The Light Brigade

I primarily played this game on the quest but recently picked it up on steam, hence the short play time, but I have a lot of thoughts about this game, I think the word which sums it up best is "potential", the fundamentals are all fantastic, great gunplay, awesome art style, fun classes, interesting world building (though it could use with a bit more exposition in regards to the story which I still barely understand), but with all that being said, the game lacks in "content" (I hate that word lol) for lack of a better term, which is what makes or breaks a roguelite. More enemy types, more bosses (there are only 3 bosses in total throughout the entire game), more weapon attachments & abilities, more cards (and fun synergies which stem from different combinations) and more levels would go a long way to realising the game's potential. Oh and more things to do within the levels, as it stands levels feel like interesting places that are filled with the same things, you go through the level, find the chest, open all the crates, kill the enemies and move on, I think giving the player a reason to explore the nooks and crannies (such as the addition of secrets, minibosses, quests etc) would really help to add a bit of variety to them
I say all of this from a place of love, the game currently feels like it's in a permanent state of early access despite being a full release, but my mind races imagining all of the possibilities, I think the game is already something very special, it just needs a bit more, and in my opinion what the game needs right now isn't more classes (that's one area the game is pretty fleshed out already) but more of what makes a great roguelite fun to come back to time and time again, I'm usually someone who strongly disagrees with the mantra that more = better in a video game, but due to the procedurally generated nature of roguelites/roguelikes having a larger pool of things for the game to draw from goes a long way to giving the game more variety and replay value
I would highly recommend this game to anyone looking for a fun VR action roguelite, but as of the time of writing this review I would say to temper your expectations regarding the amount of "content" in the game, I really hope that this changes in the future though

I've played dozens of VR games ever since the Oculus CV1 was released, and I will say that almost all the games I've played don't come close to how addicting and fun this game can be. It is truly a gameplay focused adventure and I wouldn't doubt it if some of the inspiration was taken from the "In Death" VR game, which was a simple but fantastic game back in the day with endless generated dungeon levels and mechanics, enemy spawns and AI, and the "Holy" vibes similar to this game.
Pros:
- Weapons feel rewarding to shoot and the weight of the weapons feel fair.
- The sound is bright and just right for each interaction and reaction.
- The challenge ramps up as you beat each run and helps you consider taking your time and be aware of your surroundings for better strategies.
- The roguelike/roguelite features are very good so far.
- Praying mechanic is a nice little gimmick for the game and adds to the charm and story.
- Graphics are passable but that alone is not the reason to buy this game. The gameplay interactions and gameplay loop alone is worth the price.
- If you like WW2 weaponry, this has you covered if you have that sort of itch.
The "Cons" list below is only small gripes I have with the game but it certainly isn't a deal breaker
Cons:
- Only a small handful of enemy types that you see regularly throughout the runs you play through. I've only ever encountered the wolves and birds once or twice, while the rest of the time is just enemy soldiers and slightly buffed soldiers, which I suppose is fine for the time being.
- Where's my MP40? I know there are other smg's and auto rifles in the game but... C'mon haha
OVERALL, The Light Brigade is a fun and addicting time to be had and I wish more VR developers would consider the replayability of their games to be like this. The nice thing about this is that the developers are still hard at work adding in more and more features and biomes to explore.
9/10
Let us pray...
P.S. Seriously though, where's my MP40??

At first I was pretty skeptical and found it kinda hard, but once I got the hang of it I could barely put it down, much to my eyes’ dismay. On top of that, there are tons of settings that make the VR experience highly customizable.

one session in the game so far but it's honestly (one of) the best arcade vr shooters, like ever. I was never that much into roguelikes but never hated it either, but the whole atmosphere of the game, praying being one of the most innovative mechanics surprisingly, sets it so far apart from your traditional "we love guns" developer made game. The meta progression feels satisfying too, with unlocking more classes (and thereby more and new weapons and thereby new playstyles) feels novel but overall this game does a whole lot of the "roguelike" right, plus a new vibe for a "souls like" game that actually utilizes the medium of being a VR title to get the player to immerse and pray, I think I might recommend this game but idk.

the game is good, but not very long, I know its a roguelike but i just finished 1 complete run and I have no interest on doing a second, I would love to see a story game from this studio.

