Review of the Wind lands PSV 2
In 2016, the Psych Game Developer released a low gravity gradable grape swing game called Wind lands. The VR game surfed on another wave and Windfall wore the characteristics of the outings of the time. Many so-called VR games were hardly more than virtual reality experiments with limited interactivity. The RV was a new platform for many developers and, as for any new platform, game creators learned what they could and could not do in VR.
The first Wind lands game is a Zen type experience where you walk to explore and hunt objects. The game is a lonely experience with a slow pace because the world is low gravity. Psych obviously shot the Wind lands lessons and applied them to Wind lands 2. This iteration offers a narrative that you play solo or four-player cooperative mode.
Which is the same between the two games, it is the main means of transport. The world of Wind lands 2 is that of low gravity. Canyons and rocky columns dominate the topography. Travel on foot are slow and difficult or impossible. The need is the mother of the invention and in response to these two dominant features of Wind lands, a form of spider-man swing was invented. However, rather than shooters on the web, you use grapples.
The Parkour platform with slow swing was most of the content of the game for Wind lands. Wind lands 2 takes these grapples and target the next level. This time, you will do much more than pretend to be a spider-man in slow motion. You will be engaged in exploration, looking for 120 collectibles and in a campaign in four-player solo or cooperative. There are speed races based on skills where you can assess your skills in relation to others on the leadership table. For unconditional, advanced modes such as no hook, a life and hook anything are available.
Old History — New Game Mechanics
The campaign uses familiar rhythms: a formerly prosperous world fell and an enemy threatens to annihilate the latest vestiges of civilization. Even the inclusion of NPCs expressed does not do much to spice the drama. It’s up to you and your friends — NPC and Coop — to save the world of the Titans. The Titans are robots that you encounter through the levels and work as mini-bosses. To take care more, the Titans send smaller segments of themselves to engage in the fight.
Wind lands 2 uses a very stylized look. Think of the Cartoon Roadrunner style landscapes, with few textures and details to allow the frequency of fluid images necessary to support the locomotion of the grapple. This is important because not only will you be in the air, and you swing, but you will engage in the fight at the same time. Your weapon is an arc. Learn to timer your swings and your momentum is already quite difficult. Learn to fight at the same time is a real challenge! Psych realized it and added a reappearance button so that you can relive quickly and without loss of objects and status.
The game is playable with Dual Shock or Move controllers. Playing with Moves is strongly preferable even if the limitations of their tracking are a brake. The PSV configuration does not handle the 360-degree player’s movements. However, the roots of Wind lands 2 design are in PC VR, which supports 360-degree movements. Thus, enemy commitments take longer on the PSV, which only supports 180 degrees of movement, because you have to perform more maneuvers to place you in the right attack position.
Wind lands 2 arrives at PlayStation three years after it’s output on PC. This timing is a bit a mixed bag. On the side of the PSV, the exit arrives at a good time when things are calm. On the technology side VR, three years, it’s long and the locomotion mechanic will not land anymore. Games like Smoke and Song or The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners offer advanced game mechanisms that are more intuitive and more functional fluids.
Fun Four Players
Depending on what you think of the game in cooperation in relation to solo game, this will also affect your perception of the game. This game works much better as a cooperative experience. The cards are immense and complex because of their verticality. Some missions require the collection of 10 chips. Complete them for yourself is a patience test compared to a team approach.
Wind lands 2 is a game with a defined learning curve. Become familiar with the mechanics of swing takes time. It’s frustrating at first, but then it gets in place, and we come back to the area. When this happens, the game really opens. Then the fight comes into play, and you have to increase your skills at the higher level. Play cooperation really helps reduce the level of frustration.
There is a lot of content here to experiment. The campaign will take you about seven hours. It would be great to have a little more variety in, finally, just about everything. Environments are all alike and there are only a few bosses and types of enemies. Another option I would like to see is where you could change the level of gravity. The default value is about thirty percent of land levels. It would be fun to try the swing mechanism at a normal level of gravity. The inner child of many Spider fans would be ecstatic, the current company included. Despite the limits of PSV technology and the three-year-old game design, Wind lands 2 is always worth trying, especially if you have some friends who play.