When a brand that owes its success above all to the world of smart devices arrives on consoles and / or PCs, a certain skepticism is to be put in mind: Halfbrick however, it is not new to this type of experiments, and after having beaten the road with the two chapters dedicated to Kinect, the next natural step could only be Virtual Reality. And, contrary to the judgment (or rather, prejudice) that could have been initiated at first Fruit Ninja VR it is immediately clear that we find ourselves in front of one of the best and funniest showcases in technology. But not without some contraindications.
Version tested: PlayStation 4
Several months after the release of PlayStation VR and other viewers dedicated to the PC world, it should now be established for the reader that in front of this type of product it is practically possible (more than in the "traditional scenario", in any case) to provide a opinion that can be absolutely valid for everyone. Playing Fruit Ninja VR, in this specific case, we did not accuse any kind of problem related to motion sickness, perhaps also helped by the game mechanics that make extensive use of "physical" movements; however, that may not be the case for you.
The ninja who planted his katana on me
Finally someone has put a sword (or rather two) in our hands in VRThe mechanics behind Fruit Ninja should now be well-known: the aim of the game is to slice all the fruit that appears on the screen to accumulate points, and depending on the mode in which you are playing, some modifiers or some variations on the theme can then intervene. which diversify the basic offer. Fruit Ninja VR, not being able to take advantage of the tactile inputs given on a screen, decides to finally satisfy the players who are passionate about Virtual Reality delivering into their hands weapons that no one yet (strangely) had inserted into an experience of this type: two katanas, one in each hand, which in the real world correspond to the two PlayStation Moves to be used during the experience. Unlike the mobile version (and the one for Kinect) the player therefore does not have to cut fruit in a two-dimensional environment, but is inserted in the center of a sort of arena and must "Fight" against vegetables with sword strokes, moving the frame by turning the head or physically moving (always making sure that the surrounding environment, in the real world, is free from obstacles) to be able to not miss any of the fruits. But it's not enough to add a couple of katanas to make a successful VR experience, since what really matters is the identification. And from this point of view, the Australian study responds fairly promptly, albeit with a couple of burrs. The recognition of movements is precise, and once the corresponding sword has been assigned to each motion controller, it is "traced" in real and virtually drawn in a timely manner, being able to reproduce on the screen even the direction and inclination of the blade, so as to allow throwing blows even flat. Unfortunately, however, the "cut" essentially depends on speed with which the sword goes to strike the fruit, and also by turning the katana in a way that in theory should not damage the vegetable, this is still "murdered". A pity, given that on the other hand the physics is very convincing, and also allows (if you hit without giving too much force) to bounce the fruits in the air or stop them, allowing the most experienced and hardcore players to take advantage of the mechanics to perform more combos of cut fruits (the more they are killed in one stroke, the more the final score increases). Overall, therefore, even if we would have preferred that in general, by hitting the targets with the flat of the blade, they would be thrown back into the air regardless of the force exerted, the end result is extraordinarily fun and rewarding to play.
With all due respect to the most important studios or the most famous IPs that have tried to play the Virtual Reality card, Fruit Ninja VR has simply done better from a playful point of view.
A few games are enough to realize the potential of the product and to understand, especially if you select some particular modes (we will get to that shortly) to be in front of an unsuspected must-have for buyers of a VR viewer. Even with only one scenario available and without some of the trappings of the mobile incarnation (above all, the ability to change the appearance of the blade) Fruit Ninja VR does more than its duty and deludes the player that he is really in the center of a square moving around by slicing targets like Goemon Ishikawa XIII.
But the festival?
The game package is solid, but if you have played the Kinect version you might miss the FestivalContent-wise speaking, there are four modes available: Classic, Arcade, Zen and Survival. The first three mirror their mobile counterparts, with the Classic mode to propose to the player to cut as many fruits as possible, avoiding hitting the bombs that often appear on the screen (under penalty of game over), until he makes three fatal mistakes, while in Arcade he pushes more forcefully on the score leaving to the ninja on duty 60 seconds to slice as many targets as possible, also taking advantage of themed modifiers (which can increase the time available, make more fruit appear, double the points accumulated or slow down the movement of the targets). The Zen mode instead offers 90 seconds without bombs, to allow a more "soft" approach to the package and provide a perfect gym to become familiar with the mechanics (and improve their skills). The Survival mode is instead an exclusive designed specifically for VR, and not surprisingly it probably is the best offer among the four proposals. Three lives are available (as in Classic mode), each lost whenever a mistake is made. The aim is to hit the fruits on the fly that are thrown from a sort of "mobile basket" equipped with propellers, which will move during the experience to make everything more unpredictable and, in the more advanced stages, will be joined by other machines similar and will start throwing bombs too. In Survival the space is really exploited in the round, since the "pitchers" move continuously and can also end up to the right or left of the player, and all this undoubtedly enhances the quick reflexes of those who play, given that every mistake approaches the player. end of the game. A package therefore solid as a whole, but which numerically (it must be admitted) it turns out to be less than that seen a couple of years ago in Fruit Ninja Kinect 2.
To learn more:
Fruit Ninja Kinect 2
It is a pity that Halfbrick did not think of reviving the Festival again on this occasion seen on Xbox One, not so much for the experience between the stands as for the mini-games that were going to make up the fair, which would have (especially the one in which the fruit was hit with the shuriken) further embellished the offer. So, in any case, i about 17€ required for the ticket are absolutely justified (and our advice, in case you have a viewer at home, is to spend them without particular worries), but some additions would have definitively dispelled any kind of doubt.
Sword techniques
From a technical point of view, the experience, in addition to being very solid, is also well injected into the player's retinas. Although the game world is decidedly more colorful and "cartoonish" than the real one, the identification as mentioned is skyrocketing, so much so that one is surprised not to see the reflection of one's face when examining the blade of one of the two katanas. The audio on the other hand is essentially unchanged compared to the mobile counterpart, offering the same sound effects and the same main theme.
Verdict 8.5 / 10 NINJAAAAAA! Comment Halfbrick also makes it in Virtual Reality. Fruit Ninja confirms itself as an excellent ambassador for this new technology as well, doing even better than more flashy titles on paper or Intellectual Properties with more expectations (or important names) behind them. What matters, pad in hand, in these cases is the fun, and Fruit Ninja VR really manages to snatch the player a few hours literally surrounded by fruit to be sliced on the fly using the two katanas made available by the developers. For those who have practically spent hours and hours in the first person mode of Metal Gear Rising, the title of the Australian developers is an unsuspected lever to the purchase of a viewer. For those who already own the peripheral instead, our advice is to immediately jump on the reference digital store. Pros and cons ✓ Spade and VR, finally!✓ Damn funny
✓ Great dive ... x ... But with some license
x The mini-games of the festival are missing
