar, with the ever so happy-to hear you of a crowd that are booing you and your existence. So what should a want-to-be rockstar do at that moment? Throw stuff at the crowd. So find whatever you can and throw it. I mean the worst that could happen would be a bar fight where a new song would be made about that night might happen. I think that is what happened as I was in nothing but darkness with a door that said follow the light. However, to move, you have to swing your arms as if you were walking or running. Keep in mind, that this setting can be changed. But as I moved towards the light, it was all a check as an elevator appeared which was the way to meet the devil who let me know all my dreams could come true, even though I didn’t have any talent, if I just signed. By doing so, you have now agreed to “give your soul to the devil”.
This leads you to the backstage area where you will have some choices to make. The main part of being a rockstar is how well your reputation is. Select Go and before you continue, in the lower left are the options that you will want to click on. The first thing you will want to do is turn off the arm swinger movement. If you enjoy moving by moving your arms, then by all means, keep it. But you may want to select the classic/controller rotation for how you would normally move in games. Something else to think about changing if you are comfortable enough with VR is changing the crouch from snap to smooth. But once you have all the settings the way that you like them, which can be changed at any time, it’s time to enter your room at the Crossroad Hotel. But before you enter, you will be presented with different challenges on the left that you want to try and complete so you can unlock the next hotel. Reaching different objectives will allow certain objects that you break worth more which just adds to your overall money. You will also have your “riders”, aka weapons, to select from once you have enough money to unlock them. Once you do, they will appear and you do get to keep them, so it’s not like you buy once and that’s it. Also, you have the opportunity to upgrade the item one time, so just keep that in mind. The game does give you one rider to start with, and that is the foam finger. So good luck with that. The riders will help in your quest to become the most infamous rockstar that the world has ever known. And to the right, you have the online leaderboards so you can see who is at the top.
Now, the object is pretty much to destroy the room as much as possible without being caught. So not only do you have free range to break and smash anything that you see, but you will also need to listen and be on the lookout for the staff and other individuals when they try to enter your room. Each room will have a case where you can select your rider/weapon to use for a time until they don’t last anymore. But that doesn’t mean you cannot use other items in the room to help you out.
As you start to earn money, you will need more powerful riders/weapons on your path to infamous greatness. Lucky for you, there is a Pawn to Die Shop for all your shopping needs. You just need to grab the scanner and look around. Some of these weapons are very creative and very expensive. But of course, you may try to scan more than what you can afford, which can easily be cleared out. You can even upgrade your attire, for a price. But the most important thing as you can see here, is hold on to your scanner because who knows how much that will cost if you keep dropping it. Once you purchase, you can either try out your weapon in the weapon testing range or head into the change room if you wish.
Once you are done, head back in the elevator to either go up to the backstage area, go down into Purgatory, or even Hell with the devil. In Purgatory, you get to play a variety of mini-games, but the good thing about the mini-games is not only do you have quite a few to play, but it is a nice way to earn money for your rockstar spending style and safe codes for the different hotel rooms. The games have some creative themes such as “The Sin of Greed” where you are underwater due to a car crashing into a swimming pool and it will be up to you to collect all that you can and put it in the trunk of the car before time runs out. There is Envy, The Devil’s Workshop where you try and cause as much damage as possible to the vehicle from the variety of tools within the shop. There is even William Hell, where you are trying to shoot the apples off the heads without any actual killings, and, of course, you can’t have mini-games without Skee Head just to name a few.
There are other ways to play in Hotel R’n’R. You have the Sandbox Mode where it’s just you, your frustrations in life, and the rooms without any distractions. There is also the Up for a Challenge, where you can go in Solo or local multiplayer. In this mode, you will have each setlist mash up the rules to provide a unique challenge. But for those that love leaderboards, completing the set will get your name on the board which is always fun to try and do better.
Let’s talk about the graphics and sound. Yes, has been on PlayStation VR, but here on PlayStation VR2, the graphics look good. From the details of the weapons to the way the animations of the objects when they were breaking to just being able to read the descriptions of everything was as clear as could be. With the sound, every break, crack, and explosion sounded as they should. Then you have the rocking soundtrack that is played throughout and lowers just a little so the hotel staff can be heard very clearly adding to the fun of it all.
There are a few things that would be great to see. First, more weapons. You can never have too many weapons. Second, online Co-op. Being able to smash the different rooms with your friends and then complete the different set list challenges would be interesting and fun. And finally, even more content. It would be fun to have an even more variety of rooms to cause chaos with additional hotel staff trying to catch you.
Hotel R’n’R gives us the room to smash and bash as an infamous rockstar who is just trying to live out the dream. It doesn’t take itself too seriously while providing all the tools for a good time. Sometimes we get so caught up in life that we forget the things that matter the most. Sometimes we just need to take the time to do so or those fish-slapping memories may just pass us by.
Hotel R’n’R is out now for PlayStation VR2 and is also available for PlayStation VR on the PlayStation Store, Oculus Rift/S on the Meta Store, and Steam VR. A review code was provided.
To learn more about Wolf & Wood Interactive, please visit their site, follow them on Twitter, and subscribe to their YouTube channel.
In case you missed the trailer, please enjoy. Until next time, I am going to try and climb some leaderboards.
