Because the player must still be immersed in a semblance of history, the developers of Supermassive Games have imagined for Bravo Team a scenario as banal as already seen, that of the politician kidnapped following an attack. As good soldiers that we are, but also because we were part of the close guard of the leader in question at the time of the kidnapping, we are sent to the front to try to find her trace. It is therefore in a European city, somewhere to the east, and which seems to be totally devastated by the civil war, that two soldiers are assigned to prevent the country from sinking further into chaos. Armed with a large caliber weapon (assault, pump and sniper) and a small emergency gun, here are our brave soldiers ready to go through the 6 chapters that make up this solo adventure, or in cooperation, if you ever have a friend. who made the same mistake as you buying this Bravo Team. Because it is useless to keep the suspense intact until the end of this paper, the Supermassive Games shooter crashes on almost everything it tries to do, starting with its gameplay, rigor mortis. Unlike Farpoint where the player was completely free to move around, even if it meant taking the risk of making the most sensitive players nauseous, Bravo Team opted for movements by teleportation, masked by transitions which in the end can still spin the dizzy.
IT'S TIME FOR THE BRAVE, OH!
Indeed, as soon as we validate a movement action, the game immediately switches to third-person view, placing the player as a spectator, with an angle of view that is often badly placed and above all badly calibrated. As a result, we end up with a double harmful effect: not only does it break the rhythm and the immersion, but in addition this situation loses the player in space, since he systematically needs a few seconds to resituate himself. It is all the more disconcerting that the character, once hidden behind his hideout, is limited in his actions. Apart from being able to squat (or stand up) and lean – physically – to the sides, no other action is unfortunately possible. A lack of mobility that quickly turns into frustration, especially when you find yourself under heavy enemy fire. It is in these moments of stress that we realize that the game clearly lacks flexibility, especially since each movement is governed by a precise zone, indicated and imposed by the cursor which then acts as a guide for each movement. . It is indeed impossible to choose where to move your character, especially since it is not uncommon for a bad manipulation to teleport us to an open area, sometimes at the feet of the enemy. Luckily, the game's AI is so screwed up that we're often more likely to miss an enemy at close range than from 50 meters away.
As a result, we end up with a double harmful effect: not only does it break the rhythm and the immersion, but in addition this situation loses the player in space, since he systematically needs a few seconds to resituate himself. It is all the more disconcerting that the character, once hidden behind his hideout, is limited in his actions.
Similarly, because the developers did not have the good idea to use the gyroscopy of the helmet to indicate a direction to take, we find ourselves using the right analog stick to start a 180-degree half-turn to par example turning back or attempting to return to a more secure coverage area. In moments of calm, this is not a problem, but as soon as you find yourself in the heart of a gunfight (often incessant, due to the respawn of enemies), it quickly becomes very painful. And then there are also all these grotesque situations where you have to go back and forth from one hideout to another so that the ammunition box is available again. The developers have indeed not provided a contextual action to perform so that you can reload your weapons if you decide to stay in front of the chest of additional cartridges. We don't know if it's a lack of foresight or finishing, but the fact remains that it really does hurt.
TEAMWORK TOGETHER
Endowed with defects in its gameplay, Bravo Team unfortunately does not do much to make things favorable to it. Over the 6 chapters (30 min on average to complete one, i.e. 3 hours to finish the game), we systematically found ourselves on the same construction scheme, namely moving forward (always in a straight line) towards an area (sometimes half -open), liquidate all enemies (which often respawn for long minutes) to advance to the next one. Apart from rare passages where you have to play on discretion by killing enemies in close combat and in silence, Bravo Team takes no risks, and only unrolls a score that reveals its repetitiveness from the first chapter. A redundancy that we also find in the sets, very urban, completely emptied of any civic life and which does not allow the landscapes to vary at any time. With the added bonus of fairly sketchy graphics, even for a VR game, it's really hard to get excited about a title that clearly didn't take a lot of resources to develop. Besides, there is no appetite in the game, nothing that could make us want to go to the end of the adventure (which we ended all the same), whether it's the staging, of a distressing flatness, or of the sound environment, completely devoid of music. We are then left only with the sound of our weapons (not very convincing either), but nothing that could make some of our actions epic. For example, we would have liked to have to deal with end-of-level bosses to spice up the game and the challenge a bit, but again, this is the great disappointment. There is an obvious lack of finishing, which proves how much Supermassive Games has torched its game, probably because the timing was short, but also because there is probably a lack of consideration for virtual reality games. .
It's quite unfortunate because Bravo Team is doing pretty well when it comes to talking about gunfights, sublimated if you have the Aim Controller. Rest assured, the game is obviously compatible with a DualShock 4 and PlayStation Move, but the sensations are so reduced and the movements less fluid that we really suggest that you invest in the peripheral so that the experience is not completely ruined and the purchase of the game bitterly regretted. Like Farpoint, it is possible to use the viewfinder when you bring the weapon close to your eye, or rather helmet, which allows you to gain immersion. The reticle is also strongly recommended, since the enemies do not hesitate to shoot us from very far away, especially since "as if by chance", they aim extremely well. An exacerbated ability to hide their obvious lack of intelligence. If the Aim Controller therefore does its job, the sensations are not as exhilarating as in Farpoint, probably also because the developers have imposed the change of weapons with the Triangle button, while the gesture of the arm upwards would have contributed to promote immersion. Same thing for haptic feedback, totally non-existent in Bravo Team, while it was highlighted in Farpoint a year ago. Pity. Just like the rest of the game, which we obviously don't recommend, Sony having no qualms about selling it for €40. Abused.
