Battlezone: PSVR Review

Battlezone: PSVR Review

Platform: PS VR
Developed by Rebellion Games

Imagine a game that was a mix of Tanks and Tron - that in a nutshell is the rather brilliant Battlezone, from Rebellion the people who bring you 2000AD.

A modern reboot of the classic game from 1980, this game is one of the best of the  current crop of PSVR releases.

Taking a first person perspective and throwing you into the cockpit of a tank that you then move about taking on enemies and shooting down saucers, and trying to progress to seize strategic targets. But you need to exercise a degree of caution as you blast your way around as weapons take time to reload and vital seconds could cost you your life.

Strategically the game sends you across a grid that you have to clear each section of before you can progress; like a sort of Adventure Game but for tanks. As you progress other areas unlock and you go hurtling into a new conflict with a desire to ensure that you win.

Destroying tanks and saucers, flying drones et al unlocks data for you to retrieve, weaponry to buy and also ammo. Different colour cubes scatter the landscape as you shatter their illusions and blow them all away.

As it's a tank, motion sickness is kept to a very minimum with little to no impact on this game as you move around the different arenas. The first person viewpoint adds a lot too with the very real feeling that you're inside a beast; sure there's a minimalist approach to what's inside, but quite frankly when you're taking on the bad guys, you only need a radar and an indication of what weaponry you have available to use.

Battlezone is a great game; it's fun and simple; it may be based on a game from the 80s with an 80s vibe to the gameplay and presentation, but it makes the very best of the VR's new wave. Simply put, this is one of the must-have titles of the first wave of releases.