Windlands is a free flying VR game that allows free roaming while you’re swinging from tree to tree. Although you may feel like Spider-Man in this game, you will be hunting for crystals throughout the game and feeding them to the energy sources. The entire game is going to take about six hours to finish, but with difficulty passing levels and a plethora of different routes to take, you might find yourself taking much longer than six hours.
In the tutorial of the game you are going to be stuck walking and jumping everywhere, as you have to do a number of walkabouts before you are able to find your grapplers. Once you obtain your grapplers and the (very hard) tutorial ends, you are introduced to the idea of gathering crystals. This isn’t much of a debate, as the is the point of the game and you wont be able to play without doing this somewhat simple task. From here, you are going to be swinging from level to level all from your grappling hands.
You get motion sickness inside of VR very easily, this game may not be for you. Although you are able to mess with the settings before you start the tutorial, even the most gentle of settings will leave you feeling nauseated at the start of your virtual movements. Until you finally get your VR legs under you, this might be a good game to stay away from. If you are in good VR shape, this game is going to be loads of fun while you swing from tree to tree. This is nothing like the nimSony version of Spider-Man.
The locomotion of this game is what makes it desirable to play. The free moving feel and the silkiness of swinging is something everybody wants to try. The gameplay itself is not bad either. The story line can feel bland at times, but we all the storyline is not the reason we are playing this game. The ability to feel like Spider-Man in nature is why we play this game. The developers did a fantastic job of making us feel free in this game, and this is what makes it so great. You will be unable to grab onto cement blocks, tree trunks, and the ground, but you are going to be able to attach to the green part of the trees just fine.
From here you are going to want to use your momentum to swing about. You are going to lose momentum throughout your levels, but part of the game is trying to find ways to make your player launch forward to the next platform to obtain the crystals. It is going to be a challenge to find the crystals at times, but the levels are much easier if you focus on getting to the high ground and looking from there.
This game is all about movement and that is going to be what keeps you playing this game. The fluidity and the ease of moving across the maps make it very easy to love this game.
After beating this game once, if you go through it again you will be able to unlock mini in-game challenges and play at a higher difficulty. The game is only going to get better as you get used to it and you unlock levels. For a price point of of $19.99 you are going to get everything you are playing for. Keep in mind that this game has yet to be optimized for the Oculus Touch controllers, but the experience will only take a small hit if you don’t have your Vive controllers.
