[Review] Gorn

[R e i]

Game informations

Gorn (PC, PlayStation VR [reviewed on a PS4 Pro])
Developer: Free Life, Games 24 Bit
Publisher: Devolver Digital
Released: July 18, 2019 (PC), May 19, 2020 (PlayStation VR)
MSRP: $ 19.99

 

 

Gorn is one of those games you can describe in just a few words. It's a VR beat-'em-up where you engage gormless gladiators in a bloody fight to the death. That's kind of it, really, but that simple concept makes for a more engaging experience than you might think. One of virtual reality's first success stories on PC systems, it's finally out on PlayStation VR, and it's easy to see why people like it. Armed with a pair of Move controllers, you'll enter each stage with set weapons and waves of enemies to kill. There's little story or context to worry about; you're a warrior, and it's your job to entertain your king (and some giant floating heads) in over-the-top battles within a colosseum. It's just an excuse for you to wield deadly weaponry and beat, bash, slash, and stab each foe in brutal fashion. There are some occasional controller-tracking issues, but on the whole it works well. With mostly melee weapons like maces, flails, axes, swords, and spears, playing Gorn is as simple as swinging your arms around. Each weapon has a cartoon-like wobble to it, which pairs well with the visual style, but it also lends each blow a kinetic feel. When you land a hit on an enemy, it strikes with cathartic force. Combined with gnarly audiovisual feedback, you'll feel very powerful in the arena (you can turn the blood off, if you'd prefer to beat up piñatas). Frankly, it's a great stress reliever, and not a bad workout.Few virtual reality games have made me sweat as much as Gorn, a cartoonish, maniacal, relentlessly hands-on gladiatorial combat game from Broforce creator Free Lives and very on-brand publisher Devolver Digital. Every time I take the PSVR headset off, I'm physically exhausted. I'm spent. Right now, as I'm typing, my arms are noodles. They ached yesterday, they ached today, and they're gonna ache tomorrow. I get so focused that I don't even realize how sore I am until it's too late. If you're a PlayStation VR owner, you too can know the pain that follows a hard-fought victory against hordes of meaty men who will stop at nothing – and I mean nothing – to clobber you to bits. Gorn has been cracking PC VR players up for years, but it's only now becoming available to the PS4 po[CENSORED]ce.I thought Gorn would be mindless in a "smack everything until it stops moving" sorta way – and when you're caught up in a free-for-all with several other gladiators, it can be – but there's depth. If you're struck even once, you'll have to race to finish a kill before you bleed out, and when your foes are armored up, that's much easier said than done. I felt like I really had to land hits strategically. It's funny how surprisingly threatening these silly muscle men can feel in the game. I'll be the first to admit that they look wonky as hell when you don't have a headset on, but in the virtual arenas of Gorn, when a few dudes are booking it toward you, your fight-or-flight response is bound to kick in.

 

 

Other weapon types are trickier. A bow and arrows is a little fiddly to use but very satisfying when you hit your target, and throwing knives rely on your own ability to chuck things accurately, so results will vary. Wrist-mounted crossbows are fun to use but take a long time to wind up, and the game doesn't do a good job of telling you how to use them. Then there are two-handed weapons. These suffer most from any tracking troubles and are generally harder to wield effectively. That said, when you successfully smash an oversized hammer down on an opponent's head, or send one flying into a spiked wall with a staff, they can be some of the game's most entertaining weapons. It might sound like you can get through the game simply flailing about like a madman, but there are ways the game forces you to be a little more careful than that. Many gladiators emerge wearing pieces of armour, which bladed weaponry will struggle with. You'll either have to strike exposed areas or use blunt weapons to bash armour off. You can also block incoming attacks, and shields are great for countering archers. Gorn is mostly a silly way of letting you carve up an army of goons, but occasionally it asks you for a hint of strategy. If you're hit, though, strategy may quickly go out the window. Taking damage is merciless; your vision turns red, and you have just a few precious seconds to kill someone or it's game over. Checkpointing is relatively forgiving, but getting hit puts you in panic mode, and you're not really given enough time to fight back. It's not impossible, but it is frustrating to die from one strike when enemies often require several blows to the head -- possibly more depending on how armoured they are.The main point I want to get across is that Gorn is (probably) more interesting than you're expecting based on a gut-reaction glance. I think that's fair to say. VR gaming has seen so many by-the-numbers arena fighters and shooting galleries that lack ambition and only offer surface-level fun at best. It'd be easy to write this off as another one of those titles without looking any closer. Don't be too hasty! Gorn isn't exactly revelatory – especially not as the medium reaches new heights with substantial narrative games like Half-Life: Alyx – but it is a joyful reminder of just how entertaining interactions can be in a virtual setting. Gorn's wow factor is found in its absurd weapons, not its structure or story. You might have a shield in one hand and a morning star in another. Or you might prefer a ranged approach: either a two-handed bow (that you semi-realistically draw and release) or a wrist-mounted crossbow. Of course, the hammer has its uses too – it's great for smashing armor plating – and there's something to be said about swinging a massive two-handed flail over your head like a maniac. The weapon list only gets wackier as you barrel through the main-story levels, all of which are constantly giving you new playthings. By the end, you'll have fended off snarling badgers, yanked soldiers' arms off with clamping crab claws, and sliced and diced with extendable Wolverine claws.

