I’m a huge fan of Llamasoft, and I, Robot is another hit in its library.
If the name sounds familiar, you may be aware that the team – headed by Jeff Minter – has a history of supporting VR. Originally, Tempest 4000 was slated to have a VR mode; Polybius released for PSVR and eventually received a SteamVR release, which was followed by Moose Life. Now the team has released I, Robot – a reimagining of the 1984 arcade game of the same name, complete with VR support exclusively on PlayStation VR2.
We’ve spent several hours going hands-on with the game since its release last week; while the game itself was clearly built first-and-foremost for flatscreen displays, PS VR2 support is much welcomed. Peeking at each level from your vantage point, it nails the feeling that you’re playing a game against the enigmatic eye on the other side of the game board. Special stages task you with shooting Triangles as you travel down a waveform. It’s a bit similar to Tempest, though not exactly the same – the extra depth that PS VR2 provides makes these levels far more memorable than they’d be otherwise.
Your goal is simple; you control a tiny, polygonal horned robot, while the giant eye that watches over everything has outlawed jumping. You’re going to ignore that to walk over every tile in each level; you can jump between any two unobstructed tiles of the same elevation, though you have to watch out. If the eye is watching, you’ll be zapped the moment you leave the ground – or in the middle of your jump if your timing is off. You can also shoot directly towards the background, which is used in some puzzles. Every few stages things switch up with an Arena level with free 360-degrees movement where instead of flipping tiles by walking, you do so by destroying enemies – their explosions ripping the tiles off the floor.
Much like Llamasoft’s other releases, this is an arcade-inspired game. You can start a run from any of the levels you’ve reached, though you only have a set number of lives at your disposal. Getting through special stages between each normal level without dying grants additional lives, so it’s not like the game is especially difficult to get a streak going. That’s particularly true if you’re replaying levels you’ve already familiarized yourself with – but chances are you will struggle with some levels on your first attempts.
That isn’t to say that the game is demanding to an unreasonable degree. You might struggle a bit with your first attempts at a level, yet I wouldn’t say that any particular level – of the 45 I’ve cleared out of 60, at least – are outright frustrating. If anything, Llamasoft’s absolutely nailed the balance here. I, Robot feels like the first Llamasoft game that I can wholly recommend to anyone – not just certified arcade sickos like myself.
Star challenges for each level offer an extra wrinkle for players to aspire to – don’t die, complete a level within a time limit, grab the max number of tiles possible, don’t kill any enemies, and more. These are dependent on the level in question, and there are of course trophies tied to getting as many of these Stars as possible within a single run.
I, Robot isn’t just a delightful puzzle game, it’s currently one of the more charming PlayStation VR2 exclusives. For any fan of arcade-style releases, it gets a glowing recommendation.
