Players can drop nodes (which cost Data) to reveal the mission types on the hexes around the current location on the map. To get there, you choose a path through the map, one hexagon move at a time, each representing a level. Your goal (in a nod to the classic arcade game) is to make it to the other end of the map where a volcano awaits. Each time you start a new campaign, you choose its difficulty and length (short-medium-long), and a flat map made of hexagons appears before you. That’s because Battlezone VR doesn’t actually have a set story or path in a traditional sense, instead each campaign takes place on a randomly generated map. You may have noted, I have been using the word “a campaign” rather than “the campaign”. To be fair, that’s what the players will be doing as well. The AI is relatively simplistic, either shooting at you or another target, and driving back and forth randomly. You’ll be battling a variety of foes across various similar-looking levels, from airships and UFOs to enemy tanks of all sizes. Battlezone VR is definitely a game that needs some getting used to, and learning the behavior of different weapons is required so you can utilize them to the best of their potential. On the other hand, most weapons suffer from imprecision and some physics issues, and take a while to switch between them, thus requiring skill and strategy to use effectively. The tanks glide and even slide a lot along the surfaces, and you can use a boost to escape a tough spot. The game takes place in a wireframe, virtual-like world so the controls are far from realistic. There are many weapons and abilities to choose from as you go through a campaign.Īctually controlling your tank is simple – as mentioned, you use the stick to drive around and a reticule that controls your aim and rotation. The special abilities operate on a cooldown timer between uses, and their effects range from temporarily disabling enemy tanks, or replenishing your ammo. All but your default weakest weapon have limited ammo. The weapons are straightforward, mostly in the form of rockets (with and without lock-on), machine guns, and so on. Each of the tanks have two standard weapons and a special ability. More tanks can be unlocked after you’ve beaten a campaign. They have self-explanatory stat differences (light tanks are faster with less health, heavy are the opposite). Sometimes this can be a bit confusing, especially if you’re used to shooting where you look as in other VR games – in Battlezone, you still have to find your reticule and aim manually.īefore joining a campaign, players get a choice of three standard tanks – light, heavy, and medium. This means you’re really a pilot controlling a tank through the DS4, rather than your head movements. Instead, that’s on the right stick, again more like a traditional action game. In fact, your view is really just that – you’re not even guiding your weapons reticule with it. This helps avoid any motion sickness issues. However, your view doesn’t make your tank turn like in other similar PS VR experiences that must still be done with the stick as in non-VR games. You’re piloting your tank with DS4 stick, and can look around using your headset. There are no issues with tracking your head movements.īattlezone VR uses the fairly standard control scheme during the action. You can look around the seat and find options for additional menus like upgrades, objectives and so on. It’s fairly immersive, and functional too – most of the important information elements are displayed on actual screens in your tank, rather than floating UI numbers. When you’re in menus, the windshield simply gets covered by a protective shield so you feel like you’re hulled down and safe from the outside world.
It’s a pretty cool design choice, letting players navigate menus, pilot their tank and do all other menu items without ever leaving the cockpit. The entirety of Battlezone takes place from within the driver’s seat of a tank. It makes sense to start with the discussion of the VR implementation.
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