Review: GORN – PS4/PSVR

GORN is ridiculous, brutal, hilarious, and frustrating all at once. It’s a game that you’ll either love or hate, and I’m glad that I’m in the former camp rather than the latter.
GORN first won over the hearts and minds of bloodthirsty gamers back in 2018 with its release on PCVR headsets, but now is the time for PSVR players to flail around madly, and the transition from PCVR to PSVR is surprisingly smooth.
To play GORN on PS4, you’ll need a PSVR headset and two PS Move controllers. Each move controller represents one of your hands, and so it’s just not possible to play with a DualShock 4. So make sure you’ve got a couple of well-charged PS Move controllers before throwing your money at the game!

GORN plays out in a series of over-the-top fights in a gladiator-esque arena, complete with a poncy emperor and his floating head companions. The fight starts, you’re given weapons to choose from, and your only task is to kill all sonsabitches. Simple! Or so I thought. It’s not, but it’s not overly complicated either.
The fellas you face off against are a weird motley crew of sted-heads who have clearly neglected leg day at ye olde gymnasium. They walk around like they’ve been on the sauce all night long, and they flail around like footballers with their handbags drawn. They’re hilarious and well-realised characters, but some are more than just meat sacks waiting for a pounding.
Some enemies wear armour sets, meaning that you’ll have to give them a bit more than the old one-two. Regular enemies wearing nothing but their knickers can be punched to a grizzly death quite easily, but the armoured fellas need a bit more work doing to them if you’re to succeed. This is where the game’s weapons come in handy, though not all of them are as fun to use.

There’s a decent selection of weapons on offer, with everything from a swinging mace, a massive battle-axe, and even some ranged weapons, like throwing knives, bows and arrows, and even a mini crossbow that sits on the wrist. There’s a fair selection, then, and there should be a killing instrument for all players. They’re comically animated, too, and can be pulled and stretched like rubber toys, which does take the edge off of the bloody violence.
The combat and its weapons are surprisingly versatile, too. You can block incoming blows (the enemies wield weapons too!) with your weapons, or parry them away with a shield, opening up the scallies to a swift counter-attack. You can dodge, sure, but with the PS Move controllers, it’s a little difficult, though not impossible.
The controls work well enough, with movement being handled by “dragging” yourself from one side to the other, backwards, and forwards. The face buttons let you turn, and picking up, dropping, and throwing weapons is all handled very simply. Still, when you’re surrounded by a group of nearly naked meatheads, it’s difficult to keep all the plates spinning, and something has to give. I’d often find myself surrounded and unable to retreat and defend myself at the same time. It’s a quirk of the PSVR, granted, but it still gave me a few problems, though nothing I’d call game-breaking. Just, annoying…

GORN isn’t the deepest of games, I’ll say that, but it doesn’t really need to be. It’s easy to jump in for a quick 15-20 minutes, but you could stay inside the arena longer if you’ve got the stamina for it. I don’t. My arms were in tatters after half an hour of bloody murder, but at least I had a smile on my face, and these days, that’s what matters the most.