Thomas Roach reviews Ace Banana on PSVR…
Ace Banana is one of the first games I have played on my own PSVR. Having only dabbled with virtual reality a few times before its official release a few days ago I needed to experience something I had not played before. Ace Banana is an arcade style shooter where the player defends against monkeys from stealing their collection of bananas. The game can be played with the standard controller or for maximum immersion you can use the move controllers to mimic the actions of holding a bow and pulling back on the string. You face waves of monkeys who have various abilities that can hinder the player before taking on a boss.
Ace Banana is one of my first proper experiences on VR and I am so impressed by the immersion that it gives the player. The world in which you plays in feels very real and authentic despite being animated in a very cartoonish style. Personally I think games like this look better in VR that the ones aiming to attempt photorealism. The colours in the world are bold and bright and is far from a dull or boring environment. The game is perfectly suitable for the whole family too. In a world where the game market feels over saturated with violent shooters, Ace Banana offers something different that all types of gamers will enjoy.
The gameplay is a great deal of fun. I found myself really enjoying the moving around as it helped to immerse myself in the game. It is pretty much a standard shooter though the VR enhances the experience a great deal. If other shooters can have similar or identical gameplay then I am very excited about the shooter genre on virtual reality. The game feels very easy to play when you get used to the controls. Your playable character is static and you look in the direction that you want to shoot. When transporting yourself from platform to platform – which isn’t often, you may feel some slight motion sickness at first. Over time that passed and now when I dive back in I don’t have the motion sickness at all.
I did find the controls very difficult to use at first. It took a lot of getting used to – I imagined it would anyway considering this technology is new to me. However this was frustrating and it took me several stressful attempts to master how to play the game. The game also didn’t offer me a tutorial of any kind so I was really jumping in blind and had to work out what each button did. Using the move controllers is far more difficult than using the standard PS4 controller so I would recommend you avoid using the move controller unless you feel confident with them.
Another issue is that the controls are sometimes unresponsive. Attempting to aim at the enemy as they approach is frustrating. You can clearly see what you need to do but are unable to carry out the basic gameplay required. This was somewhat disheartening as I felt I was doing well at some points before being forced into losing with the unresponsive controls. However this may not be the games fault and could be my current set up of the PSVR not having enough room – maybe.
Overall Ace Banana provides a fun experience for PSVR and I would highly recommend it. The game is something I can see myself returning to again and again for its addictive and fun gameplay. This is a very good introduction to a shooter in VR and may be a good way to ease yourself into the rest of virtual reality.
Pros:
+ Fun and Addictive gameplay
Cons:
– Controls take getting used to
– Controls can be unresponsive
Rating: 6.5/10
Thomas Roach
Originally published October 16, 2016. Updated April 16, 2018.
