In Review: End Space (Oculus Quest)

Synopsis: Take command of the most advanced starfighter the United Trade Consortium has ever developed in stunning virtual reality as you battle for control of the Tartarus sector. Protect the UTC’s secret jump-drive technology from the Tartarus Liberation Front insurgents as you fight to maintain the corporation’s dominance and earn yourself fame and fortune in the process.

Review: Originally released on the Oculus Rift and other Virtual Reality formats. End Space is a space shooter game, which sees you take on the role of a fighter pilot who takes assignments to protect the United Trade Consortium from pirates and anyone that looks to hinder them. Having never played the game before on any of its prior incarnations. This was my first time playing on the Oculus Quest.

Playability

The controls of the game were very instinctive and easy to get a handle on. You get the option of steering the ship with the control sticks on the oculus quest or using your head. I chose the latter, which I also used for targeting.

The tutorial mission breaks things down for you and holds your hand a little, but given that am a huge fan of arcade space games. I found that I didn’t really need my hand holding and got straight down to the business of pressing buttons to see what was what. The X Button is the boost and the palm triggers being for missiles while the main triggers shoot your guns, which can overheat and stop working. So it is best to hit your enemies with short bursts of fire as opposed to holding the trigger down.

Steering the ship with my head felt very natural from the get-go and it was pretty easy to get used to. The same goes for targeting, which sort of happens when you pretty much gaze a target.

Overall. The controls felt really natural and easy to get a handle on and you get a great sense of satisfaction as you shoot down the pirates. You literally feel like a Viper Pilot from Classic Battlestar Galactica. I’m definitely going back for more at the earliest opportunity.

Graphics

The graphics in this game are really nice. At the moment there are only really two games that have done exceptional work with their graphics. One being ‘Star Wars: Vader Immortal’ and the other being ‘Red Matter’. So it’s pretty difficult to gauge given that graphics and style of imagery can be a matter of personal taste. But I felt like I was flying around in a space fighter shooting down pirates, which is what matters. The graphics were good enough to keep me immersed, which is the only thing that matters at the end of the day.

Overall

‘End Space’ is an absolute bargain at £10.99 and seems to have ported over onto Oculus Quest pretty well. I really enjoyed the sensation of flying through space shooting the bad guys and the mission briefings give you enough information to keep you immersed, but I would have liked a bit more of a narrative story to go with it all.

The game’s combat put me in mind of the old Wing Commander series, which is a gaming series that I loved back in the days when I had incredible long sessions on a PC back in the day.

The opening sequence of the game is wonderful. I was looking around in 380 degrees seeing the carrier ship that my pilot was assigned too. It really felt like I was in space and the game’s narrative gave me a sense of purpose and a reason for playing. When I was a kid watching the original Battlestar Galactica. I often dreamed about flying a viper and shooting down Cylon’s and getting the girl. This game is the closest have come to the dream. Only you don’t get the girl.

Overall. Lots of fun and well worth the £10.99 price tag. I would like more missions though. Have gotten through 6 of them already and there are only 12 missions. Hopefully, some DLC will come out at a later date.