Common Sense Media Review
By Marc Saltzman
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Virtual wargame hurts fun by leaving out online multiplayer.
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League of War: VR Arena
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's It About?
LEAGUE OF WAR: VR ARENA might be best described as a holographic strategy action game that has players placing army units -- consisting of soldiers, specialists, and vehicles -- onto a virtual tabletop battlefield. As you might suspect, your goal is to decimate the other army's towers and base, which also has a general operating from an eagle-eye perspective, to take you out. Applying tactics, you'll try to win these short but intense battles by selecting which units to place down and when, using the laser guidance system to aim and fire at enemies. Each side has 12 units -- including tanks, helicopters, and specialist soldiers -- four of which are randomly available at any one time. Each unit requires energy to deploy, with more powerful units requiring more energy (and taking longer to charge up). Do you go with a preemptively quick assault with weaker recon units or deploy a more methodical strategy with slower but more powerful units, or a combination of the two? When should you order an airstrike? Couple it with artillery attack, or wait so that you don't run out of energy? Should you play more offensively or defensively?
Is It Any Good?
This was meant to mimic a tabletop war game in an immersive virtual reality arena, and while fast-paced, fun, and accessible, without online multiplayer, it feels a bit half-baked. There are two modes to its gameplay. There's the main Campaign mode -- where you select unique mercenary commanders, each with a story to tell, and unlock your way through the single-player story against AI armies -- but there's also Arcade mode, which is a local multiplayer option allowing players to have more control over their armies while facing off against a friend through the game's Social Screen interface. To be specific, one player has the PlayStation VR headset and Move controllers, while the other looks at the TV screen and holds the Dual Shock controller. It works, and it's better than not having any multiplayer, but it's not as good as including online multiplayer with voice support. Overall, this sub-$20 indie game is fun but not too deep; however, those who enjoy tabletop gaming -- and perhaps those with fond memories of placing toy tanks onto a battlefield as a child -- will also get something out of League of War: VR Arena.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about violence in video games. Is the violence acceptable in League of War: VR Arena because it's a war game, or is it a problem because the focus is destroying enemy soldiers? Is it fine because no blood or gore is shown?
Talk about virtual reality. Is VR all hype and no substance? Or on the contrary, is it a next-generation gaming experience like no other, and people who don't "get it" simply haven't tried it properly?
Game Details
- Platform : PlayStation VR
- Pricing structure : Paid
- Available online? : Available online
- Publisher : MunkyFun Inc.
- Release date : November 16, 2017
- Genre : Action/Adventure
- Topics : Fantasy ( Magic )
- ESRB rating :
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
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