Review of Vertigio 2 VR rating **** 1/2
Vertigo 2 is an amazing VR experience. The fact that it was created by one individual makes it even more remarkable. However, there is one fatal flaw. More on that in a minute.
I’m not sure what the average time is for a complete play-through. It took me 73 hours to complete the game. A lot of that time was spent in frustration because I could not progress through the game, thanks to several overly difficult boss battles.
While some creatures you have to battle with seem overly simplistic in their design, you quickly get over that feeling when they start hurling objects at you. There are very few sequences where you get to explore an environment without first dispatching a number of attackers. While the game is heavily focused on gunplay and less on puzzle-solving, I did enjoy the times when I had to solve a puzzle to progress through the game.
One feature that impressed me was the number of different environments. When I wasn’t looking over my shoulder to see who was shooting at me, I enjoyed walking around in immersive worlds, most of which involved a perspective of height, thus the name Vertigo.
Another impressive feature is the sound. It was never intrusive and almost always clued you into something that was or was not about to happen. This game also has a well-defined goal: to reach the core.
This is not a game you can play without the assistance of a guide, or watching a walkthrough. In my case, I could not have made it through most of the boss battles without resorting to outside help. The whole idea of the boss battle was new to me. Apparently, it’s a feature in a lot of 2D graphic games. My problem is that each time I had to confront a boss in an arena, gameplay came to a screeching halt. Even though I had the game set on easy, I found several of the boss battles to be nearly impossible. Some would argue that my problems with boss battles only point to my weakness as a player. I would argue that I am not alone in my complaint of overly difficult battles. This is born out by the fact that only a quarter of players who start the game actually finish it.
Rather than appeal to the small number of players who appreciate a difficult challenge, the game would have been so much better had the boss battles been a little easier. Despite this one complaint, this is a game that should be on your list. Congratulations to the developer.