Name: Gorn
Developer: Devolver Digital
Genre: VR first person brawler
MSRB( at time of writing): $19.99
Platform: Oculus Quest(1&2), HTC Vive, PlayStation VR
Developers Twitter: https://twitter.com/gornvr?lang=en
When buying your first VR game, be it the HTC Vive or an Oculus Quest 2, it’s always good to have a few mindless, yet fun games to pass the time.
It also helps if one of those games taps into your primal urge to release anger from a stressful day by beating someone like it owes you money.
If those points strike home for you, first get a therapist because that takes a toll on anyone’s mental health, but also buy Gorn, the brawler that’s one of the most popular VR games on the market.
You vs. An Infinite Supply of Muscle men
Gorn does alot of things right, but story is not one of them. You’re a gladiator and you need to kill other gladiators in order to please a sadistic, and clearly inbred, emperor. Not exactly breaking any narrative boundaries.
But your not here for the plot: your here for unnecessary violence and Gorn delivers that in blood soaked spades.
The game is basically a giant selection of horde modes, where you kill barbaric gladiators with swords, maces, bows and arrows, and you fists, slowly working your way up the difficulty ranks. It’s a ver ridiculous game, in all honesty, much more so than games like Blade and Sorcery
The enemies themselves are cartoonishly proportioned, with enormous chests and arms, and tiny pixie stick like legs that screams “always skip leg day.” They remind me of guys in the gym who will deadlift 5X5’s with terrible form and then upload it to Instagram. These models both make for entertaining enemies, and enhance the gameplay by giving you a big target to work with.
All weapon models have a rubbery, toylike appearance, that stretch and bend like a Mickey Mouse cartoon. Despite my first impressions that it would take away from the action, I feel it actually makes the weapons much more satisfying.
It gives them a nice sense of momentum and weight when you swing them. This, along with the fantastic body dismemberment, where every body-part can be hacked off, gives the game a cathartic edge.
My personal favorite was the enormous greatsword that admittedly broke the game by cutting every enemy with one swipe. Throw in some basic parrying mechanics with shields, long knives, as well as ranged weapons like the bow and arrow, and you have a great mixture of gameplay opportunities
The gameplay more or less drives the entire game, as gladiators begin putting on armor, equipping better weapons, and swarming in greater and greater numbers. There’s little in the way of progression, mostly just unlocking different weapons in the custom game mode.
I also liked the caestus mechanic, glove gadgets that stay on your arms with abilities ranging from throwing knives, wolverine claws, or grappling hooks. It added a nice bit of spice to the already excellent gameplay.
In the end, I find Gorn to be a good intro to VR brawler games, especially with the simplicity of the Oculus Quest 2. It’s not too hard or too intricate, and it’s basically all about the gameplay. But it’s a game you’ll always be able to jump in and let your anger out on some cartoonish barbarians.
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Shut Your Cakehole 