The Light Brigade

The Light Brigade is one of the shining stars of PSVR2's launch. A game that doesn't feel the need to reinvent the wheel, developer Funktronic Labs instead decided to focus on making the best rogue-lite that PSVR has yet seen rather than get crazy with new systems. With unique, varied classes and brilliant gunplay, the title does a great job of ensuring that we want to keep returning to its chilling, bleakly beautiful environments again and again.

83%Game Brain Score

gameplay, graphics

grinding, stability

90% User Score Based on 1,236 reviews

Critic Score 57%Based on 2 reviews

Platforms

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About

The Light Brigade is a single player arcade role playing shooter game with a mystery theme. It was developed by Funktronic Labs and was released on February 22, 2023. It received neutral reviews from critics and positive reviews from players.

A roguelike VR shooter with realistic gunplay and immersive light magic.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

90%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,236 reviews

gameplay173 positive mentions

grinding22 negative mentions

Engaging gunplay with satisfying mechanics and a variety of weapons and classes.
Unique roguelite elements that keep gameplay fresh and encourage multiple runs.
Strong atmosphere and art style that enhances immersion.

Repetitive level design and enemy variety can lead to a lack of long-term engagement.
Some bugs and glitches, such as enemies spawning in walls or tracking through cover.
Difficulty spikes can feel unfair, especially with enemy accuracy and damage.

