The prologue chapter to nDreams’s upcoming ‘cinematic action adventure game’, Reach, is an absolute banger. It kicks off with some fluid parkour action as you learn to leap over boxes and clamber up walls inside a volumous warehouse. Then it gives you a magical bow and asks you to take out multiple armed enemies all whilst a helicopter spits missiles and machine gun fire at you from overhead.
It’s exhilarating stuff and the high adrenaline climax to the level features a full speed sprint through exploding buildings and across roof tops. To me it felt like a heady mix of Blood & Truth and Mirror’s Edge. But as soon as that section ends (with a lovely, unexpected twist, I might add) the game becomes something different, and it feels like it might be to its detriment.
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Before I get into that though, it’s worth pointing out that Reach is a brand new game from publisher nDreams’s new development studio nDreams Elevation. nDreams has previously release one of my favourite ever VR games, Synapse, along with Fracked, a short-lived action game that I also really enjoyed. This meant that I went into Reach with high expectations so perhaps, in hindsight, I was setting myself up for a little fall. Which I guess is appropriate seeing as there’s loads of climbing in Reach…