Evasion Review

by Dylan Blight (PSVR)

Synopsis:
Experience the next generation of VR combat with Evasion, an intense sci-fi bullet-hell shooter. Play solo or team up with a friend as you run, dodge, and unleash devastating Surge Attacks through an action-packed story campaign.

Evasion is designed for co-op play and fun afternoons blasting aliens in the face with a friend while listening to a heavy metal soundtrack and dropping smack talk on your fictional foes. Unfortunately, if you can’t find someone to play with, it’s a rather repetitive shooting gallery that leaves you wishing you had a co-op partner.

The light-gun series Time Crisis filled my co-op arcade days for many years, but with VR you can either repeat the formula — see Bravo Team — or create something that feels less hand-held. Evasion is the evolution of the arcade shooter: a simple plot setting you up as a sci-fi action hero taking on hordes of enemies in a campaign designed for co-op play.

Developer Archiact describes the game as a “bullet hell VR,” which is accurate. Dropped on a rocky desert planet, your job is to clear out the Optera alien lifeform and help save those trapped there. Minimal voice-acting and short story beats appear between objectives, but it all boils down to shooting more enemies while completing small tasks like defending an area or hacking a terminal.

The Optera come in several forms: Chimera-like beasts reminiscent of the Resistance franchise, smaller robotic types, giant ships, and even wasps in the sky. Across nine levels that grow increasingly hectic, there’s enough variety to avoid feeling repetitive.

Evasion nails the bullet hell aspect in VR: deadly weapons, bouncing bombs, and lasers force you to constantly dodge, block, and return fire. Things escalate quickly, especially in later levels, where getting boxed into a corner is a fast way to get overwhelmed.

Archiact clearly wants players standing, crouching, and ducking. Cover is littered across maps but only usable if you physically move. Sitting is possible, but you’ll lose the crouch mechanic. Technically, the game is impressive, running smoothly even amid chaos. However, I encountered glitches — HUD elements vanishing from my gun, hit detection issues — which fixed themselves after completing an objective but were frustrating nonetheless.

You can play Evasion with two PS Move controllers or the Aim Controller. I preferred the Aim, as the shield stays fixed in front of your gun. The PS Move option lets you John Wick it — shoot one way, deflect another — but most of the time I just blocked where I shot. The tether pulls health and power-ups, and can also latch onto weakened enemies for a finishing move. Classes use it differently, but overall the Aim setup felt better, even if the PS Move setup made tethering more versatile.

Play

Evasion features four classes. The Surgeon heals and is handy solo; the Striker is a hard-hitter with a smaller shield; the Warden is the tank with the biggest shield; and the Engineer can hilariously sling enemies into walls. Playing solo, I leaned on the Warden for its shield, though the shotgun loadout limited range. In co-op, the Surgeon and Engineer both proved useful.

Solo play is, bluntly, boring. The heavy metal soundtrack, reminiscent of DOOM, adds energy, but repetition sets in quickly. Online matchmaking was tough in Australia; even when I found a partner, they’d often drop after a level. This made the three survival maps basically unplayable solo. Co-op transforms Evasion into a fun experience — blasting enemies, laughing, and communicating. Alone, it shows the campaign’s repetitive nature, making it hard to recommend unless you have a reliable partner.