System: Valve Index, HTC Vive & Oculus Rift
Price at Time Of Review: £9.99
Comfort Rating: Green (No Movement)
Genre: Real-time strategy (RTS)
Input: Tracked Motion Controllers
Best Playing Position: Sitting
Multi-Player: No
Age Rating: PG
Description: Quar: Battle for Gate 18 is a turn-based strategic VR experience set in the grimmsical world of Alwyd! It seems the Quar have always been at war. When the first wandering clans of insect gatherers built their low, mud-walled buildings, it was as much to keep out other Quar as the wild animals. As they first learned to make tools to get food, they quickly learned to make tools to defend themselves. The mud walls quickly became fortified citadels, and then city-states. In five thousand years of civilization, the constants of their culture have been the changing of the seasons and the threat of war.
For the last 700 years, the Quar have been waging The Long War to a bloody stalemate that has wracked their world. But the balance of power is shifting and Alykinder’s Crusade is attempting to end The Long War by conquering all the Quar nations. This game takes you to one battle in one theatre of The Long War: the Battle for Gate 18 between the Crusader Army and the Royalist Coftyran Crymuster. Command cavalry to sweep the enemy’s flanks. Send Baeliog armoured tractors forward to shatter hardened defences. Your rhyflers are armed with weapons ranging from the humble Bogen rifle to heavy-automatic shotguns. Rely on your stalwart officers to keep up your troop’s morale and to call in deadly airstrikes. But above all, preserve the honour of your cause as you wage the Battle for Gate 18!
For the first few missions you are given a tutorial, but even playing around with the Oculus Touch controllers in the menu helped me to figure most the controls out. The gameplay is done in a style or turn-based strategy. Using both the Touch controllers you tell each squad what to do, then you have to end your turn. But you do have to tell all squad members what to do before the entire army become selectable again, and so on goes the battle. Each unit can be people, tanks and even aeroplanes! With some truly beautiful graphics and great animation, this is a game that has clearly not been rushed in any way.
This game is a hidden gem that might sadly go unnoticed. Not only have they made it look great, but they have also made it as VR friendly as possible. With teleport and rotating view as well as game board height adjustment which is a fantastic feature. While the slower pace of gameplay might scare people away I think it gives the game a much more strategic style of gameplay. Most RTS games look good in VR, but Quar: Battle for Gate 18 is a cut above the rest. Well done to the makers of it, this game is worth every penny.
