SWARM Review – Oculus Rift / Quest 2

SwarmVR (or just SWARM) is a fantastic game both in concept and execution; a game that really only works in VR partly due to the first-person perspective but even more thanks to the dual Touch controllers that seamlessly integrate your hands and arms into the thrilling gameplay.  Taking place above shark-infested waters, bubbling lava, toxic clouds, and other instant death scenarios, you will find yourself swinging around like Spider-Man while simultaneously blasting waves of enemy drones, upgrading new weapons and collecting all sorts of crystal shards.

The tutorial is very informative and even continues into later mission as new concepts are introduced.  At its core SWARM is easy to learn and challenging to master.  You basically point toward any of the available grapple points to connect your bungee-like cable then pump your arm to increase tension and propel yourself forward and up.  You can use one or both hands simultaneously for more stability and greater elasticity/momentum, but you generally need to keep one hand free to fire your blasters at the circling drones.  There are brief moments where you are simply flying unattached and can unload both weapons into the swarm of bots.

Learning out how to swing is half the battle, but it only takes a few missions to figure out this dynamic and once you find your flow the experience is exhilarating.  Your grapple needs to periodically recharge, which means you have to alternate hands or find moments to propel yourself high enough to fly untethered while the meters recharge.  It’s a clever method to keep you from simply hanging from a single platform and shooting.  The game progressively adds more features and abilities like being able to point and zip to a grapple point or even an enemy.  The zip feature is a lifesaver when you start swinging too low and start touching the water or other game-ending surface.  Once you figure out how to rapidly change directions or increase your speed with dual grappling, the possibilities are endless.  It is worth noting that the game is a bit more physically demanding than a lot of VR titles, and while it can be played seated you might want a swivel chair.  The game is very circular with you constantly flying past your targets and needing to quickly reverse direction (this can be automated in the options).  SWARM is best played standing; just don’t get tangled in the cord, as you will be spinning around a lot.

The combat is just as exciting as the swinging with a variety of weapons that offer a satisfying targeting mechanic.  You have formations of enemy drones, often with a red enemy that will explode taking out any others around it.  Drones appear from one portal and fly around for a few seconds before exiting through another.  You also have medium and larger drones that will simply hover and take shots at you; the latter launching seeking missiles that will track you until you shoot them down.  The largest drone has multiple target spots that need to be destroyed, while smaller and medium enemies can be targeted and zipped into for instant destruction.

SWARM looks great with a stylized cel-shaded design that combines plenty of level detail with fun enemy designs and comic-like explosions.  It’s the perfect mix that allows for fast and fluid framerates with virtually no motion sickness; even with all the quick 180-spins and fast turns.  There is this illusion that you are stationary and the world is moving around you, although the game does make use of graphical effects like streaking particle effects and wind currents to help with the sense of movement and direction.  The visuals are backed up with a quality audio component with great music and sound effects.

Presented as a pure arcade experience, SWARM doesn’t have much of a story.  Instead you are presented with numerous stages, each with various challenges and objectives and all being scored and ranked on leaderboards, which adds a bit to the addictive nature of the game if you are competitive in that way.  This is definitely a game that you get better and score higher the more you play, so even after you do work your way through the lengthy list of levels there is plenty of reason to replay and do better.  It’s worth noting that SWARM is a cross-buy title, so one purchase gets you playable copies for both Rift and Quest.  While most of my review time was spent on the Rift S I did test on the Quest 2.  I did enjoy the freedom of no wires, but the connected PC version seemed to offer better performance and overall visual clarity than the Quest 2 version.

SWARM certainly sets itself apart when it comes to VR traversal, especially after playing Yupitergrad, which also features a similar grapple mechanic only more puzzle and less combat.  The feeling of moving about the levels, swinging, launching, falling was thrilling and when you factor in the intense combat this is one VR shooter you don’t want to miss whichever headset you own.

Author: Mark Smith
I've been an avid gamer since I stumbled upon ZORK running in my local Radio Shack in 1980. Ten years later I was working for Sierra Online. Since then I've owned nearly every game system and most of the games to go with them. Not sure if 40+ years of gaming qualifies me to write reviews, but I do it anyway.

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