BattleGroupVR
- July 31, 2023
- SpaceOwl Games
- 5h median play time
Get on SteamBattleGroupVR is a first-person real-time space strategy game available on the Oculus Quest, allowing 1-2 players to cooperatively lead a fleet into battle from the bridge of their flagship. Unlock and command a variety of ships, each with unique abilities and weapon slots, as you equip them with the best weapons and technology to emerge victorious in PvP or single-player missions. Despite delightful visuals, the game can be quite buggy, with some grinding required.
PC
Windows
Linux
Reviews
- Incredible immersion as you command your fleet from the bridge of your flagship, watching battles unfold in real-time.
- Intuitive controls and gameplay mechanics that make it easy to manage your fleet and engage in tactical combat.
- Great visuals and ship designs, with a variety of ships and customization options available.
- Bugs and glitches can disrupt gameplay, including issues with AI commands and menu navigation.
- Difficulty scaling can feel unbalanced, making earlier missions unexpectedly challenging when replayed with a stronger fleet.
- The campaign can feel repetitive, with limited variety in mission objectives and environments.
- story255 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 85 % neutral mentions
- 2 % negative mentions
The game's story is generally well-received, with players appreciating the engaging narrative and voice acting that enhances the experience. However, many reviewers express a desire for more content, noting that the campaign is relatively short and repetitive, with limited mission variety. While the story serves as a backdrop for the gameplay, some players feel it lacks depth and could benefit from additional missions and character development.
“The story is fun and easy to follow, and well performed, and the graphics are perfect.”
“I appreciate that I have a crew who talks to each other, and I really like that they are a primary storyteller, so I can learn about the plot while I'm moving into position.”
“The campaign is really fun, upgrading ships in the downtime works well and even the enemy taking back a sector while you recharge is just really cool; it makes the campaign more about decision making.”
“The story is mostly a fig leaf for fleet battles with you as amoral mercenaries, a caricature villain, and a chance to turn things around.”
“First of all, the progression system in the campaign is a mess, as the game wants you to grind, redo missions, etc. Secondly, there isn't that much variety in situations: most of the missions are just 'go here and destroy everything'.”
“The big problem is that there are a lot of annoying bugs, mostly around the scripting of the missions, and they start right from the tutorial.”
- graphics90 mentions
- 54 % positive mentions
- 42 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The graphics in this VR game are widely praised for their beauty and immersive quality, particularly the impressive holographic interface that enhances gameplay. Many users highlight the stunning visuals and attention to detail, which contribute to a captivating experience, despite some minor graphical glitches and performance issues. Overall, the game's graphics are considered a standout feature, making it a must-try for fans of the genre.
“Graphically, for a VR game, it's beautiful.”
“The graphics are impressive, as are the content and replayability.”
“The graphics, sound, and music track are all awesome.”
“Graphics are pretty meh.”
“It needs a lot of work, from graphical glitches to fights being just kind of repetitive and boring (at least in the campaign).”
“Graphics at times are not equivalent to AAA games, but they are still done well (remember it’s 1 dev).”
- gameplay87 mentions
- 43 % positive mentions
- 54 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game has received a mix of praise and criticism, with many players highlighting its engaging mechanics, immersive experience, and intuitive controls, particularly in the context of VR. While some users noted minor bugs and a steep learning curve, the overall consensus is that the gameplay is fun, well-paced, and offers a satisfying blend of strategy and action, making it a must-try for fans of space-themed RTS games. However, there are calls for further refinements and additional content to enhance the experience.
“The gameplay is excellent.”
“The gameplay is solid, the visuals are on point, the controls are easy to learn and intuitive, and best of all is the feeling that one gets from playing this game.”
“The amount of work put into purely fun and interesting mechanics, game modes, and attention to detail is phenomenal and exactly what you'd want in a space strategy game.”
“Meh controls and meh gameplay.”
“Losing fully upgraded ships and high level captains to bugs is not fun gameplay - this is coming from someone who plays EVE Online and has lost plenty of ships.”
“Gameplay is fairly bland and simplistic at least early on, often slow-paced.”
- stability20 mentions
- 15 % positive mentions
- -10 % neutral mentions
- 95 % negative mentions
The game's stability is a mixed bag, with many users noting that while it is still quite buggy, the issues are generally not game-breaking and are expected in an early access title. Players report occasional glitches, such as control malfunctions and graphical issues, but overall, the game runs smoothly for most and remains enjoyable despite its rough edges. Many reviewers express optimism for future updates to address these stability concerns.
“It's very bug-free and runs smooth as butter.”
“The game maintains a consistent frame rate, making for a seamless experience.”
“I haven't encountered any crashes or major glitches, which is impressive.”
“The control menu is buggy at times (doesn't want to come up), or sometimes I cannot fire weapons (nothing damaged, on manual, and power to weapons), but these issues do not come up too often.”
“Very buggy at the moment, controls seem to just turn off now and then leaving you with no way to select anything.”
“It is still quite a bit buggy but it is early access.”
