AI Rebellion
Viveport Review: AI Rebellion
Immergity’s starfighter sim delivers beautiful visuals but lackluster gameplay.
By Joshua Hawkins, Greenlit Content
AI Rebellion has a lot to offer when it comes to visuals. The game looks beautiful, and the sensation of flying through space is wonderful. The bad thing, though, is that these beautiful visuals are all torn to pieces by lackluster audio and a limited gameplay loop.
The first time I loaded into AI Rebellion, I was excited. The cockpit looked great, and I really felt like I was seated inside of a small craft barreling through space. Sadly, the interface is pretty rough around the edges. The location of the controls is awkward, and most of the time I felt like my arms were digging into my sides because of how I had to hold them in order to actively reach the controls.
As far as combat goes, it’s not anything to write home about. Aiming is easy enough, and firing the two different types of weapons is simple. There’s no real oomph like in other star fighter games, though, and the battles leave a lot to be desired.
Another big problem is the way that the game handles different ships. As you progress through the game, you gain access to a few larger ships. The biggest issue here, though, is that the ships all fly and act the same; the only difference is the number of weapons that they have, and the visuals of the bridge.
On top of the rough gameplay loop, AI Rebellion also struggles with immersive audio. During the first mission, you crash into a planet and meet an odd robot that helps you out along the way. It’s a great looking robot as far as visuals and animations go, but the audio tracks that it plays feel so out of place and really break the immersion of the entire experience—which seems a bit strange considering how much work was put into the visuals.
The unexciting gameplay, bad controls, and terrible audio quality of the NPCs were more than enough to break the immersion and feeling that the visuals brought to life. While you control the ship directly, those controls are wonky and often end with you jabbing your elbow into your side as you try to follow a ship around trying to shoot it. The final nail in the coffin, though, came when I finally reached the AI planet. Thanks to the awkward control positioning, I found it extremely frustrating as I tried to control the ship, the throttle, and take out enemies in the enclosed space that they put me into.
All told, while AI Rebellion looks stunning, I can’t recommend giving it a chance unless the developers tinker behind the scenes with the game. Unfortunately, there’s no guarantee this will happen, so for the time being, give this one a pass.
AI Rebellion is available on Viveport and as part of Viveport Subscription.
0 Comments
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.