There may have been times when you have experienced unwelcomed visitors such as ants, flies, and other bugs that just added to your day that you did not want. Sure, you spray a can of Raid like there is no tomorrow in hopes that it would end your problem only to have them return. You can call an exterminator that most of the time works. But what if those unwelcomed visitors turn out to be spiders that can crawl anywhere just waiting while hanging out only for you to freak out and feel that you need to burn the whole neighborhood down to have peace of mind? Yes, our days can take a turn from happy very quickly if we allow it. But do developers Casey Donnellan Games & Charm Games along with publisher, Tiny Build, show us alternative and helpful hints for taking care of any spiders that may enter without knocking or asking permission? Let’s find out with Kill It With Fire VR for PlayStation VR2.
Kill It With Fire VR is a first-person action game about hunting spiders and causing collateral damage. Use whatever you can from bullets to fire to take out the spiders as they could be hiding anywhere. So before you go trying to get rid of all the spiders you can and act like you are David Arquette in Eight Legged Freaks, there are a few things that you should be aware of. First, make sure you have a little bit of movement space. I say this more for when you encounter those jump scares. Second, make sure those Sense controllers are charged. You don’t want to come across a spider boss only to not be able to fight back and become its new meal all because you forgot to charge them, do you? Third, if you are letting someone try out your headset and has arachnophobia, think hard before you try and scare them as some of your favorite objects or you may not live to tell the tales. And finally, just have some fun. With all that said, let’s continue…
Kill It With Fire VR is, of course, the Kill It with Fire game that has been on many platforms including Mobile, PlayStation, and Steam, but in Virtual Reality. If you have never played, you are a licensed Kill It with Fire exterminator where you must assemble your arsenal of increasingly excessive weapons, track spiders across suburbia, and burn everything in your path. Sounds simple, right? Well, it is, for the most part, until the spiders can get smarter, hide in better places, and become more deadly.
When you first start, you will notice the music that is trying to get you in the mood of hunting spiders along with the simplistic graphics of the atmosphere. Before jumping in, go into Settings to select your Locomotion Type and turn. You can also adjust your Height Offset, select if you want to play standing or seated, and select your Arachnophobia Settings (do you want creepy spiders, spider sfx, jumpscare sounds, or even scary violins) where you can tailor your experience to an extent, as well as also selecting your language & erase your save date if you would like. When you have everything as you would like, it’s time to get to work.
For each mission, you will have different points that you are trying to complete such as upgrades and objectives for example. The first mission, called First Contact, serves as your tutorial where you will learn how to move and turn. As you turn, take a look at some of the pictures as you never know who might appear. The main thing you are trying to do is look for spiders as the first one is in the drawer that you must open. Don’t worry if the spider, well, let’s just call him Bob (so at least he has a name before it is no longer living) goes under the door into the other room. Bob has to let his friends know that you are here and you mean business. The first thing that you have to do is grab your checklist that will have your objectives list.
One of the first things that I needed to do was equip my VRachnid that attach to my gloves while reading spider jokes waiting for this objective to be completed. The next thing would be to calibrate my VRachnid and to do that, I needed to kill spiders to unlock its potential. Now, you know when things are about to happen when you add the creepy music. But since you can pretty much use anything to kill the spiders, why not use the remote? As you explore each room, you will notice numbers on different targets. Those numbers represent the amount of spiders you need to kill to access those targets such as the exit. But pretty much everything can be destroyed, so feel free to have at it. Remember, you are the professional here, not the ones that hired you, and that you will bill.
As you complete the objectives, more objectives will appear on your checklist that need to be completed. You can upgrade your equipment with points that you earn by completing those objectives during the mission. But pay attention to the simple squares around objects as you never know when a spider or spiders may appear. And when I say spiders, I mean various kinds of spiders from Ghost Spiders to Zombie Spiders to worry about, but don’t worry it’s not like you can be exterminated which allows you to focus on the objectives. Sure you can use objects just as cups, monitors, pillows, and pretty much whatever you pick up to kill the spiders, but it’s when you can use other things, like weapons, such as fire, to help assist you that things can get interesting. However, ammunition for guns and fluid for the fire only last for so long. So be open whatever you can and destroy whatever you can as you never know what you may find.
Let’s talk about the graphics and sound. As I mentioned earlier when you first look at the atmosphere around you, the simplistic design is well presented. Sure, some may think the look and feel could best be used by turning everything in, but it’s the simplicity here that allows for a smooth experience when you have many things going on all at once. This can also be a good thing as if things became too realistic, you may have those, no matter the age, be hesitant in playing. With the sound, it does add to the mix. When you have the creepy sounds and music that start gearing up as you get closer to those eight-legged freaks, you can’t help but just expect something to jump when you least expect it. And that’s part of the fun of it all.
There are a few things that I would love to see. First, it would be fun to see some leaderboard action that can show the fastest time, how many spiders you killed, and the most damage. That way players can keep coming back to strive to do better. Second, more weapons. We do have a variety of weapons here, but how fun would it be to create your weapons with different parts of the environment just to see the amount of damage you can do? Third, co-op action. It would be even more fun if other players could join in and/or have different modes to add to the fun. Maybe something like where one player is the spider hunting the other players for example. Fourth, the graphics. Even though the simplicity works here, it would be nice to see a bump in the resolution while still having a smooth experience. And finally, just more destructive environments. Now, Kill It With Fire 2 is coming which will add to what I would love to see for the second and fifth items I mentioned, but as of now, there is no word if it is coming to VR. All we can do is hope.
Kill It With Fire VR allows those that need to let out some ruthless agression in a desctruve, but safe way while also giving those that need the therapy to possibly help with their arachnophiba in a safe way in their own homes. Sometimes the fears we have can be so bad that it controls our lives, but it is when we can face those fears and over come them that can allow us to grow as a person. And couldn’t we all use a little growing in our lives?
Kill It With Fire VR is out now for Quest, 2, 3, & Pro on the Meta Store, PlayStation VR2 on the PlayStation Store, and Steam VR. A review code was provided.
To learn more about Charm Games please visit their site, like them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter, follow them on Instagram, and subscribe to their YouTube channel.
To learn more about Casey Donnellan Games, like him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.
To learn more about Tiny Build please visit their site, follow them on Twitter, join their Discord, and subscribe to their YouTube channel.
In case you missed the trailer, please enjoy. Until next time, I need to make sure I didn’t miss any objectives.
