Archangel Review for PlayStation VR

Archangel by Skydance Interactive (PWND) is one of the most immersive Virtual Reality (VR) games released to date. Teamed up with a giant mech and a sassy A.I. get driven through a story motivated rail shooter all the while blasting your way through an entire hostile armada. This game is perfect for fulfilling all those mech dreams we’ve been having after Gundam, Metal Gear, and Pacific Rim.

Premise: Play as Gabriel or Gabby Walker veterian ace pilots, loaded into a new top secret resistance mech, Archangel. After a devastating surprise attack on the resistance base by HUMANX, the leftover forces embark on a nonstop cross-country tour on foot, giant robot feet that is. The team’s mission: to deliver the newly developed mech to the main resistants base as quickly as possible. Walking through this game doesn’t get lonely though with your team just on the other side of the comms and an A.I. plugged right into the pilot’s brain. While plugged into Walker’s brain M1KL, the A.I. of the giant mech, accesses memories triggered by Walker’s emotions and is taught about the human condition. Conflicted by revenge Guardian (Walker) is torn in two directions throughout the game: risking everything on a personal vendetta or returning Archangel to the main resistants base as ordered.

Gameplay:

This game is top notch immersion, blocking enemy fire and releasing a volley of rounds back- had me ducking and weaving more than ever before in a video game fire fight. After each battle the A.I. allows the player to purchase upgrades: machine gun, health, missiles, or shields. Armed with a slowly growing and upgradable arsenal of weapons, wrist mounted shields, and giant robot fists scrap your way through what seems like the entirety of the HUMANX army. The HUMANX army is vast and varied, ranging from tiny ground troops to tanks with shields, fighter jets, warships, and giant mechanical wolves. The enemies are actually pretty easy to defeat in this game which which is good because there are so many of them and it leaves room to really enjoy the story without getting bogged down in replaying the same parts over and over because of a death. While stuck on a track it feels very natural because M1KL’s the one driving, this is a close second to my other favorite justification for rail shooters where the player is actually shooting from a train car. This really connects the player’s reality to this futuristic setting with our everyday lives involving voice activated commands like with Google Assistant, Cortana, or Siri it doesn’t seem too far off to think soon we will have voice controlled auto driving cars and just beyond that giant sass talking mechs.

Conclusion:

Archangel was the most enjoyable VR game I’ve played to date, I look forward to the future of VR games with hopes for growth in the VR genre and even a continued Archangel series. The game had very few drawbacks and aside from a Deus Ex Machina moment that didn’t need to happen in the storyline it had a very interesting story paired with some awesome action. I would absolutely recommend this game to anyone who is looking for a great story driven Virtual Reality game.

Pros:  Giant Mech Action, Very Immersive, Interesting Storyline

Cons: Deus Ex Machina moment, unable to skip after a death to get back to a fight you have to sit through everything from the checkpoint on.

Rating:

10/10

Check Out the Archangel Trailer:

Archangel is available for purchase for Windows PC on the Oculus storefront and on Steam as a digital download. The game is also available to download on PlayStation Network.

• Download for Oculus: https://www.oculus.com/experiences/rift/1236704876366734/
• Download via Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/553880/Archangel/
• Download for PSVR: https://store.playstation.com/#!/en-us/games/archangel/cid=UP2533-CUSA08450_00-ARCHANGELVR00001

Greg Vander Velde

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I've been a life long nerd and video game junkie known to associate with the likes of Link, Nathan Drake, Batman, and Master Chief. I'm a filmmaker by profession, but spend lots of time behind a controller escaping the real world. @GregVelde on Instagram/Twitter/YouTube

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