SHADOW LEGEND VR

Come for the combat, stay for the animals

Only in PS VR could we play as a heroic pair of gloves and still take things seriously. Or, at least, as seriously as the game allows. For while only seeing the dismembered hands of your character is a common and bizarre side-effect of playing in VR, it slots smoothly into the playful world created by the developer here.

After a brief tutorial, you are given a sword by your friend the blacksmith. Now, come on; you’re going to hit him with it, aren’t you? Of course you are. VitruviusVR knows you are. This is why doing so produces a few scratches - but nothing more - on his face as he continues the conversation.

You then enter a small courtyard dense with things to do, a perfect example of what Shadow Legend VR is and what it wants to achieve. Although a very small area, the sheer number of things to discover produces the illusion of space, a trick used throughout the game. Use a bow and arrow! Climb ladders! Pet a dog and feed it dog treats! Cook a steak, feed carrots to the horses, seek out collectible runes… there’s plenty to play around with.

MY CHERIE ARMOUR

Combat works brilliantly thanks to PS Move. It can be a wigglefest if you like, but it’s much more satisfying to use the system as intended. You don’t have a shield (though you can later buy weapons such as magical staffs), instead using your sword to land and deflect bows. Combined with full 3D movement, it can at times feel like the PS VR adventure you’ve always dreamed of.

On a similar note, elements taken from traditional games help beef up the experience. You can indulge your kleptomania with a whole new level of immersion, swiping coins from tables and emptying chests of their valuables. There are floating platform sections (that work surprisingly well), and a few bosses too.

It’s not quite a perfect implementation of virtual reality, though. Motion tracking works wonderfully, but if you’re playing close to the TV, reaching down to interact with things on the ground can be hilariously difficult (we had to reposition ourselves) and using a bow a little tricky. It’s only a few hours long, too. The good far outweighs the bad, however, and the charmingly cheesy script and acting seal the deal on a highly enjoyable interactive B-movie.

VERDICT

Brief though it is, Shadow Legend VR is stuffed with an amount of joy and enthusiasm many games can only dream of. It’s a hell of a knight. Luke Kemp