DEXED: A Wonderful On-rails Shooter for the HTC Vive

DEXED is an on-rails VR shooter from Ninja Theory that’s now available for the HTC Vive through Steam. It takes the player through 4 lovely stages and ends with a boss fight for the final fifth stage. Like most shooters of this type, it’s a short experience. But there is plenty of replay value for those who want to earn better scores on the leaderboard and attempt the harder difficulty mode.

I love shooters, especially on-rails shooters and shoot ‘em ups. I can never get enough of the gameplay and leaderboards to the point of where I must have a top score overall, or at least be ahead of all my friends. So, with DEXED being an on-rails shooter, it obviously speaks to my heart. What makes it even more exciting is that it’s in VR which makes the on-rails experience all the more better.

DEXED requires that players are standing still while using both motion controllers to line up oncoming waves of enemies. What makes it difficult is that one controller represents fire while the other represents ice, as do the two type of enemies, and players must shoot down enemies of the opposite element. So, fire kills ice and ice kills fire. What adds to the challenge is that players are unable to kill an enemy with the same element, and if they attempt to do so the enemy will fire back at them and force them to use their shield. Additionally, while playing in hard mode, if a player shoots an enemy of the same element they’ll end up losing their multiplier.

Playing on hard difficulty is where the biggest challenge arises from DEXED. The goal, as always, is to get the highest score while maintaining the multiplier. So, what players have to realize when playing on hard difficulty is that it’s better to let enemies pass them by than it is to try and hit everything and risk hitting the wrong element type which resets the multiplier. This proves to be a good test for the player, and if they accidentally select an enemy of the same element before shooting it, they can press a button to reset their targeting which undoes all selections for that element.

Hard difficulty is a great challenge and a massive amount of fun for those who enjoy going after high scores on leaderboards. It’ll definitely test the best of players.

I very much enjoy the often casual gameplay in DEXED. Playing through each stage on normal can seem like a cake-walk, but one that’s worth experiencing. The levels are beautiful to view in VR and the slower and not too chaotic gameplay allows the player to fully experience everything that’s going on around them. Even though it’s an easy going venture on Normal difficulty, it’s still an entertaining time while focusing on trying to match and shoot the correct element of enemies.

Still, DEXED can be what the player wants it to be. It can be a casual experience to enjoy the surroundings while shooting some enemies and listening to the chill ambient music or it can be a challenging game for those determined to land high scores and unlock all the achievements for it.

I find DEXED to be a wonderful on-rails shooter for VR. And as mentioned, it’s a game that speaks to my heart as it’s in a genre that I absolutely adore. This makes DEXED my personal favorite VR experience in my short amount of time I’ve spent in the world of virtual reality.

It’s a great game for $9.99 that anyone can enjoy, hardcore fans or casual goers. Thankfully it’s built for both type of gamers even though the casual goer might not find as much replay value if they don’t care much about leaderboards. However, for a leaderboard fanatic like myself, it’s got everything I want to keep me entertained for quite some time, or at least until I own respectable scores on each level.

Thank you, Ninja Theory, for bringing an on-rails shooter to the HTC Vive. It’s wonderful! However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement. I would love to see additional bosses in the future and more enemies that launch surprise attacks on the player which will require them to use their shield more often. I also wouldn’t mind an even harder difficulty level and a song that features a few more beats per minute. These things are definitely on my wishlist for future DLC. *wink wink*

Now it’s time to go land some more high scores!