TEST Operation Wolf Returns: First Mission VR, a heartbreaking return to the past in VR

Operation Wolfreleased by taito in arcade in 1987, was a rail shooter well-paced parodic style directly from the action movies of the time. With Operation Wolf Returns: First Mission VR, the studio Virtuallyz under the control of Microidstherefore takes up the base of the game while bringing a new design, a leaderboardbut above all an immersion in virtual reality. This neo-retro remake VR did he know how to seduce us? Here is our opinion.

The neo-retro style visually works quite well in VR and Operation Wolf Returns: First Mission VR is no exception.

On the story side, we are in the presence of a parody of an action film from the 80s and the setting is perfectly respected. We play a strong special agent who must save the world from a villain – the general Viper – at the head of a criminal organization which, in addition to dealing in drugs and arms, has developed an overpowering one. Our mission is therefore to attack the different bases of this mafia in order to free the hostages, eliminate the minions as well as the general and destroy this weapon. The staging in VR is done, as is already the case in other games of the genre like 1976: Back to Midway, via cinematics projected on flat screens before letting go in immersion in the level. Simple, effective, everything is carried by a humorous text and above all a very pleasant French dubbing.

Graphically, the neo-retro style works visually rather well in VR And Operation Wolf Returns: First Mission VR is no exception to the rule. So yes, fans of slick and realistic graphics will cry foul as the old-fashioned cartoon side will sting the eyes of those who are not retrogaming, but it is clear that it brings a real immersion in the graphic style. 90s. In our opinion, offering the same game with a more modern art direction would not really make sense. On the sound side, the sound effects also respect this period shift by not being more realistic than the images. Once again, this offers the studio’s target players an immersion in the past. The others, there too, will howl to death to complain.

For the gameplaywe are in the presence of a rail shooter pure and hard of arcade type. Our character follows his path and we will have to eradicate all those (humans and machines) who wish us harm and save some nice hostages. Four basic weapons are available to us (submachine gun, pistol, submachine gun and shotgun) with grenades, but there are also a few occasionally available on the course. Note, the pump shotgun is not terribly effective and the submachine gun will probably be your best friend for you too. Clearly, it is necessary to défourailler all that is not nice, to recover ammunition in the decoration, to reload while tilting the point of its weapon downwards and to survive attacks coming from all around us. Here too, simplicity and efficiency are at the rendezvous. Note, once dead, it is possible to resume the game at exactly the same place. The story mode is divided into six chapters, each offering an end boss. If the whole thing is quite repetitive, genre requires, there are still some nice little variants with passages of gameplay on board an aircraft or other vehicles. Three difficulty levels are available, but we didn’t really feel the difference between them. The possibility of continuing one’s game once dead (the arcade counterpart of “continuing by adding a piece”) allows you to finish the game even if you are quite bad. The duration of the story mode is around two hours, but the replayability is infinite for those who love scoring. This is the very basis of these arcade games. Who said Metal Slug basically ? There is also a “Survival” mode which plunges us, this time, into a wave shooter infinity. Hidden in our small central island, we must survive all the waves that will try to eliminate us arriving from all sides at the same time. At the time, we found that if the idea is good, it is poorly exploited as there is no logic of difficulty progression in the successive waves. In this kind of concept, we expect to suffer more and more over time, but not there, it’s actually quite random from wave to wave (we passed 80). In addition, during our test, there was only one set, which gets boring very quickly.

In the end, Operation Wolf Returns: First Mission VR brings something new to this 1987 license with an immersion in VR very pleasant that offers immediate pleasure. Unfortunately, by wanting to respect the retro side of the license, the game may displease many players for whom the graphics and sound effects must be at the top in realism. On the contrary, retrogaming enthusiasts will see it as a fine adaptation of a title that has caused quite a few coins to slide into the slot of its arcade terminals. So yes, a two player mode would have been a plus (like in the original 2D game), at least in the mode wave shooter which would have deserved more finishing to be motivating. In short, if you have a nostalgic streak and are a fan of VRyou will have a good time with Operation Wolf Returns: First Mission VR.