REVIEW / Lethal VR (PSVR)

Lethal VR for the Playstation VR and HTC Vive is a life-like gallery shooter that takes you through all the trials and tribulations required to be the next James Bond. Jokes aside, the team over at Three Fields Entertainment have really come up with something special with Lethal VR and the fact that this is their first VR game makes it all the more impressive.

The concept is fairly simple if you’ve ever played any of the 10 target-based arcade shooters at your local arcade or bowling alley. There are multiple targets that appear on screen, or in this case around you, and it is up to you to shoot all the correct targets in the quickest time possible. Do each level fast enough and you advance. Easy, huh? Not so much on the later levels of the game, but I’ll get to that in a bit.

Graphically, Lethal VR is everything you could ask for in an arcade-type shooter similar to this one. The gun and knife designs and detail are unmatched with those of other VR games within this genre. The realistic look and feel of the guns make for an overall great experience. The targets and dummies were designed to make the game feel as if you’re in some sort of police simulation; this is one thing that really kept me trying to beat my own scores.

While there really aren’t that many different weapons within the game, each level requires you to use a different weapon or a different combination of weapons. This brought some type of versatility to the game as many times I was unsure what combination was coming next. While there are dozens of weapon combinations because of dual-wielding, I still wish there were more weapons in the game.

While the realism of feeling like I’m in a police simulation is very stimulating, the lack of an online leaderboard is a huge missed opportunity in Lethal VR. There is however a local leaderboard like you might find in an arcade game. While trying to beat a friend’s high score locally can be fun, it would be a lot more appealing to see how my James Bond skills stack against the rest of the world.

The replay value for Lethal VR is very high, if you’re good enough to beat the entire game that is. The levels get harder and harder to complete. Sounds like every other video game, I know, but the levels get very hard. That being said I don’t think the difficulty of the game takes away from the experience at all. It may have been difficult because I’m just really bad at the game, but I suppose I will never know because there is no online leaderboard.

While I have played many, Lethal VR is the one gallery-type shooter I have found myself going back to. I see myself playing the game more than most others on the PlayStation VR. I also see myself showing it to friends to see who is the better gunslinger.

This review is based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.