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The Walker (2018)
Released On: Jul 3, 2018
Metascore
Available after 4 critic reviews
5.0
All Platforms
The Walker feels like a first-gen PS VR release compared to where devs are now taking the technology. If you can look past the dated design you'll have some fun. [Issue#152, p.92]
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 13 User Ratings
5.0
15% Positive
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
46% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
38% Negative
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 13 User Ratings
5.0
15% Positive
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
46% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
38% Negative
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
This game is just weird, because there are few stuff that I liked here. First off, the weapons that you get on normal and hard difficulty are better than the weapon from the easy difficulty, especially when these reload automatically. Second, the graphics and art direction are nice. Third, the final boss was pretty fun, since it encouraged evasive movement. And fourth, its ideas like the magic system sounds pretty good.
However, there are also many things that I disliked. The sound is not very good, and for a horror game with no music, that's worrisome. Enemy variety is pretty basic, probably on par with Lunar Stone's enemy variety, consisting of only three basic enemies (one of them turns red, and barely does anything different gameplay wise), and two bosses. Score system is basic as well, in which it only awards you for good accuracy, damage taken, and time completion (doesn't reward you for how you used magic and swords). The sword feels more like a support time than a main weapon the devs tried to advertise. The talismans, while function well enough, consists of either freezing the enemy, or stunning the enemy. Freezing is more useful due to its one hit kills but since it recharges, there are some situations where you have to use the lightning one, wasting a use. The stages, while varied, are rather static, and the only good ones are the two subway ones, the final boss area, and the two introduced in the tutorial and legend mode. And speaking of legend mode, you basically survive 3-5 waves with a possible prisoner demon boss in the end. You only need to play it just for one trophy. Completing the game unlocks Rampage mode, which is the same as legend mode except it's 3 stages in a loop (plus it includes the subway one though it's generically designed). No online leaderboards, no twists in both modes. Another thing is that you don't really unlock new weapon, but more like your weapon gets upgraded for the difficulty. Meaning if you were considering on using the dual revolvers on normal, tough luck. The story was disappointing. After defeating the final boss, the hooded man just kind of thanks you and that's it. Loading times can be annoying as well, sometimes lasting 15 seconds, and that's kinda long for a game where all you do is sit in one place while shooting 1-3 enemies types, and it wouldn't be so bad if it was fun, but enemies are total bullet damage sponges and don't really react to your hits. Constantly changing view just because enemies appearing almost every direction with little warning due to the mediocre sound design can get very tedious.
Overall, it's ALMOST a good game, but the problem is that the devs clearly wanted to hype up the game as if it was something big but they clearly lied. It's no wonder that they dropped the price to $10 4 months after its release. I guess even Winking themselves where disappointed as well.
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PlayStation 4
Is not as bad as some say it is, but it's not very good. The enviroments are nicely detailed, the ideas the game tries to offer are quite interesting, gunplay is responsive and the hardest difficulty is actually kinda fun.
However, the story is rather shallow and it's only there just to give you a certain objective with no rewards. The enemies were also disappointing. The final boss was probably the only enemy worth fighting at. Rampage mode (aka survival) is rather more barebones than the actual campaign. You just fight the same three enemies with no new twists. Swords feels rather weak than the gun, even when using the dual swords. Magic is a nice concept but at execution, it's mostly just one-hit kill. Gameplay for me was just shoot-shoot-magic-shoot. Rinse and repeat. Shooring at the enemies didn't gave any excitement, but that's probably because I'm not a "hardcore" casual VR wave shooter lover.
And while the hardest difficulty is kinda fun, it's not without its faults, since you're just going to kill the same enemies over and over again. What's funny is that I found the first 3 levels of the hardest difficulty to be way harder than the last two, probably due to the amount of enemies the game throws at you.
I don't think is that bad most people says it is, but I wouldn't call it "THE BEST WAVE SHOOTER" a lot of casuals like Gamepitt likes to call it. It's just very average, and it exists. I recommend the game when it's $10, because $20 is too much for the amount of content the game offers. You can beat the campaign (on each difficulty) in just an hour. Is not a god awful game but if you're looking a decent wave shooter, just stick with Brookhaven.
Considering that one user here gave a positive score to this game (probably Gamepitt lol), my guess is that there people out there who actually enjoys the game, so I guess I should find it surprising, but then again, there are people out there who also enjoys playing games like Unearthing Mars, Loading Human, Ace Banana and other shovelware VR games, so I guess I should have expected it. Though, since I barely hear anyone talking about this game (even people excited about China Hero Project ignored that this game was funded by the program), it's safe to say that the game has fallen into obscurity. Even 18 Floors, a VR game published by the same people who distributed The Walker, has garenered a slightly better following than The Walker, and at least with 18 Floors, it will be recieving updates in the future. The Walker, on the other hand, will end up being a forgettable VR game that isn't insultingly bad but it barely does antything to stand out from other wave shooters on PSVR. The game is worth playing once (two if I'm being generous here) until later dropping it for another lenghtier and meatier VR experience.
Also, you know it's sad that the artwork looks infinitely better than what the game actually is.
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PlayStation 4
Pros:
-The graphisc for the most part are well-done and the backgrounds are decently designed.
-Shooting is very responsive. There wasn't one moment were my aiming was off.
-You can unlock dual guns, which are the best weapons in the game.
-The magic feature is a cool concept...
Cons:
-...but sadly, it isn't executed to its max potential, since there are only 2 magic talismans (one stops the enemy and one deals a lot of damage).
-Enemy variety is very lacking, consisting of 2 bosses and 3 enemies (with the crawling one re-colored on the higher difficulty).
-Story is only brought up on the final stage (the game doesn't even tell you the smallest details of story during stage 2-5), and even then the conclusion was very unsatisfying.
-The game is very easy, with your gun dealing a lot of damage and the enemy's speed being very slow. The bosses were the only ones that gave me a bit of a pickle.
-There are only 3 guns and 2 swords.
-Sword combat is very underwhelming, ending up being weaker than the guns. Sometimes, you don't feel like your sword is actually hitting the enemy.
-The game's "survival" mode is the only additional mode the game gives you and even then, there's no reward for surviving the waves.
-Can be completed in 1-2 hours.
-Lack of music is undertandable but they could have added additional ambience sounds to make you feel like you're there.
-You can't walk (ironic, isn't it?)
-Lack of interaction on stages (other than exploding barrels)
Conclusion? It's very bittersweet. At its best, is a harmless competent wave shooter that does little to stand out. At its worst, is an overpriced barebones wave shooter with very little variety. For $20, I advise you to avoid it as best as possible. If you want some good wave shooters, I recommend Brookhaven Experiment or Blasters of the Universe. For a game funded by Sony's China Hero Project program, this was their most underwhelming, being worse than Animal Force.
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PlayStation 4
Really disappointed. The sword is weak and useless, magic spells consists of dealing lotsa of damage, enemy variety is very underwhelming, not a lot of cool weapons (aside from dual guns and dual swords but the former is way more effective), story is almost non-existant, no music, suspense and tension is very scarce, no power-ups during stages and the game is almost just as easy as the Dragonrider fight from DkS2. I guess I can only recommend this to the hardcorest wave shooter fans but even then, $20 is too much. $8 or less way more acceptable. After reading Gamepitt's review, I thought the game was just as good as he wrote but alas, it wasn't. Can't help but feel like Gamepitt was overhyping the game a bit too much.
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PlayStation 4