An enjoyable and satisfying Rogue-lite game with a focus on a slower approach to combat, utilizing cover to your advantage whenever possible. It wont satisfy a run-and-gun high octane itch, but if you're looking for a slower paced, careful Rogue-Like VR shooter with WW1/2(I forget which;;) era weaponry, this might be your game.
The basic gameplay loop is choosing your class (Which determines your weapon loadout and a few small things) and embarking on a run. At start, you only have 1 class unlocked, and getting to level 5 with that class unlocks a new one, and so on. There are several classes to unlock this way, and getting to 5 doesnt take TOO long so you get to try each class and their weapon to see what you like best.
As far as the runs, each stage your progress through is a small-ish, randomly generated area lined with various amounts of enemies. Most enemies are humanoid soldiers, with 1 or 2 exceptions.
Those soldiers have a range of weapons, either SMGs, Rifles, explosives, a bird, and some have purple glass/crystalline armor that needs to be broken to deal more damage, and a few others like a mage, or shielded sniper. But basically as speaking to the lore of the game, the enemies you encounter will mostly be humanoid soldiers with guns similar to yours.
For stage layouts, its typical a handful of small stages followed by a Boss encounter stage. There are currently 3(?) Bosses in the game, and I'm unsure if more are planned, but in that regard a full run from beginning takes me about 45 minutes, though depending on special encounters and your level of familiarity with the game, YMMV
When doing runs you'll find power ups in many forms as you progress. Silencers, Sights, Baubles, Magic Abilities for your gun or special magic that is class specific, Cards, and so on that provide buffs for the specific run you're on, like any Rogue-like game. Most of the pieces for your gun provide boosts to damage, like explosive, raw numbers, or poison. Cards offer more variety of power ups, though you aren't going to find any wild "Builds", just improvements to your damage and survival.
Persistent Progress is made by "Banking" EXP at certain locations at the end of stages. You earn Exp by defeating enemies, praying for your fallen brethren, or items like shattering pottery around the map. If you don't bank your Exp, you lose it, but aside from a few power ups that boost your damage based on held exp, there is no real reason to not bank your exp at every opportunity, and there are plenty of opportunities in runs.
You can then spend that Exp at your base camp, the Exp earned on one class can only be spent on that classes upgrades such as primary and secondary weapon boosts and unique class trait improvements, with the exception of an upgrade vender who offers generic bonuses applied to all classes.
There are some small complaints i have. Some of the classes just feel worse than others, especially with the slow playstyle the game encourages and requires, a class like the Shotgun one just feels like a death penalty and it didn't click for me. The bow class felt awful on higher difficulties because the ammo you expended to kill armored enemies was far beyond what they would drop in return, and I found myself (for the first time ever in the game) completely running out of ammo and it being a run ender. But this is personal preference, and you may end up loving the short range guns and classes, I simply preferred the rifles more.
Theres also some complaints I have about enemy render distance in specific zones. Theres on instance near the end of the game after a one-way ramp where theres a large group of enemies at the end of a tunnel/hallway, but they dont load in until you're about 1/3rd of the way through it, and that area has no cover except for maybe the stairs at the beginning of said hall, meaning if you didnt know about the enemies you were walking into you might end up getting jumped by a group of high level enemies in an exposed corridor with no cover.
But thats about it. Fun little game, know what you're getting into, and goodluck!

Best VR rougelite.
Guns feel weighty, but smooth. Maps are random, in a good way. Very replayable.
Very snappy, very addictive.
Most of my hours are on Quest version, which is no different than PCVR version. Overall, probably the top single player VR shooter available (besides ITR)