- replayability14 mentions
- 36 % positive mentions
- 43 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The game offers significant replayability through its skirmish mode, a base campaign with 12 replayable missions that scale in difficulty based on fleet composition, and an offline conquest mode. Players appreciate the potential for additional missions and a sandbox mode to enhance the experience further. Overall, the game is considered highly addictive and offers more content than many other titles at a similar price point.
“The base campaign has 12 replayable missions, and a token upgrade system from destroying ships allows you to unlock more ships and equipment for them that you can buy with in-game currency.”
“This game is amazing; it has more replayability and content in it than $60 VR titles out there.”
“The base campaign has 12 replayable missions (be aware, the first three missions scale to your fleet composition but after that you're on your own) and a token upgrade system from destroying ships allows you to unlock more ships and equipment for them that you can buy with in-game currency.”
“With offline conquest mode, the game has more replayability than the main campaign.”
“It needs some polish, but as is, it's the only game I have ever completely run down my batteries on other than Alyx, and this has replay value.”
- grinding14 mentions
- 7 % positive mentions
- 7 % neutral mentions
- 86 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be a mixed experience; while some appreciate the rewarding nature of grinding for upgrades and fleet building, others feel it can become tedious and demotivating, especially in higher difficulty modes. The need for extensive grinding, particularly in mission setups and ship management, can detract from the overall enjoyment, leading to frustration with repetitive tasks. Despite these issues, many still enjoy the core gameplay mechanics and visuals, suggesting that the grind can be manageable if balanced with engaging content.
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
“The game is unintentionally very grindy in this mode.”
“Looks like every system is already conquered, and there is nothing much to do other than grinding boring assist missions or trying to attack an enemy system, which is pure suicide for a new player.”
“Since this has already happened to me twice, with two separate and grindy builds, I have dramatically lost my motivation to continue playing this game, regardless of how much I love the gameplay and mechanics.”
- optimization13 mentions
- 46 % positive mentions
- 31 % neutral mentions
- 23 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's optimization is a mixed bag; while many players report smooth performance and intuitive controls, some experience stuttering and performance issues during complex missions or when managing multiple ships. As an early access title, it shows signs of needing further optimization and polish, but the developer's responsiveness is a positive aspect. Users with high-end hardware have noted maxing out VRAM, which can lead to occasional stuttering, particularly in demanding scenarios.
“The game runs smoothly and the controls are easy and intuitive.”
“Overall, awesome game, very good graphics, fun, and runs smoothly in VR.”
“The visuals are pretty good and I've experienced no performance issues.”
“As an early access game, it has the typical lack of polish and surely needs a little optimization.”
“Maxes out the VRAM on my 3080, which causes a little stuttering.”
“The bad: there has been some stuttering when opening certain menus during missions and the game could use some more optimization.”
- music7 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 29 % neutral mentions
- 43 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews; while some players find it enhances the atmosphere and complements the epic battles, others feel it can be off-putting or in need of improvement. A few users opted to lower the in-game music volume in favor of alternative soundtracks, indicating that it may not resonate with everyone. Overall, the music is seen as engaging but could benefit from further refinement.
“The graphics, sound, and music track are all awesome.”
“The battles and scenery are beyond epic, and the music adds to the atmosphere perfectly.”
“The soundtrack kind of put me off guard at times.”
“Sound effects and music could definitely be worked on, but it's enough to keep you engaged.”
“The only downside I have experienced so far is the music.”
- humor6 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is well-received, with players enjoying the witty writing in the main campaign and the amusing text-to-speech callouts from ships, which can echo silly names in a serious tone. The tutorial incorporates humor effectively, though some find it to be cringeworthy at times. Overall, the game is noted for its immersive experience and surprisingly funny elements, making it a standout in the space combat VR genre.
“Also, all of the ships have text-to-speech callouts, which means they can actually say their own name. It is always hilarious to put something in like 'Ivn Dinglebat' and then have your AI ships echo back your silly name in a serious tone.”
“The tutorial is very well explained for a novice like me, with a few touches of humor.”
“This dev has pretty good humor too; it all lands fairly well.”
- atmosphere6 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere in the game is highly praised for its immersive and visually stunning environments, particularly in VR, with beautifully detailed planets and epic battles. However, some players note a lack of balance in gameplay that can detract from the overall experience. Enhanced sound and graphics, along with more ship design options, could further elevate the atmospheric experience alongside combat and storytelling.
“The immersion and atmosphere are quite good in VR.”
“The planets are all beautiful looking with detailed animations within the atmospheres.”
“The battles and scenery are beyond epic, and the music adds to the atmosphere perfectly.”
- emotional2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players report a strong emotional connection to the game, with experiences that evoke feelings of nostalgia and immersion, reminiscent of beloved narratives like "Ender's Game." The setting, particularly being on the bridge, elicits a sense of satisfaction and engagement that enhances the overall emotional experience.
“Being seated in the bridge made me feel good, and I'm not sure why.”
“Honestly made me feel like I was in Ender's Game.”
