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Swarm is one of the best VR games that I have ever played. The tagline is “Spider-Man with Guns,” and the game is just that and more. It combines classic arcade shooting with swinging around different platforms in a melody of chaos. Add in a difficult learning curve that forces you to master its mechanics and you get a game that was practically made for me. However, the question remains… Is the game worth the twenty-five-dollar price tag? Also, does it burn efficient enough calories to get your little gamer heart rate going? The answer is yes to both, but hear more in this review of Swarm. The game was played and the video recorded is from a Meta Quest 3.
[Intro]
The idea of Swarm is very simple: swing around utilizing these cable extensions to grab onto different platforms and shoot at aliens. From that simple idea, the game builds an incredible gameplay experience by including abilities and enemy types. The abilities range from slowing down time to slingshot yourself across the map. Enemy types also range from basic shooters to big guys shooting missiles to these little Lazer shooting balls. By the end of the game, you have so many different attacks to deal with that you can barely survive a minute. It’s just insane how chaotic this thing can get especially on the harder difficulties. The game puts the Shooter in arcade shooter front and center. You Will not let go of that trigger button on some of these later levels as I’m sure some of the future footage will show.
On loading the game, you test out the mechanics with a tutorial. You shoot using the back trigger, shoot your ropes with the side and activate your specials with the face buttons. Moving around in the world is a bit much and took me some time to get used to. Probably took me an hour or two to get going and began to master its mechanics around the end of the second world. Again, this is my second ever VR game so your millage may vary. You shoot the ropes and then swing around using your momentum. Pulling the rope causes you to go up faster, which can be used to get high above the playing field to unleash some damage. Shooting while swinging does become intuitive and the thought of automatic aiming in this now would just ruin it for me.
The entire marketing of this game states that there “is no motion sickness” and I do feel that it’s not true. Honestly, I did feel a bit weary initially, but by day three, I felt perfectly fine after going a full round. My wife however does get motion sickness rather easily and couldn’t play this game. She could do stuff like the Angry Birds: Isle of Pigs game but something like this is just too much. A warning to those who are sensitive to motion sickness… wouldn’t exactly recommend this game despite the advertisements.
After the tutorial, you begin the rest of the story mode. The story comes down to you being a 90’s cartoon dude who must defeat the alien Swarm to save Earth. The style of these is so 90’s that my cup of water turned into Tang. I love the comic book-inspired visuals here, which tie everything together. I would love for Swarm 2 to step it up and give me fully animated cut scenes reminiscent of the 90’s Spider-Man cartoon. As you progress through the story, you will traverse the sea, desert, city, and lava areas and defeat bosses in each zone. With each area, you uncover new guns, enemy types, abilities, and more. I love a story mode, so this game already gets points. It is short, lasting only twenty-five missions and taking about four to six hours to complete. There are side missions at each level, usually based on points and other objectives for completionists.
The main missions in the game are broken down into five different types. First is a collect-a-thon by gathering the floating gems. This helps you get used to swinging into different areas and the hazards in each zone. For example, the electro level has platforms that can get electrified, causing you damage if attached. The second mission type is timed-based, in which the game stops after a specific time limit. The third type is the same but limited based on the number of points you get. Fourth is based on surviving as long as you can, and last are the boss areas in the game. As you heard, a lot of these game modes are similar, with the majority of them being based on shooting the enemy scum. I would love for more variety, with some levels based on passing through the rings or hitting certain enemies in a minimum amount of time. Also, would like for at least a few more locations and gun types. All of these issues, however, will probably be resolved once the sequel comes out in March of this year.
Outside the main story mode is a Champions Challenge featuring weekly new battles where you must survive as long as possible. Get more points and end up on the leaderboards. It’s an amazing addition to an already great game. However, I wish there was a way to replay previous weeks’ games to add more content. Maybe make it so that there are the weekly leaderboards and then a separate one for after. There is also a free mode to test out different weapons, a cool index featuring information on enemy types, and, of course, the trailer for Swarm 2 Baby.
Overall, Swarm is one of the best games I have ever played in VR. However, I have to say do not purchase the game. Why? Well, Swarm 2 comes out soon and looks to have so much more content and fixes for the same twenty-five-dollar price! If you want to get a taste, you can purchase this game now, but believe me, March 2024 can’t come fast enough. Can’t wait to get back on the ropes and teach some alien scum some lessons.
Now let’s get into my favorite part of these videos… the analytics. I played Swarm for twenty-six days, counting on my Sunday breaks. Total playtime for these days comes to eight hours and twenty-nine minutes. For those wondering, I beat the main story mode on day fifteen and spent the rest of the day trying to complete all side missions. I burned a total of four-thousand and sixty-five calories. That gives me a burn rate of 156.35 calories per session. The average playtime per session comes to nineteen minutes, which is perfectly aligned with what I wanted it to be. Overall, calories burned per minute come to 8.06 calories per minute. It’s not bad, so I’m giving it a burn rate of two out of four. I am a six-foot-two, three-hundred- and ninety-two-pound man. Your burn rate will change depending on your weight, gender, etc.
With the statistics out of the way, the question arises: should you buy Swarm 2 to lose weight. Obviously, this isn’t marketed as a fitness game. However, it does burn a decent number of calories as you will be moving around a lot, swinging your arms. I did get a bit sweaty, especially after playing the game in Hard mode. It becomes a beast of a game. The best part of this game is that I had so much fun playing that I didn’t even know I was burning calories. While it’s not a fitness game, it did make me want to move and kick some butt. Burning calories without thinking about it is the best way to lose weight, and I highly recommend picking up its sequel when it comes out.
So, guys, that is it for today’s review of Swarm. Are you as excited for Swarm 2 as I am? Well, subscribe to my YouTube channel, as I am sure to have a review of that game coming out once it is released. While subscribing, be a dear and give the like button a big thumbs up. Also, leave a comment on anything you want me to review. I will do anything within the realms of self-improvement, including reviewing VR and fitness-related games. Follow me on X and Instagram @truejackjenk. Visit my website at jack-jenkins.com. Lastly, I want you guys to have an amazing day. If you are wondering how you can improve? Well, we can improve together.