Light Tracer (2017)

The track pads are unbelievably sensitive and movement is done by touching the pad.

For a VR player looking for something different, Light Tracer is an absolute must. I don’t care if you’re a dyed in the wool first person shooter type. It matters not if your a young child or a grown adult. We VR headset owners have access to a library of games built by developers that are still trying to innovate and come up with smart ideas to leverage the tech medium in surprising new ways. For now, Light Tracer is one of those games. At less than half of typical asking price for videogames these days, go ahead and grab Light Tracer. Give yourself a pleasant surprise, as I did.

The boss battles soured my experience a bit, but Light Tracer was still a fun experience and a nice change from what has become the VR norm. With a bit more refinement, it could be an excellent game, but what is presented here was still wholly worth the time playing.

I have to give props to Light Tracer for attempting to take a classic genre and flipping it on its head to fit in VR. In some areas it shines, but it is where it counts the most, in the controls, that the game just falls short on. If you have a PSVR collecting dust, then there is value in picking Light Tracer up and giving it a try, if only to experience a platformer in VR. But I would recommend maybe holding off for an inevitable sale.

Light Tracer takes an interesting approach to VR platforming and environmental puzzles, even if they are generally easy to overcome. However, it would have benefitted from removing the boss battles and the design of the princess' outfit is questionable. There's plenty of ways the path finding controls of Light Tracer can be used for future, better titles, but Light Tracer itself definitely needed a lot more time to feel complete.