[b] UPDATE AS OF 05-25-2017: After playing again since upgrading my computer, I realized the review needs some updating. It's better than i thought before, but the game overall still sucks and I would NOT reccomend it. But my criticism is maybe 10% less harsh than it was before. [/b]
Aw man. I really wanted to like this game and recommend it. Seeing the weird description, the vagueness in the trailer, the bizarro name (I mean, "violent killer?" Really?), I thought it looked like something that would be a pleasant surprise. And in some ways, it truly is. The graphics (despite some texture pop in) are absolutely gorgeous, for example. I believe they are in the Unreal 4, which makes it impressive that it also runs very well and smooth. The guns also handle well, feeling smooth and well-coded. Their gunshots are satisfying and enjoyable. The sound design is absolutely excellent, and the maps are very well designed (although with zero context; I mean, some medieval castle while fighting off swat teams? How does that make sense?).
However, there is one [strike] are two [/strike] game-breaking problem and a few more nitpics.
[strike] 1. The loading issue: The only other game that has this issue is Pavlov VR, but at least Pavlov has an offline mode that mitigates the issue. In this game, the entire thing is unplayable. [b] BASICALLY; [/b] there comes a point in the game where the screen disappears and is replaced with the empty room and Vive's "now playing Violent Killer VR" or sometimes "Waiting for Violent Killer VR." Taking off the headset, the game is still playing on the monitor reflection but lags badly for some reason. However, this loading screen never ends, and I have to crash the game. This inevitably happens 5-10 minutes in. [/strike] [b] ***Edit: I upgraded my power supply and hard drives since writing this review and the issue was fixed, both in this game and in Pavlov. [/b] The game still sucks but I apologize for misleading people by complaining about an issue that was my own fault.
2. Bullet animations: I can't believe this is a problem, but they're literally [b] too good. [/b] I and a rare percentage of the population have some sensory issue where pointy objects (IE: tips of pens and pencils, tips of nails, etc) trigger EXTREME discomfort, headaches, or with prolonged exposure even cause migraines. Just thinking of those examples made me cringe badly. With most vr games, the bullets are tiny specs and/or de-render just before colliding with your head. In this game, the bullets (which are animated to be realistically pointy) quickly fly towards your face. In a way completely unlike any other vr game, the bullets trigger my aforementioned reaction BADLY. You could honestly argue that this improves the immersion- making me dodge and duck more than unusual, upping the ante to an actual physical reaction to the game, improving the immersion exponentially, and being an amazing thing. This is actually true. This reaction makes it more immersive. However, although this sounds like a dumb and petty complaint, five minutes into playing, I got a SPLITTING headache. I mean, the type of skull-shattering headache that makes you lay in bed moaning while waiting for your tea to boil. This is so unbearably uncomfortable that, along with the first issue, make the game totally unplayable for me.
Now for the nitpics. These are things I wholeheartedly suggest to the developer as I think they're feasible and would dramatically improve the game, as long as the aforementioned game-breaking issues are also addressed.
A) No movement options whatsoever. It's alright and doesn't totally need it with the game's current structure (you teleport to the next area after killing everyone, similar to bullet sorrow), but it would still be welcomed hugely.
B) Green blood comes out of the enemies. Wtf? Why? The game is called "Violent Killer VR" for f**ks sake, you have no reason to try and censor anything. Let alone such a dumb form of censorship.
C) Bad physics; I hate seeing the enemies slowly crouch down for a nap when they die. It breaks the immersion, prevents killing from feeling satisfyng, and just kinda sucks.
D) [b] **Edit: [/b] I realized recently after replaying it that this is less of an issue with the mob-size to enemy-health ratio and more an issue with weapon imbalance. The SMGs, clearly intended to deal with larger hordes, are grossly underpowered. The pistols, which are too slow-firing to actually save yourself from the massive hordes, actually deal a quite fair amount of damage. And the grenades instant-kill enemies no matter how far from the central blast they are. The issue is the same as before, but it's happening for a different reason than I previously thought. [strike] Misguided ratio between enemy health and mob size; this game gives enemies a very large (but still fairly reasonable) amount of health. It would be okay and an insignificant gripe, but the game also sends you countless enemy mobs that look like some kid spamming the spawn button in Garry's Mod. I wouldn't mind (and I'd even welcome) mobs of this size... if they didn't just have so much goshdarned health. [/strike]
E) Wtf is up with the grenades? Infinite ammo is fair for the weapons (though still somewhat of a gripe) but with the grenades, you can just blindly spam them and win immediately. I mean, hell, even in the trailer that is marketed as a gameplay mechanic! That's not quite right.
F) [b] **Edit: [/b] Idk if they updated this, but there is a loud click and an animation on the guns since I last played. Manual reloading would still be better, but this issue I complained about essentially doesn't exist anymore. [strike] Reloading; I'm not even necessarily asking for manual VR reloading (although it'd be nice) but reloading should just be improved. You click a button and hear a very, very faint click. No animations on the guns even occurs. [/strike]
And that's it. I believe that (once the two game-breaking issues are addressed), this lays the barebones, super-early-alpha groundwork for an otherwise utterly phenomenal game with a ton of potential. But until then, it's unplayable, uncomfortable, and slightly broken.
