VRog is a simple VR frog arcade simulation. You play as a frog and are met with different game modes such as Survival and Arcade that offer different experiences. When you sit in the main hub, you have directions that post on a giant board, then there are leaderboards for online and offline scores. The cool thing the developers did was also allow you to see Vrog by rotating 180° as there is a mirror behind you.
There are two main sections, Arcade and Survival. They play on the same map, the only real difference is the day to night sequence on Arcade.
Survival is a bit different than other survival/horde modes from other games. You still have to eat as many bugs as possible, but the stork is also on a warpath for supper.... you! You will have a good 30 seconds or so to munch as many good bugs as you can before it appears, so make them count! Each survival level has a score to beat, and as soon as you trigger it, the level immediately ends. Each successful progressed level also means you will need more points to get to the next! By the time you are at Stage 6, you will need 100,000 points; double what you start with.
With Arcade, you will have 90 seconds to score as many points as you can. You will hop from lily pad to lily pad eating as much as you can as the day cycles. Your main focus is getting the special bugs for their power ups. The slow time and night vision ones will make this a bit easier. The wasps here are more annoying than in Survival as you are trying to get points and the screen-warping sting effect will make it hard to target the good bugs.
If you are eaten by the stork or when your 90 seconds run out, you will be able to post your personal score to the offline scoreboard as well as the online leaderboards. This is where some of the replayability comes into play, you want to get your Vrog higher up the leaderboard for your bragging rights!
All-in-all, the game was a lot of fun at the beginning. Once I figured out that the hand controls could rotate the screen 45° at a time, depending which hand you were using, it made it a little more interesting. This does not help you in the end. Your neck is going to get tired after a while, and possibly kink up on itself.
The game uses a simple head turn and stare technique to cause movement. This means, that while trying to eat bugs, you are moving your head to center the reticle on a bug to stay green for 5 seconds. You also have to pivot your head and directly stare at distant lily pads to get your vrog to travel. Add in the warning triangle for the stork, and your head is on a swivel at times. Some of this could have been alleviated by using the touch controllers for some more functionality.
The game is a good cheap buy-in, and can be a lot of fun. Just keep your play times to a manageable 30 minutes or less.
Review Note: The reviewer received a copy of this game for free. This does not affect the content of the review or its final grade.
AUTHOR INFORMATION
It is a simple, rotate your head and land on what you are pointing at after a few seconds routine. The problem is your neck aches after 30-45 minutes, even with the 45° controller rotations.
It is just a simple "cartoon arcade" feeling. They do what they should, but a few times the art for the bird is just not visible enough.
The sounds are alright, but as you gain combos, Vrog belches and burps. It was fun for 30 seconds, but they are very drab belching sounds and the humor is lost quickly.
This is an amusement arcade game, replaying is what makes successful. The problem is, the neck pains of aim targeting gets too tiring and once you get the easy achievements, you probably won't play it much thereafter.
PROS / CONS
- Simple arcade game.
- Game Modes allow for different challenges.
- Special Bugs giving cool modfiers.
- Neck tiring control scheme.
- Not enough environments.
- Would like to have had the ability to scare off the bird so often.
