Parents' Guide to StarBlood Arena

This futuristic space shooter is fun but basically falls apart because of the lack of people joining multiplayer matches. In the future, plain old sports just don't seem to bring in the ratings like they used to. Instead, TV viewers want to see crazy vehicles, razor-sharp reflexes, and explosions … lots of explosions. Enter StarBlood Arena, the epic intergalactic sports show that pits players against each other in massive sci-fi dogfights crammed into itty-bitty spaces. In fact, that's one of the drawbacks to this VR shooter. You're tasked to do some fancy flying against a field of opponents, but many of the maps feel a bit claustrophobic. It doesn't help that, thanks to the game's immersive 360-degree VR view, it's easy to lose track of any sense of direction. It's nothing that's overly nauseating, but at the same time, you'll probably want to avoid any marathons in the arena.

While the game does have issues, there's still a lot to love about StarBlood Arena. The pilots are all unique and fun characters, and their ships are equally unique in their strengths and weaknesses. Even with this diversity, there's a good balance across the game. No one character will ever overpower the rest of the field, but no two ever feel the same. There's also a good variety of game types, from basic Deathmatch to a zero-gravity hockey/soccer-type match to some good old-fashioned co-op play against waves of enemy fighters. Single-player challenges exist but feel more like a throwaway, as multiplayer is where the game shines. The problem is actually finding a multiplayer match; you might spend more time waiting for matches than actually playing them.