There’s a difference between a good game and a fun game. For many, the Burger King games that were released in the mid-2000s were a ton of fun. However, almost no one would classify them as good games with any sort of artistic integrity. This is the situation Supermassive’s new PlayStation VR game Bravo Team finds itself in currently. The only problem is… not everyone will find it very fun.
On its face, Bravo Team is a fantastic concept taking us back to the glory days of playing Time Crisis at the arcade. Duck for cover and pop out occasionally… only ducking back behind to reload. Progress to the next safe point where there’s cover to be found and start the cycle over again. There are the occasional ammunition drops, but that’s about where the similarities stop.
Bravo Team is plagued by simply boring gameplay. Players encounter the same enemy types performing the same actions over and over again. They poke out from behind cover the same way. They basically all look the same. They even all make the same grunts when they die. The bad guys simply don’t create any intrigue or unpredictability with the exception of whether or not they might glitch through a wall this time or not.
There are no weapon upgrades at all. For a shooter, this is pretty disheartening. You begin with some sort of automatic rifle and a pistol that’s surprisingly more accurate than it seems like it should be. But that’s it. No more upgrades, and very little to offer in the way of other weapons that actually feel any different than the ones you start out with. The only variation or surprise is wondering when you’re going to run out of ammunition and if you’re playing with an AI partner, it will be often. We found that playing with a real person as your teammate made it less likely to be stranded with no way to defend yourself.
In addition to the previously mentioned enemies, the friendly AI is downright awful. They rarely progress when it seems necessary. They’re nearly never shooting at enemies but, when they do, it seems they don’t hit a single one. Though rare, we saw instances of our teammates controlled by the computer getting stuck in or behind terrain, which left us with no way to progress at all. The computers are pretty good at reviving you if you go down though, so we can’t say they’re completely useless…
The best part about playing with a computer teammate is that you don’t have to! Get a buddy to play alongside you and the game becomes much more smooth, fast paced, and… dare we say fun? Communication is great, but it’s not integral to the gameplay. Enemies still spawn out of nowhere and seem to follow a pre-written script for which direction they’ll be shooting. This means spreading out to attack from multiple sides as the game suggests is nearly useless. Still, for those of us that think of gaming as a primarily social experience, it’s really nice to have the cooperative option available.
Bravo Team is a stationary game for the most part. You can crouch or stand with the touch of a button, but you can also move left to right with your body to sneak out around corners and objects. The way you progress (and progressing is incredibly important if you don’t want enemies to continue crawling all over you) is by pointing at a spot ahead and pressing the corresponding button. This is where it gets a little weird though. PSVR is supposed to suck you in and make you feel immersed in the excitement. There are many reasons why Bravo Team does not do that, but the movement to one bit of cover to another is the biggest one. Instead of remaining in first person orientation while moving, you actually pop into third-person mode and watch your character move forward. As soon as they (or should we say you?) are in place, it switches back to first-person and you’re typically looking in a different direction than you expect to be. We believe the intended effect of this gameplay decision was to cut down on nausea or disorientation, but it actually has the opposite effect. After you’ve done it a few dozen times it starts to make some sense and you can predict where you’ll be looking. But it’s going to take a while to get to that point.
The storyline of the game is nearly non-existent. The parts of one that are there will make you wish it was entirely non-existent though. The plot involves the assassination of a foreign president you’re protecting and that’s about it. The rest of the game is basically about getting out alive while an obnoxious omniscient narrator talks in your headset. Bravo Team would have been better served as a straight out shoot-em-up with no attempt at a narrative.
There are glitches galore in Bravo Team and the graphics are subpar, even considering the limitations of the PSVR system. Nothing makes you have a “wow” moment at any point, and the colors are bleak and boring. It’s a disappointment.
If you’re looking for a glimmer of hope, we have it for you. This is where we’ll go back to what we said earlier about the Burger King video games. If you know what you’re getting into and you just want to scratch a certain itch, Bravo Team will probably do it for you. It CAN be fun. But it’s not good.
Need a reason to use your Aim controller? Bravo Team uses it… and aiming down the sites is surprisingly accurate for all of the game’s other faults.
Is your dad coming over and you want to get him to check out PSVR? Yeah, he’ll probably like shooting up some bad guys for a few minutes.
Just really love Time Crisis and want to reminisce? We’d recommend you just stroll down to your local arcade.
Recommendation: We don’t recommend Bravo Team for everyone. Its boring gameplay, soft story, and poor mechanics will make you wish you were playing something else. At $40, Sony should be ashamed they let Supermassive even release this game. We’re honestly a little embarrassed on their behalf. On the flip side, if you just want to shoot stuff with your Aim controller, Bravo Team could be for you, but we don’t think you’ll find much replayability with the title.
Check out our Review Guide to see what we criteria we use to score games.
