Last year I reviewed Anshar Studios first PlayStation VR game Detached and thought it was a pretty good game for the studio’s first try on the platform. Now they are back again with their second PlayStation VR title, Telefrag VR. While Detached was a more story driven game, Telefrag VR swings in the opposite direction and focuses on being a fast-paced, arena first-person shooter. Telefrag VR does some interesting things but there may not be quite enough here to warrant giving this one a shot.
Playing this game on PlayStation VR you are given several options in regards to control methods. You can play with the Dualshock 4, 2 PlayStation Move controllers, or the PlayStation Aim Controller. The game also supports the 3dRudder but since I don’t own that I wasn’t able to test how well it works for this game. I tested all of the control options available to me and found that the Dualshock 4 worked best for me. The PlayStation Move controllers do have the benefit of letting you aim both of your weapons at the same time though so that’s pretty cool. The game offers plenty of comfort options for you to see what feels best for you and also lets you tie aiming to your head or the controller. Before you jump into a match you should try out the tutorial which does a good job of explaining most of what you’ll be doing plus you’ll get comfortable with the controls that way.
Telefrag VR is a 1v1 first-person shooter with deathmatch being the only mode available. It has a total of five maps and while each one is pretty small they each offer a different setting with one being set in a Rome like arena and another in a factory like area. Matches are decided in a best of five set. Your arsenal consists of five different weapons such as plasma rifles, pistols, rocket launchers, and flak cannons. You can carry two at a time and each weapon has a primary fire and an alternate fire option. Further, you also have teleportation abilities that change depending on the weapons used. As you can tell from the title of the game the teleportation mechanic is a big factor here and can be used not only for traversal but for killing your opponent as well. This is done by nailing the timing of your teleportation so that you basically teleport into them and cause them to die as a result. It’s a very strong ability and I found myself solely focusing on this ability some times over using my guns.
While you’re teleporting around battling your opponent you’ll find that you need to always be aware of your surroundings. Pretty much any surface can be stood on so your opponent could be on the ceiling above you for instance. Portals are also scattered about the maps letting you use them to transport to another area of the map which can be handy if your under attack and need to make a quick escape. If you get hurt you can pick up health and armor pick ups from around the map.
Now while the actual gameplay can be fun I found myself getting kind of bored with it after a short time. While the matches being restricted to 1v1 can be interesting I couldn’t help but feel like more players would’ve made it more fun. Besides the fact that there is only the one mode there is no kind of progression system either like you’d find in other shooters. The other big issue I found is that there didn’t seem to be a lot of other people playing. If you can’t find a match online you can play against a bot that you can set to different difficulties. However I found that no matter what setting I put them on they weren’t that challenging and thus got kind of tired of playing against them after some time.
As far as the graphics go I wasn’t really impressed by the visual fidelity here. I reviewed it on a PlayStation 4 Pro and while it did get a Pro patch I still didn’t find the graphics in the arenas to be that great. Likewise the music in the game wasn’t anything really memorable either with it mostly just being rock type music. The sound effects of the various guns though were quite pleasing. One reason to get more play time out of this game would be to go for the Platinum trophy in it. All of the trophies can be earned playing against the bots and none of them are that difficult. They consist of things like play 100 matches, win 10 matches in a row, get 100 kills with each gun and so on.
It’s a shame that there isn’t a lot to do in Telefrag VR and that there isn’t a bigger player pool currently. The concept of using teleportation not just for traversal but for offensive capabilities as well is neat and I had fun with it for some time. It’s just that when your main opponent is an AI mostly it kind of makes for a lesser experience. I’d recommend trying to find out if others are playing this game before you pick it up because for the current price and the small player pool I experienced you can find better options elsewhere.
*Telefrag VR is out now on PlayStation VR. Reviewed on a PlayStation 4 Pro. Review copy provided by the publisher for this review. ThisGenGaming is an official partner of vrgamecritic.com where you can find all of our PlayStation VR reviews.
Telefrag VR
$24.99
Pros
- The telefragging concept makes for fun, intense matches
- Weapon selection is small but each one has unique traits
Cons
- Online population seemed small
- Light on content and no kind of progression system
- Graphics weren't great
