I do not envy whoever gets hit by that thing on the left.
By: Casey Curran
Break open that champagne and start your celebration because after two abominations courtesy of Nihilistic Softworks (Resistance: Burning Skies and Black Ops Declassified for those of you keeping score at home), the PlayStation Vita finally has a solid first-person shooter in its library. Except it’s a port of an 8-year-old game and is definitely not a traditional FPS. In fact, this may be the weirdest FPS I have ever played. Despite a few flaws, though, that is definitely something that worked in its favor.
CONTROLS (4/5)
From the second the Vita was shown, all many people could think about was how it could bring the FPS genre to portables. Stranger’s Wrath offers proof that the genre has the potential for a bright future on Sony’s handheld. Moving and aiming feels just as natural as it does on a DualShock controller while the Vita’s features are, for the most part, not used in overly gimmicky ways. Double tapping the touch screen shifts perspectives between first- and third-person and it can also be used to select your ammo type, both of which work very well.
There is one big issue with melee attacks, however. They require a tap on the Vita’s rear touchpad, which does not work out well. Too many times my finger would slip and Stranger would throw his arm out, making me miss out on the key ability to hit the target well. This issue was fixed when I put some detachable grips on my Vita and my fingers were safely away from the back pad; so if you are very interested in this game, I would highly recommend spending a couple of extra bucks on a set.
GRAPHICS/SOUND (4.25/5)
For those unfamiliar with the series, Oddworld games are pretty much exactly what their name implies: something that takes place in an odd world. Stranger’s Wrath’s graphical style is like a strange mix of a Western and Song of the South of all things as you play as Stranger, an indescribable creature who is a bounty hunter going against outlaws terrorizing a series of towns full of chicken people. (Yeah, you read that right.) This gives the game a very charming look despite its constant use of brown and underwhelming graphics.
Sound effects are wonderfully strange as every action offers up a cartoony and fun noise. This blends very well with the equally strange music, which combined with the crazy noises and art style gives firefights an extremely quirky and enjoyable feel.
GAMEPLAY (4/5)
What sets Stranger’s Wrath apart from every other FPS is Stranger’s ammo. Rather than using the traditional guns and bullets, he has a crossbow he uses to launch insects and rodents found in the area, effectively giving him live ammo. Each creature has its own special trait: some explode while others are shot like a machine gun. This is to not say they’re all substituting bullets, however, as one crawls around the enemy to distract them and another releases a wave of toxic air to stun everyone in its area.
This take on the genre is very innovative, as it offers a good amount of freedom in how you want to eliminate your enemies. This is not exclusively a shooter either, as double tapping the Vita’s touch screen switches to a third person perspective for some platforming segments. While not overly challenging, these bits are fun and do a good job of giving the game some variety.
There are a few issues, however. The game often creates checkpoints at terrible spots, which resulted in me needing to get out of the way if I did not want to die immediately, and even then I would take a good amount of damage. This issue is not helped by how the game throws an unreasonable amount of enemies at you, as I could not take enough hits and my weapons did not do enough damage for the fights ahead of me.
OVERALL (4/5)
Despite a handful of annoying bits, the uniqueness of Stranger’s Wrath‘s gameplay and how much fun the Oddworld setting is make up for them. While I cannot say that it is the FPS every Vita owner has been waiting for, it is a solid game that will please many looking for something different in their shooters.
RotoRob GAMING 