Apex Construct
- March 20, 2018
- Fast Travel Games
- 4h median play time
Though not without its faults, Apex Construct offers up an attractive, cleverly constructed and well crafted marriage of action and puzzle solving elements that demands your attention.
"Apex Construct is a single-player VR shooter/adventure game with perfect graphics and good mechanics. Explore a post-apocalyptic world, wield an upgradable bow & shield, and battle enemy robots to discover the extinction of mankind. Delve into a lasting experience with intriguing puzzles and the Cygnia Cup Challenge for global leaderboards."
Reviews
- The bow mechanics are solid and fun, providing a satisfying combat experience.
- The game features beautiful visuals and a compelling world that encourages exploration.
- The story, while light, is engaging enough to keep players interested throughout the gameplay.
- The movement controls are clunky and can lead to frustrating gameplay experiences, often getting players stuck in the environment.
- The game suffers from numerous bugs and glitches that can disrupt the experience and require restarts.
- The narrative lacks a satisfying conclusion and the pacing can feel slow, with excessive backtracking and repetitive objectives.
- story180 mentions
- 36 % positive mentions
- 60 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The story in the game is generally considered engaging and interesting, with a unique premise and beautiful environments, but it suffers from a lack of satisfying closure and a disappointing ending. Many players found the narrative to be light and somewhat cliché, with repetitive gameplay and bugs detracting from the overall experience. While the story has potential and is enjoyable at times, it ultimately leaves players wanting more in terms of depth and resolution.
“The story is interesting, the environments are beautiful, and your main weapon (a bow) is easy and satisfying to use.”
“An interesting and compelling story, perfectly suited for VR.”
“So far the story is engaging and the world is definitely interesting to discover.”
“The ending is super disappointing and unsatisfying; there is no cool boss battle or reveal to the story, just the same rubbish miniboss that is easy to kill.”
“It's one of the lamest endings I've seen in a long time, and doesn't really answer any of the mysteries that it set up or give any kind of closure to the story.”
“Where the game falls short: the story really falls flat towards the end (with so many places to potentially go, it flat-lines and doesn't make a lot of sense... rushed completion?).”
- gameplay122 mentions
- 31 % positive mentions
- 52 % neutral mentions
- 16 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game is a mixed bag, featuring solid archery mechanics that many players enjoy, but marred by issues such as poor level design, repetitive combat, and frustrating mechanics like cumbersome weapon switching and backtracking. While some find the gameplay challenging and engaging, others criticize it for being buggy and awkward, leading to a less immersive experience overall. Despite its polished mechanics in VR, the overall execution leaves players divided, with some feeling it lacks depth and variety.
“The gameplay is the best aspect of the game; it is quite challenging, requiring tactics, strategy, and fast reactions.”
“Good graphics, fun gameplay, and the archery works brilliantly.”
“The bow mechanics are solid and fun, even though switching arrows was difficult in a large battle, but it just takes practice.”
“A bit bugged and janky; you get stuck in terrain, enemies disappear, etc. The story is okay, but gameplay feels repetitive and boring, just shooting the same types of enemies with a bow.”
“Looks pretty at first and starts off looking promising, but poor level design, tedious and confusing objectives and puzzles, and boring gameplay kill it.”
“Next issue is the gameplay is just not interesting (at least the first hour or so). If the game is only 5 hours long, at the hour mark I shouldn't still be just going through security doors looking for a key to open the next door and read more stuff on the next terminal.”
- graphics71 mentions
- 49 % positive mentions
- 45 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some praising the art style and overall aesthetic as polished and visually appealing, while others criticize the dated textures and aliasing issues. Many players appreciate the clean and simplistic design, particularly in VR, but note that the environments can feel empty and lack depth. Overall, the visuals are seen as a strong point, though they are hampered by technical shortcomings and gameplay flaws.
“Some stellar visual design and overall aesthetic.”
“I love the visuals and setting of the game.”
