| Platform | OVERALL |
|---|---|
| PC | 6.60 |
| Overall | 6.60 |
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Lucky’s Tale is a simple 3D platformer that is free for all oculus users and serves as a great showcase for how VR can enhance a gaming experience. It is disappointing how short and how basic the platforming is but there were enough hints of greatness and the potential for future platformers in VR is immense. Lucky is a very basic platformer, you can double jump, spin your tail as your main attack and do a butt stomp, that's your whole move set. There are no power ups, no vehicles or any kind of devices that change who you play as. All you do is hop around a simple world. It's basic but controls very well and it's fundamentally a sound platformer. Jumping in VR makes judging distances easier which allows for some great precise platforming sections, sadly there are just too few of those moments. If this was not in VR there would be no real reason to play this but VR makes this experience well worth playing. It's hard to describe in words how effective being in the world makes even the most mundane of platforming exciting. Plus the way you are the camera and you need to lean in and out to find hidden objects and sometimes lean a certain way for a better angle makes the player a part of the action in ways we have never experienced before. I was amazed at how you can see most of the level when you look out to the distance of sometimes look to your right or left. Simple things like switches that make walls turn and spin are awe inducing when that wall is massive in front of you and it opens toward your face. Floating platforms in air feel like floating platforms in air that float in front of you. These are all things we have seen in normal 3D platformers but I have never FELT like I was seeing a world in this way before. Maybe if you played Mario 3D land and enjoyed how the 3D enhanced the experience, take that and multiply that by a 100, that's what VR brings to platformers. This game is super short, just 12 levels that can be beat in about an hour or two if you speed through them. Each level has a time attack mode and a find the red coins mode. The red coins aren't like hidden objects in a Mario level that are well hidden as you play the level. Here the game populates the level with red coins that beep if you are near them, so you run through the level again and look for red coins that are usually just hiding behind objects or corners, not that interesting. Time attack isn't the usual find your own path time attack, instead you have to hit gems in order meaning you must follow the path the game sets for you leaving out any creative path finding. The potential for a really great platformer is there. The controls and feel is top notch so once that base is there all that is needed is great level design and variety. Well there are hints of great level design at moments, especially in later levels one of which uses bombs which you aim with your head to great use. But Lucky’s Tale never goes the extra step, it never gets too challenging, it never uses its VR tech in creative ways; basically what you see in the first level is what you get for the rest of the short game. A sequel needs to happen that expands the scope greatly too add gameplay variety, power ups, more bosses, basically everything that goes into a great platformer. Speaking of bosses there is only one proper boss and it's excellent! It's a giant octopus like creature that sits in the background and it's tentacles come out at your face. Lucky is on a line of platforms in front of you so you need to keep your eyes on the tentacles which are in front and on the sides while jumping on these platforms that start moving. You need to move your head to keep track of where the attacks are coming from and to throw bombs at the boss. It's a spectacular showcase of how VR can create an amazing boss battle even out of something that is simple. Lucky's Tale is a great intro to VR. It runs perfectly, looks great, and it's easy to pick up and play. If you know 3D platformers you will immediately see and feel what VR adds to the genre. Sadly though this is a super simple platformer, if it wasn't free I wouldn't be able to recommended it. It feels more like a test game than a full game, it's still good but could be so much more. |
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Posted by Dvader Tue, 31 May 2016 22:30:28
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Or scrolling 2D? In.... 3D