RIGS: Mechanized Combat League

One month in, how is PlayStation VR’s online robot-sports-shooter jamboree faring?

We’re not sure about you, but the first thing we’d want to do if we were part of a futuristic sport that revolved around open-cockpit mechs is make sure our overalls were co-ordinated with our machine’s paint job. Not just matching, you understand – more like hot-pink against dented yellow, or a dash of royal blue to cut through acres of stadium-scuffed red.

RIGS, thankfully, is happy to fulfil the fantasy with a range of outfits and custom visors that ensure every player can look their best out in the arena, but you’ll have to earn the right to be stylish by putting in a decent effort in front of the roaring crowds. You can earn money in the offline league, too, but you’ll be spending considerably more time acquiring sponsors for your online shenanigans as you fill out not just your wardrobe, but also your fleet of rigs. It will take a while to accrue all of the rigs as each of the four basic variants (Hunter, Mirage, Tempest and Sentinel) comes in a variety of loadout and special ability flavours – such as machines that leave an explosive mine after their demise, or ones that leach shield energy after scoring a takedown.

Of the three main 3v3 game modes (Team Takedown, Power Slam and Endzone) it’s the last one which benefits most from being played online with real people, but you’ll need to have your mic plugged in as communication is key to getting the virtual ball to the goal. All three offer a fantastic competitive online experience, however, and they all also acquit themselves well as 1v1 endeavours – you’re made to feel like the team’s star player as you compete alongside two AI teammates.

OF THE 3V3 GAME MODES, ENDZONE BENEFITS MOST FROM BEING PLAYED ONLINE WITH REAL PEOPLE.

While RIGS offers some options to keep those of a sensitive disposition from, y’know, hurling, you’ll be at a slight disadvantage if you use them. Obscuring your view of the arena after you eject cuts you off from key information about the movements of other rigs that could be crucial to your respawn position choice, and using the D-pad to turn instead of your head will lumber you with ever-so-slightly slower reaction speeds.

Despite PS VR representing a console-sized investment mid-cycle, there seems to be a reasonable number of people playing online, but you’ll have a much easier time of finding a fully-populated Team Takedown match than either of the other modes. AI rigs are substituted in place of humans, but it’s not quite the same. Hopefully RIGS’s audience will grow in time, as it deserves a very sizeable one.

VERDICT

What should be an essential PS VR experience is being scuppered by a paucity of online players. Perhaps the price of a full PS VR set-up plus the game is a reach too far? Ben Maxwell