gameplay
424 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
41%
56%
3%
The gameplay in "The Light Brigade" is characterized by its satisfying gun mechanics and unique prayer system, which adds depth to combat and exploration. While the core mechanics are engaging and the roguelike elements provide a solid gameplay loop, many players find the overall experience repetitive and lacking in variety, particularly regarding enemy types and the impact of tarot card upgrades. Despite some balancing issues and bugs, the game is praised for its immersive atmosphere and potential for future content updates, making it a noteworthy title in the VR shooter genre.
- “The mechanics are simple but thematic; easy to understand, but not boring.”
- “Addictive gameplay loop, great feeling guns and really quite challenging.”
- “The interfaces and overall gameplay are incredibly satisfying, and the unique prayer mechanic adds a special touch.”
- “There's barely any music in the game, which doesn't help fill the emptiness during gameplay.”
- “Overall pretty barebones roguelite with very little mechanics, a few things that need changes, and a lot of bugs.”
- “Gets repetitive after a while and game mechanics are really not polished and are frustrating.”
graphics
162 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
41%
52%
7%
The graphics of the game are characterized by a simple yet appealing art style that effectively complements its immersive VR experience. While some players note that the visuals are not particularly detailed and may appear "questie," the overall aesthetic is praised for its consistency and charm, enhancing the gameplay without being overly taxing on hardware. The combination of moody environments, satisfying gunplay, and a unique visual presentation contributes to a fun and engaging atmosphere, despite some minor graphical glitches and limitations.
- “The graphics are beautiful in a wonderful minimalistic way.”
- “The visuals work really well in the headset, the weapons feel heavy and play really well, and the aesthetic is pretty fun.”
- “Though the graphics are quite simple and stylized, the environments are moody and immersive, and the simplified style ensures a very smooth frame rate and keeps the action flowing.”
- “The art style takes away from the intense moments, feels a little too playful.”
- “Unfortunately, it has a rather annoying graphical glitch that occurs randomly, where parts of the world aren't rendered correctly.”
- “It suffers from questification, (LOD plopping, low poly meshes/textures, interactions limiting to specific items etc., extreme fog/view distance effects. Overall graphics which look like they are for a mobile platform).”
story
119 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
77%
3%
The game's story has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its creative premise and atmospheric elements, while others criticize it for being shallow and poorly developed. Many feel that the narrative is conveyed through minimalistic vignettes that lack depth, making it feel inconsequential to the overall experience. Overall, while the gameplay mechanics are praised, the story is often seen as an afterthought that could benefit from more fleshing out.
- “I love the story and mechanics behind being basically a WWII paladin, where a prayer can locate enemies so you can headshot them with your Gewer 43, which has a magic charm hanging from it so your first shot is a rifle grenade.”
- “Some of the best arcade gunplay mechanics I've found in a VR game so far, interesting story, may the light guide you brothers.”
- “Add all that to an immersive world with decent ambient storytelling that's downright oozing atmosphere, and you've got a recipe for a solid game.”
- “What I got was a game with overall good gunplay, but an entirely inconsequential story.”
- “The biggest issue being, the story straight up just doesn't matter.”
- “I would not have gotten the game if I had known how shallow the story is.”
atmosphere
48 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
71%
23%
6%
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its uniqueness and immersion, blending a fantasy/WW2 aesthetic with effective sound design and engaging gunplay. While the graphics may not be groundbreaking, the overall ambiance, including music and environmental storytelling, creates a compelling and tense experience. Some reviewers noted inconsistencies in sound quality, but the game's ability to evoke a desolate and atmospheric setting is consistently highlighted as a strong point.
- “The atmosphere in this game is really nice, it feels unique and fresh.”
- “The atmosphere is fantastic and unique.”
- “Add all that to an immersive world with decent ambient storytelling that's downright oozing atmosphere, and you've got a recipe for a solid game.”
- “The sound design is inconsistent, with a spiritualistic atmosphere coming in on top and highly compressed gunfire lacking balance and punch.”
- “They've captured the desolate, bleak atmosphere they were going for.”
- “It worked and the foggy atmosphere kept me on my toes, and it definitely fit the plot, but literally everything was grey.”
replayability
42 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
36%
7%
The game boasts exceptional replayability, driven by its procedural map generation, diverse classes, and extensive customization options. Players appreciate the variety in gameplay through different weapon classes, upgrades, and the engaging AI, which enhances the overall experience. Many reviewers highlight the game's potential for infinite replayability, making it a standout choice for fans of VR shooters and roguelikes.
- “With a decent amount of replayability, accessibility, customization (sight & reticle colors, as well as area generation, loot and more), many classes to choose from and procedurally generated areas (except boss areas), I'd say this game's bang is worth your buck!”
- “Not only is the replay value of this game absolutely insane, the enemy AI actually tries to outmaneuver you at times, and the gunplay is immaculate.”
- “Infinite replayability and very fun gameplay.”
- “Short game, but has replay value, as you have different weapon classes, and you earn experience to upgrade that particular weapon class that you earn experience for.”
- “The global run and roguelite randomization of the main game mode keeps replay value high.”
- “Amazing dungeon crawler with souls-like aspects; loads of replayability potential.”
music
38 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
34%
53%
13%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players praising its atmospheric and immersive qualities, while others criticize its lack of presence and memorability. Notably, the audio design is often highlighted as well-executed, enhancing gameplay with effective sound cues, though some find the music can be distracting or underwhelming. Overall, while there are moments of strong musical impact, many players feel the soundtrack does not consistently elevate the experience.
- “And the soundtrack is really pretty!”
- “The music feels harrowing and tense and fits the sounds in the atmosphere around you.”
- “The music and overall sound design are amazing.”
- “There's barely any music in the game, which doesn't help fill the emptiness during gameplay.”
- “The music is innocuous and not memorable.”
- “Listening to low-effort royalty-free battle music gets annoying after the first couple of times.”
grinding
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
4%
4%
92%
The grinding aspect of this VR roguelite game receives mixed reviews; while some players find it challenging and engaging, others describe it as tedious and repetitive, particularly due to the need to scavenge for loot and the scaling of experience points. The teleportation mechanic and the necessity to navigate the same environments repeatedly contribute to the grindy feel, making the gameplay less exhilarating for some. Overall, opinions vary, with some players enjoying the grind while others find it a significant drawback.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “Right now it just feels tedious to play instead of having heart-pounding gunfights.”
- “That all being said though, constantly having to run around the map scrounging for ammo and items gets super tedious after a few runs.”
- “I have an amazing time playing the game and defeating the enemies, but then it seems like I spend way more time trying to find loot and that becomes tedious and boring.”
optimization
23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
35%
52%
13%
Overall, the game's optimization is praised for its smooth performance and lack of issues, even on lower-end systems. While some players noted the use of fog that limits view distance, the extensive graphical and performance adjustment options allow for a tailored experience. The visuals are considered solid, albeit slightly dated, but the game runs well and avoids the common pitfalls of unoptimized VR titles.
- “The game runs smoothly, the combat feels good, the weapon upgrades throughout a run were fun to use and play around with.”
- “There are tons of adjustment options for your gameplay and VR stuff (graphic/performance tweaks included!), and so far I'd say when it comes to options this is the best VR game I have seen.”
- “Performance is very acceptable, and even then you get to fine-tune how the game runs more than with most other VR titles, being able to control not only the render scale but shadow definition, antialiasing, visual effects, and whatnot.”
- “The game uses a heavy amount of fog, likely for performance, and this can't be turned off even though I'm on a beefy system that could handle it, so the view distance is perpetually like an N64 game.”
- “It's pretty rare that I play a new VR game that doesn't immediately feel like it's an unoptimized mess with missing features.”
- “I was sure I was walking into a 30-minute adventure with incredibly boring and cheap gunplay like most VR shooters nowadays have, performance issues, and just general disappointment.”
stability
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
11%
89%
The game's stability has received mixed feedback, with some players noting minor bugs and glitches that can occasionally disrupt gameplay, such as issues with enemy AI and world spawning. However, many users report that these problems are generally minor and do not significantly hinder their overall experience, especially on high-performance systems. Developers are actively addressing some of the reported issues, indicating a commitment to improving stability post-launch.
- “Runs great on my monster.”
- “It feels like the game has a hard-on for being punishing, but more often than not it comes across either as buggy or unfair.”
- “If Sen's Fortress was a buggy and inconsistent mess, Dark Souls wouldn't remotely hold the respect it does today.”
- “Minor world-building glitches: this seems to only affect the seeds for the daily runs at times, and this is a bug the developers are working on at the moment, but... sometimes you might get forced to end a run due to the world not spawning an exit.”
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Character development in the game is criticized for its flat and simplistic design, resulting in regular NPCs being forgettable and even notable characters feeling commonplace. This lack of depth in character design detracts from the overall engagement with the game's narrative.
- “Character design seems to settle on a vertices-like, if not flat, style that makes regular NPCs rather forgettable, and notable characters feel a bit commonplace.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users find the humor in the game to be engaging, particularly appreciating the potential for comedic interactions, such as the ability to perform exaggerated actions reminiscent of Hollywood films. However, some feel that certain features, like grabbing objects mid-air, could enhance the comedic experience further.
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviewers highlight the game's presentation as having a profound and intangible emotional impact, enhancing the overall artistic experience. This emotional depth resonates strongly with players, contributing to a memorable and immersive gameplay experience.
- “There is something intangible about the game's presentation and the effect it has artistically and emotionally.”