Parents' Guide to Evasion

This virtual reality shooter keeps you on your toes with the constant action and battle that you're engaged in from the start, but gameplay can get repetitive after a while. Evasion manages to challenge the expectations that most VR shooters fall into. Either you're planted in one location and shooting at waves of enemies or you're moving along a fixed course, shooting at whatever you see before it speeds by. Either way, it's usually just a shooting gallery with limited mobility. But Evasion gives wide freedom of movement, with players able to charge the enemy, run for cover, and even swing around to deflect enemy fire with their energy shields. Best of all, the movement feels fluid and natural, even when waves of Optera are crashing around at all angles. Admittedly, it can be a little disorienting at times, especially with all the reflexive movements you're likely to have in the heat of battle. It's easy to accidentally move out of the camera's frame of movement and even easier to accidentally get wrapped up in the headset's cords and cables.

Evasion is a great blend of trigger-happy arcade action and strategic gameplay. The four classes feel different and fill unique roles, especially in co-op play. It's innately satisfying to pull off moves together, like holding down an enemy with the Striker's tether while a Warden charges in for an overcharged shotgun blast. Unfortunately, moves like this only emphasize that it's been designed mainly for co-op play. Trying to take on the challenge alone seems almost insurmountable by comparison. Also, without the variety of an extra player, you can't help but start to fall into more of a rut and notice the repetitive nature of the overall experience. The campaign's story feels generic and predictable, and once you finish it, there's not much reason to go back and revisit the story on your own. That's not to say soloing Evasion isn't fun while it lasts, but it's infinitely better when shared with others.