Aliens are invading Earth! Who can you call upon to aid us in our greatest time of need? The Animal Force! Learn more about this action-packed game in our Animal Force review!
Animal Force – Launch Trailer | PS VR
Assemble your squad of superpowered beasts to save the world from a deadly alien invasion.
Unleash your claws, paws, horns and fangs across huge 3D planetary battlefields in totally immersive 360º virtual reality – deploying mighty critters to fight waves of other-worldly enemies before they kidnap defenseless humans.
Play solo:
• Battle in six chapters over 28 levels.
• Control and level-up animal heroes with unique strengths and weaknesses.
• Face over 20 enemy breeds and six boss battles.Play with friends offline:
• Take on up to three non-VR players using DUALSHOCK® wireless controllers in exciting multiplayer matches.
• Engage a non-VR player in a thrilling one-on-one showdown.
Animal Force is a Tower Defense game on PlayStation VR. What makes it cool in VR is that instead of the usual 2D interface, everything moves to 3D, making great use of the PlayStation VR hardware. Since it’s a VR title, let’s talk about how it controls. This game allows you to use the DualShock 4 or a single PlayStation Move controller. I used both for this review and, if you have the option, the PS Move controller is the way to go thanks to how it makes it easier for you to move around the environment.
Animal Force is a tower defense game. How does that work in a 3D plane? You need to fly above the planet, locating areas where the aliens are going to attack our world. From there, you will see the paths the aliens are going to be taking towards Earth to grab the humans. At this point, place down the members of your Animal Force around the paths and let them start attacking the aliens as they enter the scene
Early on this is easy since you’ll place units and have them attack without anything else to worry about. However, there will be a considerable difficulty bump as you progress in the game, and you will need to be moving them around the board as paths change, and the enemies will become tougher, attacking in larger numbers. I liked the increase in difficulty since it kept me busy and engaged, making me think more about unit placement and how to move them around, instead of being a mindless tower defense release.
Each of the animals has different abilities, and you will need to learn them well as that is important for creating the best Animal Force. You can also upgrade units, making them more powerful and deadly. If you’re in a pinch and struggling with a level, you can wave them around like a wand moving them to where you need them to attack the aliens. It’s not the preferred method, but in a pinch, it will help out during the chaos.
There is a couch co-op mode which allows you to have several friends using the Dualshock 4. It pits the player wearing the PlayStation VR headset against up to three people in mini-games, making it a mode that is very much separated from the main experience.
The visuals have a unique blocky look to them, keeping the visuals looking simple but with their own art style. The animals themselves have a ton of personality wearing regional outfits, such as the eagle wearing Uncle Sam gear, a Panda wich a Chinese motif, a boxing Kangaroo, and more. Even when going into the local co-op mode, the game keeps this visual style with the humans that you are playing against, making it stand out from the crowd.
Final Thoughts
Animal Force is an interesting experiment… that doesn’t quite feel right. It’s an interesting take on the tower defense formula, but it proves to be too easy for a short while, with a huge difficulty spike that, for a lot of players, is going to be hard to deal with. The co-op multiplayer portion of the game is a fun option, but it feels very disconnected from the single-player portion. If you’re in the market for a 3D tower defense game on PlayStation VR, then you can check this one out.
Disclaimer
This Animal Force review is based on a PlayStation 4 copy provided by Oasis Games Limited.
