Developers Funktronic Labs are no strangers to creating interesting and meaningful roguelike experiences. A great game released in 2015, he look no further than Nova-111. Fast forward a few years and the developer has revisited this fruitful well to bring his roguelite The Light Brigade to Sony’s new headset. With the power of PSVR2 and a solid core, this game offers even better options for intrepid VR players.
The Light Brigade’s core is very simple. It’s a procedurally-generated roguelite that puts players in the role of a holy warrior trying to stop, and hopefully undo, the calamities that have befallen the world. To do so, you’ll have to fight your way through a variety of environments using iconic WWII weapons and some spells. However, the game never gets bogged down by its central mechanics—Funktronic decided to focus on the basics with this title, and to great effect. There’s a basic leveling mechanic to permanently upgrade weapons, item shops, intermittent boss fights, and more. You can see most of the principles you’d expect to encounter when launching a roguelite, but it’s all done at a high level.
Combat is the difference between life and death in roguelikes/lites, and the shootouts in The Light Brigade are incredible. Aiming and firing weapons in the game feels great. Accuracy is impressive, shots line up effortlessly from long range, and minute-to-minute combat is a ton of fun. Each weapon has its own operating characteristics, which can change strengths and weaknesses depending on which class you use.
The class system is probably one of the most unique elements of the title. Each class is unique and focuses on different areas. Rifleman, for example, has a Gewehr and a fair amount of inventory space. Our favorite, his Pistolier, on the other hand, is equipped with dual Colts and can be quick-reloaded in a more traditional lightgun game fashion. They all have their strengths and weaknesses, and you’ll need to sample every class to unlock them all. This is great for figuring out where your tastes are.
While learning the strengths of each class, things can get pretty stressful. Between the enemies pushing your position and the plethora of bear traps and other traps scattered across the map, you can dig yourself into a hole that can’t quickly recover if you’re not careful. It is when you are in a state and it pushes you to your limits. A solid and engaging shootout like this makes every battle fun.
These insane moments are great, but it’s a shame the game doesn’t have a melee system. but there was no conflict at all.
In fact, this lack of interactivity is one of the game’s weaknesses. Outside of selected pots that you can pick up and break to collect currency, most things in the world are indifferent to your presence. Others cannot be destroyed. This may be a result of the procedural elements of the game pushing the software to its limits, as load times between new environments can already be quite long.
This is perhaps a concession to make the world look as good as it ever has. While enemy designs are generally uniform by type, the world you actually navigate through is varied and breathtaking. Early levels focus on frigid forests and mountain peaks, covering everything with a rich, dense fog that gives the world an ominous feel. increase. Many of the environments thrive on this duality of bleak beauty in a bleak environment. It looks great sometimes. This boredom can make many levels look a little bit the same early on.
Sound design also plays an important role in this authenticity, delivering howling winds in all directions. The environmental sound design is excellent both as a mood setter and as an Intel device. If you listen, you can hear the footsteps of enemies on patrol, but sometimes the directional audio doesn’t point you in the right direction. It comes with a battle track and some truly amazing ambient loops.
When it comes to comfort settings, the game has a surprising number of options, and menus seem to go on forever. Non-basic options are hard to come by, but The Light Brigade offers more than enough. This is good because the game works well no matter how you play it. Smooth travel is great for those with an iron stomach, but the game is fun and satisfying with its teleportation system. So something for everyone.
Conclusion
Light Brigade is one of the bright stars of PSVR2’s launch. A game that doesn’t feel the need to reinvent the wheel, Funktronic Labs instead chose to focus instead on making the best roguelite PSVR has ever seen, rather than get hung up on new systems. With its unique and varied classes and brilliant shootouts, this title does a great job of making you want to return to its chilling, desolate and beautiful surroundings again and again.
