When you think of an arena shooter, what comes to mind? One vs One, deathmatch, leaderboards? All of these when combined right, can make for an impressive time. But does Anshar Studios bring the impressive combination to arena shooters? Let’s find out with Telefrag VR for the PlayStation VR.
Telefrag VR is a one on one arena shooter set in a futuristic Roman Empire where each player tries to get to three kills that can be played with either the DualShock 4 controller or both Move controllers. I will say that you may have a more natural feeling going in with the DualShock 4, but there is something about aiming separately with both hands that gave me this smiling sweet spot of a feeling. The only thing with the Move controllers is the button layout. Using the left and right Move buttons, you move forward and backward, however, you do have this click turning. So it’s going to be up to you if you want the freedom of being able to individually shoot which could make for that split second kill or have the more natural movement with the DualShock 4 controller. For me, I went with the DualShock 4 controller. So once you decide which control scheme is best for you, let’s move on
But before you jump into the action, you will want to go to settings and go into Movement Method where you will need to select if you want Smooth Motion or Comfort-Oriented. I bring this up for a reason. Telefrag VR is a fast movement arena shooter as it should be, but in VR, your comfort is the most important. If you have a low tolerance for VR, go with Comfort-Oriented. Trust me, you don’t want to get disoriented or have some type of nausea in this type of game. I for one, have a very high tolerance for VR and went with Smooth Movement. So if you think that you may have a high tolerance, my only suggestion is to try out Smooth Movement in the tutorial to see if it’s for you. If you feel any ounce of discomfort, stop, change the settings and try again. With that said, let’s continue.
In the main menu we have Play, Settings, Character, Leaderboards, Credits, Quick Match, Private match, Join Match Using ID, Tutorial, Armory, and Play With Bot. Again, before jumping into a match, go ahead and design your character and go through the tutorial just so you get a feel of how things will go. Honestly, it will not take you long to get the feel of it. The moving around and shooting will feel right, it’s the teleportation to the different levels of the maps just takes a few seconds to get the hang of.
Before you begin a match you will need to select your weapons. You can have the same weapon in each hand or mix it up and remember that different weapons have different telefragging abilities. Rocket Launchers and arena just have that awesome feel to it, so that is what I selected for both my weapons. You also have the Rocket Launcher, Plasma Rifle, Flak Cannon, Particle Cannon, and Laser Pistol. And I do like how you can use melee damage on the enemies. If you are not sure which weapon might be the best for you, head to the Armory where you can try out the weapons in the shooting range and learn more about them. Let’s look at the weapons more closely:
Rocket Launcher – awesome impact where you can just fire away or really hone in where you want the rockets to detonate.
Plasma Rifle – Excellent ammo capacity as well as distance, but beware of how the enemy can use this against you.
Flak Cannon – Get up close and personal with the Flak Cannon. Being able to have a widespread of projectiles firing can come in quite handy.
Particle Cannon – when you want to shoot straight and have a powerful bolt that will push your enemies back. Just don’t get too close if the enemy has one of these.
Laser Pistol – If you want to see the enemy explode from across the map, the Laser Pistol might be the weapon for you, that is if you are precise enough to use it wisely.
With all the action comes the different maps as there is a total of five here:
Fallen Champion – is a monument to a long-forgotten champion of people erased from the history of books, the now crumbling. Fallen Champion is an arena that attracts fans of gladiatorial games from all around the universe.
The Mobius Villa – Construction was focused on the wide-open spaces. Here, we are dealing with a completely different picture of the futuristic Roman Empire.
The Lazarus Grotto – The arena winds around the rock formation, which allows you to fight on several levels. There are no dead ends and the action will carry on.
The Imperial Shipyard – Overwhelming with its industrial character. You will not find here anything but big cylinders, metal stairs and corridors winding along pipes and other raw materials. The enclosed area is isolated from the sunlight, which should alert you and make you more cautious when crossing the map.
The Six Leagues Under – Dirty, forgotten underground corridors no longer meet their original function. Overgrown with mushrooms, moss and twisting roots, the catacombs gained disgrace in the Empire. This arena is not the most pleasant, but for the gladiators fighting for their glory, the visual layer goes to the background. Will you be able to be victorious here?
Now, I did mention that Telefrag VR is an online one vs one arena shooter. However, after all my attempts regardless of the time of day or the day of the week, I could not find one person to play against and was left with playing with bots. I will say, that the bots do help with some practice in, but I was so looking forward to having some online matches. I do know that others have been playing due to the leaderboards ranking, but again, in all my times of actually playing and hoping, I did not find one person. This is not the fault of the Developer, it’s that Telefrag VR needs the players in order to make it a successful community.
Let’s talk about the graphics which are fine. They may not be as detailed as some would like, but I started to think about this. In a fast-moving arena shooter, are you really going to stop to see the amount of detail that an object may have or are you going to concentrate on what the fast past action and try to survive? So yes, the graphics do take a hit, but the speed of the action helps make up for it and plus, there could always be an update that can be added later on. The sound had a nice balance between explosions, guns firing, and the announcer when he chimes in. Music is not overpowering which is nice and I could seriously just listen to the soundtrack alone.
If there is anything I wish was here were the players. I could honestly see Telefrag VR possibly becoming an E-Sport type of event, but it needs the players to help support it. Remember, when there are the players and the traffic, that just gives the Developer more reasons to add new content such as new maps, weapons, characters, and incorporate new ideas into the mix.
Telefrag VR is out now on PlayStation VR and is also available on the Oculus Store, and Steam. A review code was provided.
To learn more about Telefrag VR, please visit the site. To learn more about Anshar Studios, please visit their site, like them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter, follow them on Instagram, and subscribe to their YouTube channel.
In case you missed the trailer, please enjoy. Until next time, I am going to keep practicing and maybe my next opponent will be you.
Mr. PSVR, September 19, 2019, theplaystationbrahs.com