Recent reviews by MetroidTalon

Shooty Fruity lets players experience what it feels like to be a minimum wage cashier at a supermarket. Instead of ringing up customers, you’ll be scanning a continuous stream of products to provide you with more impressive weaponry. Your shift is frequently invaded by the cutest nightmarish fruit you have ever seen.
Replace the dull, mundane retail position with enough firepower to take on a small army, except your targets come in all different sizes and flavor. Whether you are a fan of sweet or sour varieties, we can all agree that fighting against oversized hostile fruit is actually good old fashioned fun, especially in VR.

The game’s use of progression serves to slowly integrate new types of enemies and weapons into the progressively more difficult levels. At the start, you only have access to a basic pistol, with the goal of scanning enough items to earn a gold star (there are three in each level). More importantly, scanning enough items grants access to additional weapons that you have unlocked and put in your loadout, such as machine guns, shotguns, grenades, etc. Each level has set tasks for you, such as killing a fixed number of fruits, scanning a set number of items, or earning a specific amount of juice. All of these are presented ahead of time, in the form of a punch card, and it is a good idea to know what the tasks are before starting a level. Some objectives are tied to specific equipment, and if you didn’t unlock or add it to your loadout ahead of time, you don't have to add the weapon to your loadout, you won’t be able to earn the star.

The fruit themselves are very stylish, charming and full of emotions. There are over 14 different types for you to splatter across the aisles of the supermarket. Watermelons may slowly roll towards your position, but the firmness of their skin provide adequate protection, so you may want to use shotguns or explosives. Limes, on the other hand, are small, agile, and attempt to flank your position, dropping down from the exposed ventilation shafts. They travel in groups, so if you see one, there is a good change, another one is trying to break your line of sight. The remaining enemies range in both size and appearance, with some bouncing towards you, ready to explode if they reach you, while others float/propel themselves through the air, attacking your workstation from afar.

New weapons have to be purchased using the game’s currency, juice from killing fruits. It’s presented as a breakroom vendor machine, with set price tags on each item. These new weapons can dramatically change the game, as they increase your loadouts firepower, and frankly the enjoyment of the game. You are unable to reload weapons. Instead, you can drop or throw them once they “break” after running out of ammo. Find yourself needing to use a grenade, but already have a gun in our hand? Use your mouth to pull the pin and don’t skip a beat. If you pay close attention to the items that appear on your conveyor belt, you’ll notice power-ups are mixed in with the groceries. These range from increased firepower against armored fruits or explosive ammunition that can will result in a clean up needed in aisle two; if you catch my drift.

Simply Put
As an arcade-style VR shooter, Shooty Fruity is engaging and fun, but only in short bursts. The gameplay loop can feel repetitive if you try and extend your play session, but I found varying your loadout does wonders to keep you enjoying the experience.

If the current gaming trend switches from zombies to dinosaurs, I would be overcome with joy – not that I haven’t enjoyed fighting countless hordes of zombies, but dinosaurs are simply awesome. I’ll try and keep the amount of Jurassic Park quotes to a bare minimum for this review, but I make no promises, hold onto your butts.

When the miracles of modern science have brought dinosaurs back to life, a ragtag group of humans have been sent to “The Island” in order to reclaim it after the prehistoric beasts have broken loose. Sound familiar? With no indication on where the island is located, it might as well be called Isla Nublar.

Developed by Lukewarm Media, Primal Carnage provides fast team-based competitive online multiplayer action across a single game mode: Team Deathmatch. Each side – humans or dinosaurs – features five distinct classes, that when used in unison provide the best chance at winning the match.

The humans are played in first-person with each class equipped with a unique primary weapon – along with a secondary ability. The Pathfinder wields a shotgun, but also comes equipped with flares that can blind any nearby dinosaurs. The Trapper focuses on shooting nets, immobilizing the smaller dinos, while the Scientist can deplete the stamina of the larger dinos by firing tranquilizer darts. The Pyromaniac focuses on being a problem to any dinosaur that wants to get up close with a combination flamethrower and chainsaw. Meanwhile, the Commando comes equipped with a heavy machine gun and a grenade launcher – best used to take out the larger dinosaurs.

On the other side, the dinosaurs focus on getting up close and personal with their claws and teeth to rip the humans to shreds.This is in stark contrast to the humans play style of using ranged weapons to their advantage. While the game implies a first-person perspective for the humans, the dinosaurs feature a third person perspective. Feeling more versatile and nimble than the human counterparts, they are able to set traps and ambushes by peering around corners with ease. Novaraptors are at their deadliest when working in packs, ambushing their prey and leaping on their foes back while biting them to death. The Dilophosaurus is a support class, blinding it’s prey with a tar like spit that can also poison, while the Pteranodon can spot enemies for teammates, as well as carry and drop them over the nearest cliff. The two largest dinosaurs in the game – the Carnotaurs – uses it’s unbreakable head as a battering ram that sends humans flying through the air, while the mighty Tyrannosaurus can swallow people whole as well as crush everything beneath their massive feet. Each one also comes with a secondary roar ability, which provide buffs to nearby dinosaurs or like in the case of the raptor, it increases attack speed at the cost of stamina.

As you can see, both sides have unique play styles, yet both sides feel balanced. The class structure was set up so each side has a class better suited against a class on the other side. While Commandos can provide a steady stream of gunfire, the high recoil provides limited accuracy, making them a poor choice at taking down anything but the larger two species of dinos. On the other hand, the Trapper is best suited for trapping the smaller dinosaurs, while the Scientist and her sniper rifle can take down any Pteranodon circling in the air. Don’t expect to survive a one on one with a dinosaur, especially since you never know if one is waiting right around the corner. Clever girl.

Playing as a human, other humans are highlighted on the map allowing you to easily reach them upon respawn in order to have a better chance at survival. Some of the most intense moments I’ve had revolved around trying to reach the safety of inside a complex while trying to outrun a T-Rex. Moral of the story, if the T-Rex spots you, and you are all alone, be prepared to a prehistoric dinner.

Much like myself, everyone wants to play as the dinosaurs. Given everyone an equal chance, each round will flip the sides so everyone will get the chance at playing the hunter and the hunted. While only containing five maps, each one provides detailed landscapes full of lush vegetation, trees, tall grass, bushes and all manners of flora that sway with the breeze – as well when a mighty beast moves through them. Sunlight filters through tall tree branches and leaves, while buildings and other objects provide various levels of vertical terrain, all with impressive looking textures. The night time raining map in the thick jungle provides the most intense time you will have with the game, if you are playing on the human side. The thick foliage and lack of light keeps the tension high and keeps you guessing where the next raptor will jump out from. The dinosaur models and animation in particular stand out as a testament of what a dedicated team can achieve.

None of the visuals would mean a thing, if the game didn’t play well, but the old-school arcade style fits the game beautifully. When servers start to fill out, the action become chaotic with humans trying to stay together in order to survive with the threat of dinosaurs that cane come from any direction.

Simply Put

With no progression system, stat-tracking or leaderboards – as of yet – Primal Carnage lacks features that many modern day games include from the get-go. Primal Carnage is light on features and content, but addicting gameplay provides hours of entertainment and most importantly fun, even if the game only currently has a single game mode. And with Lukewarm Media planning updates that will feature new game modes, maps, skins and more, Primal Carnage has brought dinosaur games back from extinction. Releasing for only $15 on Steam, you won’t have to spare no expense, like our dear friend John Hammond.