“Very polished feel and beautiful aesthetics.”
“The game is not as interesting: the environments are very empty and the graphics look more like a low poly style rather than 'cute' cartoonish.”
“It's a simple game with a simple story and simple graphics.”
“Luckily the art style hides the aliasing a little but it's still very noticeable.”
- stability15 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game is plagued by numerous glitches, including issues with props, enemy behavior, and navigation in tight spaces, which can detract from the overall experience. While some players found ways to work around minor bugs, the overall consensus is that the game's stability is a significant concern, impacting gameplay and immersion. Despite these frustrations, many players remained engaged with the game until the end.
“Game is buggy; enemies will often merge inside of each other then fire volleys of shots that give you next to no time to fire back.”
“Change it to normal before you start the game; free locomotion also seems to get you snagged on invisible walls and other glitches quite often.”
“Apex Construct has an interesting setup and some great visuals, but falls apart quickly thanks to poor gameplay, frustrating systems, many glitches, and a story that goes nowhere.”
- music14 mentions
- 21 % positive mentions
- 57 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its coolness and comparing it favorably to soundtracks from titles like "Alyx" and "No Man's Sky." However, many users have criticized the audio balance, noting that combat music can be excessively loud and cannot be adjusted, which detracts from the overall experience. Additionally, the lack of ambient music and subtitles for dialogue has been highlighted as a drawback, particularly for those with hearing difficulties.
“What I really liked were the graphics, even though it could've used a bit moodier lighting and the general design of the world, and the music was really cool; I wish there was more of it!”
“(It sits somewhere between Alyx's and No Man's Sky's soundtrack.)”
“The music really enhances the atmosphere of the game, making exploration and combat feel more immersive.”
“The combat music goes too loud and there is no way of lowering it or disabling it, and the inventory is a bit finicky, but otherwise the game works great.”
“Combat music just turns on without reason.”
“Audio is not well balanced, with loud music, or even the sound of your own bow and robot hand loud enough to drown out enemy noises.”
- optimization8 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is a mixed bag; while the graphics are simplistic yet clean and performance meets expectations for VR, the free locomotion option is poorly optimized, leading to awkward controls and potential motion sickness. Users feel that the game does not adequately accommodate Vive controller angles or positions, which detracts from the overall experience.
“The graphics are simplistic but clean, and the performance fulfills my expectations for a game designed for VR.”
“The graphics are good with great performance, but it lacks more movement options.”
“The free locomotion option is not optimized at all, and feels awkward and can make you feel sick at times for a few brief moments.”
“This leads me to believe that the game is not optimized for the Vive controller angles or positions.”
“The free locomotion option is not optimized at all, and feels awkward and can make you feel sick at times for a few brief moments.”
- grinding8 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game is widely criticized for being tedious and frustrating, with players noting that the slow typing mechanics and poor level design detract from the overall experience. Despite its initial promise, the repetitive and confusing objectives lead to a lack of engagement and enjoyment.
“Tedious and frustrating, this game has potential to be fun.”
“Held down by slow and tedious typing mechanics.”
“One of your main interactions is with computers, where you tediously type letters in the digital keyboard.”
Critic Reviews
Apex Construct Review
Apex Construct has an interesting set up and some great visuals, but falls apart quickly thanks to poor gameplay, frustrating systems, many glitches, and a story that goes nowhere.
30%Apex Construct PSVR Review
Apex Construct is heavily flawed, with a fun and fairly precise shooting mechanic unfortunately not enough to make up for the dismal movement controls and derivative narrative.
68%Apex Construct Review
Apex Construct is a perfect example of just how far VR games have come and shows that VR gaming isn't just a gimmick. It's clearly going to be the next step for gaming. However, it also shows some of the glaring issues still being faced with the technology. The controls are still difficult, with the system of teleporting rather immersion-breaking and the wand-style controllers still not quite fitting the bill. Regardless of its flaws, this is one of the best VR experiences currently available and a must experience.
80%