Smashbox Arena (2016)

Smashbox Arena could have been a great competitive game to play on PS VR, instead it's just another generic VR shooter with an underpopulated online community. While the VR motion tracking is on the positive end of most VR titles and the simplicity makes its accessible to about anyone; the dull gameplay, poor visuals, and overabundance of glitches make it more of a chore to play through than needs to be.

Smashbox Arena's core gameplay makes for tension-filled multiplayer showdowns, proving that simple design is all you need sometimes. However, dearths of content, modes, and polish sell it short when it could shoot for so much more.

Smashbox Arena might be amusing for some multiplayer shenanigans, but it is very rare to find anyone online to play with given the niche base of VR (with PS Move sticks, no less). The story mode is very deceptive and is really just the multiplayer stages with AI enemies and partners, with no story at all. Even the announcer for the matches sounds like he is extremely bored and is about to yawn. There is a complete lack of appeal and energy, and the overall presentation just feels like it was made by an amateur programmer and not a designer at all. The lack of controller options really hurt this - not that they would make Smashbox Arena much better, since it is nigh empty of content.

If corners were cut with the graphics, they were completely rounded over and sanded down in the music and sound department.

The truth is, even if the servers were packed, it wouldn't do much to save this shooter. Developer Bigbox VR has some interesting ideas though these are bogged down by mediocrity at every corner. You may be able to squeeze a few minutes of fun from Smashbox Arena, but beyond that it's an incredibly hard sell.