Days of Heroes: D-Day PC Review (Quest 2 via Link)
Summary: Step into the blocky stylised boots of a soldier and help the allies win WWII.
3.8
Blocky Battles
VR is starting to gain some traction in gaming and that means we are getting some really compelling experiences. Polish developers Zen Apps Studio bring us their VR take on World War 2 and whilst many developers are trying to push the visual boundaries of what we can achieve, Zen Apps Studio have focused more on the experience itself.
Let me break that notion down a little more. Many people talk about VR in a looking forward “when can we get true 4K visuals” etc… and whilst that would be nice (and we are certainly in a much better place visually than even just a year or two ago)… it can be just as important to explore the rest of the VR experience… the interactivity and fluidity of the world and our part in it. By opting for a more stylized visual tone (everything has very straight edges, there are no smooth curves in this game) there is less strain on the graphical processing… that added processing overhead can be put towards making the rest of the experience more engaging and that’s just where Days of Heroes: D-Day makes it count.
In a war game one of the most prevalent elements is the weaponry, how we interact with weapons in VR can be somewhat hit and miss and I am happy to say that I found the experience in Days of Heroes one of the most satisfying I’ve had to date. It can take a little getting used to, making sure you have the weapon in the right hand for your usage as you have to reload/cock etc the weapons as you use them… this means that when firing a rifle, you have to clear the chamber and put a new bullet making sure that is set in place before you can fire again. It all adds to the feeling of tension and pacing of the game. But perhaps my favourite implementation was of the sniper rifle. Other games have been critized for how they do sniper scopes, Days of Heroes (for me at least) feels like it does it right. The first time I tried to use it, my shots strayed a bit… I then braced my trigger arm on top of my other arm and found my accuracy improved dramatically. You have the option of looking through the scope at a distance or you can bring it right up to get a tight view of your target… quite satisfying.
The game is broken up into sections or stages if you like. You begin by being part of the paratrooper drop to prepare for the D-Day landing and then move on to actually taking place in the landing itself, arriving on the beach via a Higgins Boat. You will notice during the landing that the beach doesn’t feel like it’s swarming with soldiers, it doesn’t feel crowded… but there are enough troops about to get a sense of action and again the more conservative approach means the whole experience is a lot smoother for the player.
Overall it’s a really fun game, broken into nice easily consumed chunks (in case you don’t have a long time to play but want to get in a bit of war gaming before doing something else). There aren’t too many games (certainly in VR) that I can think of that allow you to pull a grenade pin with your teeth… but you can here. If you don’t mind the visual style of the game, it’s definitely worth picking up for a fun experience (it kind of seems wrong saying fun in relation to a World War 2 experience).
About the Author
Chris O'Connor Father of four, husband of one and all round oddity. Gaming at home since about 1982 with a Sinclair ZX Spectrum. Moving on to the more traditional PC genre in the years that followed with the classic Jump Joe and Alley Cat. CGA, EGA, VGA and beyond PC's have been central to my gaming but I've also enjoyed consoles and hand helds along the way (who remembers the Atari Lynx?). Would have been actor/film maker, jack of many trades master of none.
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