Review: Lethal VR – PS4/PSVR

Three Fields Entertainment has so far, in its history, kept its titles simple but fun. Its founders also worked on the Burnout games and we all know how enjoyable those romps were. So mixing their talent with the great PlayStation VR is a dream come true I didn’t know I had. That’s where Lethal VR comes into play. It’s all about shooting and throwing objects at targets in a simulation chamber. Yet again simple, but believe me is it fun. Not to mention the many movie references that will please any action aficionado. Let’s find out if this all comes together well in virtual reality.
The crux of Lethal VR is progressing difficulties of challenges that involve pistols, submachine guns, throwing knives, and other iconic weapons from history or movies. You have to hit a revolving set of targets from typical round marks, outlines of people, cardboard cutouts of actual people, small bullseyes with hashmarks, and sometimes pottery! Depending on the difficulty and level, these targets may or may not be in motion. The environment around you will change in size also depending on what objectives you’re performing. In between challenges the room will morph around you but never anything more than a small round room to a giant domed area. Some of my favorite moments involved structures being placed around me like houses or makeshift airplane exteriors. Lastly, some objects will be on pedestals or behind other things that can’t be shot or you’ll fail the level. Which basically means you just start the challenge over again.

The weapons to use aren’t very diverse but if the objective allows it, you can dual wield like a badass. (Two PS Move controllers are required to play). Naturally your accuracy will suffer but I didn’t mind. Hands down the best weapons are the iconic movie ones like Dirty Harry’s revolver and a certain hat from a James Bond movie. These weapons and their levels often acted as the final challenge before you moved on to the next assessment. There are only a handful of total levels to complete and an equal amount of objectives within them too. I beat Lethal VR in about an hour and acquired all the trophies in that span. Luckily, the game is only $15/£10 so the experience is more than worth the price of entry.
Surprisingly, the sound effects of this experience are superb. It was only a miracle I didn’t get tinnitus while playing. Just kidding. But the sounds of this title are incredibly realistic from gun shots, vases being destroyed, the click when you need to reload, the reload itself, and the thud of a knife hitting pay dirt. There’s not much of a soundtrack though, for better or worse. The menus and HUD are easy enough to understand and navigate. After all, you have to shoot your selection like the arcade days of old. Someone may have gotten carried away with this and launched a ton of knives at the score screen.

Although the small amount content may put off some, the real problem is the tracking for anything that you throw. For some reason the knives and shurikens couldn’t be accurately tossed anywhere outside of forty-five degrees. They would curve in and often miss the targets that were to the sides. Besides that they were easy enough to toss with a flick of your wrist. The bullets on the other hand were 1:1 and very precise. It felt like a real shooting experience and good hand-eye coordination is extremely rewarding. I could even squint like I was at a shooting range and hit the targets with ease. Except you could move weapons through each other which eliminates any other realism you think you’d undergo.
The easter eggs and references this game has are astounding. Most level names, objective designs, and previously mentioned arms are from movies or some point in our actual history. Which makes sense since the nonexistent plot mostly models itself after a training session for a law enforcement agent. Needless to say the tongue in cheek meta is greatly appreciated. It’s just up to you if these mentions equaling the total content is acceptable.

Lethal VR PS4/PSVR Review

• 8.5/10
  Overall - Fantastic - 8.5/10

8.5/10

Summary

Lethal VR is a neat simulation that provides mostly accurate representations of a virtual reality shooting range. The tracking works perfectly, except for throwables, and the sound effects bring a nice but minor touch to the realism. The many easter eggs were also enough to make me smile. It’s just that those references went as far as the game’s total content, which isn’t much. You’ll blow through this title in about an hour and anything after that is all about achieving better scores on each level. Still the price point is fair and Lethal VR is another great addition to our PS VR libraries.