Taken for a Quickie | Telefrag VR

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Telefrag VR is a bold new arena shooter from developer Anshar Studios (who we recently interviewed), hoping to bring the intense competition of Unreal Tournament and Quake to virtual reality. We’ve spent some time with the finished article on PlayStation VR, minus online play due to it being pre-release, so let’s throw down the lowdown.

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by Sam Sant

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@SlamShotSam

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Developer: Anshar
Studios
Publisher: Anshar
Studios
Platforms: PS VR,
Oculus Rift, HTC VIVE
Players: 1 - 2

Breakneck pacing doesn’t often translate well in VR - how does Telefrag fare?

Anshar really stepped up to the plate; the classic twitch gameplay of its inspirations is present and doesn’t induce motion sickness – at least in our experience.

That’s largely thanks to quality motion tracking and a range of comfort options, notably the ability to choose between any combination of dash/standard locomotion and incremental/smooth turning. After some experimentation, we found the DualShock 4 with smooth movement and incremental turns to be our sweet spot.

Wait. You wouldn’t recommend using Move wands?

Unfortunately not, no. They give you more freedom, as you can aim your dual-wielded guns in two directions at once, but with movement mapped to a dizzying combination of six face buttons and head tracking, it’s a juggling act at best and a death sentence at worst. 

You can’t really fault the dev team for Sony’s outdated controllers lacking analogue sticks, mind.

Hmm, that's true. So, is it good?

Telefrag VR is focused on presenting snappy 1v1 deathmatches, contested first-to-three kills across five compact maps with five big-ass weapons.

Those firearms are all on different cooldowns (no manual reloads), have two alternative fire modes, plus feature a unique form of weaponisable teleportation. More passively, you can also warp onto designated surfaces to bring a new dimension to fights, perhaps launching an ambush from upside down on the ceiling.

Mix these things together and the result is an experience that is, more often than not, frantic fun.

Sounds great, but just 1v1 deathmatch? Really?

It might sound sparse, but with the game being built around head-to-head play it’s one seriously action-packed tango! Telefrag is also set in an alternate future where the Roman Empire never fell and Gladiators now compete for glory in sci-fi coliseums, which helps to contextualise things.

Moreover, considering VR’s relatively small install base, only requiring one opponent for online matchmaking is much easier to accommodate - especially with cross-play between all major headsets also enabled.

Thumbs up then?

If you’re a fan of 90s FPS games, complete with gravelly announcers, Telefrag does an admirable job of distilling that familiar feel down to fit the VR landscape.

It can certainly be enjoyed solo against bots, as in our case, but online balance is a potential issue due to cross-play. PlayStation players have to choose between analogue movement and independent control of both arms, whereas Oculus and Vive users don’t, most likely placing them at an inherent advantage. If you can, opt for the PC version as a result.