Shooting games are a dime a dozen in the world of virtual reality. Most of these games are fun for half an hour, but the novelty wears off quickly. At first, we assumed Cargo Cult: Shoot’n’Loot VR would fall in the same category. However, this game for the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift isn’t all that bad when you have no expectations going on. For the price of $14.99, it doesn’t offer the most engaging content, but it’s better than some other games in the genre today.
Cargo Cult isn’t Good or Bad
One of the things we often see with VR games – especially the FPS-type games – is how there seem to be a few good elements intermixed with some very odd design choices. In the case of Cargo Cult, that isn’t different by any means. With just three levels to play through, the amount of content seems fairly limited at first. However, they are all unique, have their own boss fights, and provide players with different weapons. The game is also about defending yourself by using a shield, or you will get blown to pieces very quickly.
Moreover, the developers have ensured the game can’t be completed within an hour due to a punishing difficulty setting which can’t be changed. This is one of the most unforgiving shooters in the VR industry to date, and the uncanny feeling of your weapon being virtually ineffective at times can easily lead to frustration. Other players may see it as a challenge, but we purposefully turned the game off several times just to keep our composure. We have nothing against difficult games, but Cargo Cult certainly takes the cake in making it a very frustrating experience more often than not.
Thankfully, you can upgrade your weapons by killing enemies. The end of each level lets you upgrade whatever you have at your disposal at times. Speaking of the upgrades, most of them can be ignored, as they won’t contribute anything worthwhile. With these upgrades, the boss fights become manageable, but you will still have a tough time ahead regardless. Once you start to learn enemy patterns, however, the game can be completed in very quick succession. With virtually no replayability in place and no multiplayer option, there is very little reason to pay full price for it right now.
Although this may all sound a rather negative, the game has some positive elements too. There just isn’t enough to make us fall in love with the game, and that will be the case for a lot of other players as well. With the three levels to complete and very little upgrades or replay value, there is no way a game like this should cost more than $5. Until it reaches that price, we recommend VR users to look for other and better FPS games.
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