Rescuties! VR is a perfectly reasonable virtual reality offering where you are tasked with saving cute kids and animals using the Oculus Touch to manage picking things up and throwing them. There are plenty of modes and options, though the core gameplay is simple and accessible, almost to a fault.
There are plenty of crazy scenarios from saving animals from burning buildings to the one that I started off on, rescuing babies being thrown out of hot air balloons. If that sounds a little crazy then... well, it is. When I fired up my first stage, I was catching babies and tossing them over to nearby helicopters. Of course, there were the throws where I was less than accurate and... I'm sure that baby will be just fine.... eventually... and land on a mattress of pillows?
Probably not, but you don't really get much time to dwell on the fact as you soon have others tossed at you. And the action comes from all sides (something I didn't notice right at first. It was not until I was a few minutes into the first match that I realized there was a baby chilling on the ground next to my feet. But I could have sworn I had caught them all. Then about two minutes later there was another, so I spun around and realized that there was a second balloon chucking babies my way). I mean, these hot air balloons are apparently like clown cars, as they hold dozens of people in them.
Of course, you can play this a few different ways, but it's pretty evident that the developers were gearing this up for touch controls all of the way. Even the stage selection screen tries to be tactile as it bounces plastic balls up out of a pipe for you to catch and then throw at whatever stage / game you want to play on a big board in front of you.
Luckily the core system of catch and throw is aided by variety in targets and also an eating mechanic. Now that was never explained, but the first time I saw what looked like a triangular slice of pizza laying about, I was compelled to pick it up and well - I put it near my mouth. Why not, right? Well Rescuties! VR tracked that movement and that was their intent as my character took bites out of the pizza. I repeated the action and finished it off. I then realized that certain foods trigger specific gameplay actions such as bonus points or freezing time. It's a small wrinkle, but it adds some variety to the proceedings at least.
If you enjoy the premise of catching and setting/throwing things, then there is a lot to like about Rescuties! VR. The scenarios are pretty varied, though they all revolve around the notion of operating in a three dimensions space the requires rescuing said 'cutie' and getting them safe and sound. That could mean lofting them to a nearby rescue helicopter or getting them back into their cribs after the nurse throws / drops them. If I am being real, this is potentially morbid stuff, but it's so ridiculous in its variety of characters (hedgehogs, babies wearing VR glasses, puppies and more) that unlocking the new characters and stages actually gives you some goals to shoot for.
Rescuties! VR is not a terribly deep game, however. There is little sense of progression outside of unlocking new things, as there is no single tangible story to latch onto here. Rescuties! VR is more of a collection of similarly themed mini-games than anything else. There are different ways to play, including a flat monitor with a mouse and keyboard, but if I am being honest those are pretty awful. This title was built with virtual space and controls in mind and anything else fails to capture the title's charm.
There is a certain charm to Rescuties! VR, despite the ridiculous nature of most of its stages. The visuals are blocky, colorful and generally fun, and the different environments are certainly welcome as well. However, with a series of very similar games all themed around the same basic mechanics, Rescuties! VR proves to be a fleetingly fun but shallow game that will likely appeal to younger gamers due to the cute visuals and simple, accessible controls. Just do go looking for deep progression or gameplay mechanics as they mostly consist of catching and throwing. It is a perfectly decent, average action game with a nice hook for VR fans looking for something easy to show off.
Game Information
PC - Oculus Touch
Developer(s):
mode of expression
Publisher(s):
mode of expression
Genre(s):
Acction
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
None
Source:
Provided by Publisher
Article by Nick