 

 

Locomotion can also make things a little tricky. You get about by holding one arm in front of you, holding the Move button, and pulling your arm back. Rinse repeat to "walk", and use a couple of face buttons to turn in increments. It works well enough and allows you to navigate the arena freely, but it takes some getting used to and is definitely on the fiddly side. Fortunately, you don't need to move an awful lot during each stage. Levels throw waves of warriors at you, and most of them will beeline towards you. After defeating enough enemies, a free-for-all will start, and this is when opponents will target each other unless you happen to be closest. After all that, each stage ends with a boss fight. These guys look intimidating, but in truth can go down pretty fast. Achilles, for instance, is armoured head to toe -- aside from his left foot. You know what to do. There aren't many levels to play through, but they have optional objectives to encourage you to return, and an Endless mode pits you against as many baddies as you can handle. Playing each stage unlocks the weapons it introduces for use in custom battles too, so it's worth going through everything to ensure you have all the toys to play with.A large part of that oh-shit panic stems from the unusual movement system. You'll need two PlayStation Move controllers for Gorn – not just for two-handed weapons, but for simply walking around, too. Imagine stretching your arm out, holding your thumb down on the big Move button in the middle of the controller, and then pulling your arm close to your chest. Picture it again, except faster. Again and again. Now in reverse. That's how you move. In other words, it's as if you're grabbing hold of the world and pulling yourself forward (or pushing backward) to dip in and out of harm's way. (This is the part where I remind you that Gorn is a good way to get your heart pumping.) Left and right camera turns are performed with the face buttons (you can pick between 45-degree, 90-degree, and smooth turns), and you'll use the trigger-like T buttons to either make fists or hold items. It's a lot to keep track of, I know. For the most part – basically up until near the end – it's manageable. The PlayStation Camera does a surprisingly okay job of tracking the Move controllers when it comes to swinging weapons and firing projectiles. It felt accurate enough. That said, it struggles to keep up with frantic rapid-fire attacks, and the intensive movement system is less than ideal, to put it mildly.During the final few levels, it seemed like the aging tech couldn't quite keep up with what the game was asking me to do, and as a result, some of the gaps between checkpoints felt way too long. I had my share of frustrating moments, especially while facing bosses with highly specific weak-points. Still, I'd recommend it, flaws and all. Unavoidable controller constraints aside, I enjoyed my time overall. Gorn is up there with Superhot as a flashy intro-to-VR experience for people who don't have their own setup at home. It's something you can boot up in a group setting and share a bunch of laughs over. Granted, it's a super violent game in which limbs are lobbed off left and right, but there is a candy-spewing Piñata Mode, so kids can get in on the bloodlust. I appreciate that all-ages concession. Beyond the several-hour-long level-based campaign, there's an endless survival challenge and a custom arena with all kinds of options including a god mode, slow-mo, weapon toggles, and more. Even though the PC version is unquestionably the ideal way to play Gorn, the PlayStation VR port is commendable, and I'm happy it exists. It won't blow you away – especially not in 2020 – but it's worth adding to your VR library the next time you want to let off some steam. Invite a few pals over.

 

System Requirements (Minimum)

CPU: Intel i5-4590
SPEED CPU: Information
RAM: 8 GB
OS: Windows 10
VIDEO CARD: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
PIXEL SHIKERTI: 5.1
SHADER VERTEX: 5.1
Free risk space: 2 GB
RAM VIDEO DEDICATED: 4096 MB

System  Requirements (Recomended)

CPU: Intel i7-4770
SPEED CPU: Info
RAM: 16 GB
OS: Windows 10
VIDEO CARD: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti
PIXEL SHADER: 5.1
VERTEX SHADER: 5.1
FREE DISK SPACE: 2 GB
DEDICATED VIDEO RAM: 6144 MB