You are a firewall program, inside of a computer, trying to fight off an invading virus in [b]VIRAL[/b] by [b]Jitterware[/b], a first-person shooter (FPS) programmed with the Unity development platform.
FPS games have come a long way since the days of Wolfenstein 3D & Doom (the original one). With true polygon room-over-room architecture and polygon-based enemies, any setting can be rendered, any weapon created and any enemy realized so long as you have the proper expertise in order to create them.
VIRAL displays its production values early on, giving the player a short intro even before the title appears, much like that of a movie from a major motion picture studio. The intro is impressive and the setting reminds older gamers of another FPS game, [b]TRON 2.0[/b], which was based upon the movie "Tron." That game (and the movie that it was based upon) is also set inside of a computer and even shares a vaguely similar plot where the player must ultimately defeat programs turned violently psychotic because of a virus.
Despite having a similar setting and plot, though, the two FPS games have some stark differences.
VIRAL trends more towards being what is called an "Arena shooter," which is where the player is constantly challenged by mobs of enemies in an open area that the player can't retreat from. Modern FPS games tend to be less story- and adventure-based and more action-oriented for which "arena shooters" are better suited.
Beyond the pre-title introduction scene and another introduction scene once you start the game, there isn't a whole lot of story or explanation that you are given. You are the hero, here's your weapon, now go kill the enemy. A lack of story isn't horrible all by itself; [b]Quake[/b] (now known as Quake 1 because of its sequels) had a plot that could be scrawled onto the back of a business card and, with all due respect to its critics, it did quite well for itself in terms of sales.
Yet VIRAL also doesn't explain a lot about itself which doesn't make a whole lot of sense. You, as the firewall program, should know what enemies ought to look like. You, the player, however, are being introduced into this environment for the first time. As a result, it's sort of confusing when encountering enemies for the first time because... Quite frankly, as a firewall program, I ought to know what they should look like. Was I programmed and compiled yesterday? It would have been nice to have had some type of cutscene to introduce a new enemy so that the player can think to themselves, 'Oh, OK. That's an enemy. Kill that when I see it.'
An example of not informing the player of what an enemy is in an abstract environment is that, at one point, I walked into a large open area and saw something in the distance. Having been blindsided twice before by things that introduced themselves as enemies only after firing at you, I fired at it. 'It' turned out to be some sort of power-up that you had to get to by using a double-jump mechanic that you eventually earn. When you don't know what exactly enemies look like, you begin to shoot at everything that doesn't look like architecture which wastes precious ammunition (as well as time).
Being an "arena shooter"-styled FPS game, I wasn't surprised that the standard movement speed was very fast with sensitive controls. When mobs of enemies are both moving towards you and firing at you, meandering along will not suffice in staying alive. And VIRAL makes it's arena shooter ambitions known early on; After a few short hallway-and-room segments, you are placed into an open-air arena with enemies set loose against you. In this computer, guardrails have yet to be programmed in so try not fall over the edge into digital oblivion.
And, from there, it seems, the game gets into a habit of luring you into a new area only to spring more enemies upon you all of a sudden. Enjoy exercising all of those bunny-hopping (constantly jumping) and circle-strafing (moving in a circle while always looking at and firing upon your enemy) muscles of yours that may have atrophied over time. And don't run out of ammo.
I'm not good at arena shooters, bunny-hopping or circle-strafing. I can do them when I absolutely have to but I prefer to enjoy my FPS experiences rather than have them be a constant mushy blur of hectic motion. I understand the gamer sentiment of "git gud"; I also understand that there's no point in wasting time on a game that is neither your style nor friendly to those who accidentally straggle in.
I can't recommend VIRAL overall despite many of its positive traits. It certainly has sufficient production values and has perfectly adequate sound effects and textures to fit its setting. Yet it's the sum of its deficiencies that needs to be addressed; While there's nothing wrong with being an arena shooter, having abstract-looking enemies or next-to-no explanation of things, the sum of these facets really limits a typical gamer's ability to enjoy the game.
If you enjoy arena shooters then you'll fit right in. Even if you do enjoy arena shooters, I would recommend that the developer have an additional cut scene having early enemies destroy something or kill someone so that the player can be shown that these are enemies. Yes, veteran players will shoot at everything and anything but not everyone is a 'veteran player.' If the developer is proficient enough to have a pre-title intro then they should consider additional cut scenes to provide for some additional explanation.
I wish the developer all the best with their game (it was still in 'Early Access' as of this writing) and I hope, for their benefit, that it really does go 'viral.' However, I personally prefer my FPS experiences to be less hectic.
