Megaton Rainfall Review

I am once again writing before playing the game. This happens rarely but the reasoning is simple: I want to convey my excitement before there is risk of it being dashed by a poor game. Now I’m not saying it will, but the world has made me cautious and so I act accordingly.

This is in part as well because this is a superhero game, and quality superhero games are as rare as real superheroes. Off the top of my head the only ones I really liked were Spiderman 2 back on PS2, Batman Arkham Asylum and Infamous. Prototype and its sequel did scratch the itch of being powerful as well, despite not being a traditional superhero game. But recently they have disappeared, with only Insomniac showing off their newest Spiderman game the give superhero fans hope for the future.

So from the end of this paragraph I will no longer be writing this in hope. Anything I say from this point on will be after playing the game. So here I go, I’m hoping this is going to be a good one.

And now I have to admit something. I really though Megaton Rainfall would not be good. I thought it would be an on-rails shooter with VR as a gimmick. But after playing about three hours in one sitting I found that I was having a phenomenal time. Even playing with just a controller, Megaton Rainfall is a wild ride and I can safely say a really good superhero game.

You play as a character referred to only as ‘Offspring.’ Chosen by a higher being to have superpowers, you must protect Earth from the only other sentient species in the universe, referred to only as the Invaders. Across the course of the game you will gain more powers and have plenty of exploration time.

In terms of gameplay this means that the game is a 3D shooter. You’ll be flying around buildings and across the planet destroying alien ships. To manage the VR aspect aliens can be destroyed in two ways, either wildly shooting at them or taking precise shots at their large red weak spots. You’ll want to be taking those precise shots as some of the enemies can only be taken out by destroying their weak spots, and misfiring can cause plenty of collateral damage.

Collateral damage here counts as your health, and enemies are not the only ones who can cause damage. Wild firing means that you will probably miss a load of shots and kill a lot of innocent people. Checkpoints are plentiful and failing puts you back to them so screwing up is not a huge setback and the learning curve is long enough to get used to the controls. Do not expect the gameplay to get deeper, the follow-shoot-repeat is all the gameplay really amounts to.

The other part of this game is exploration. While you start on planet Earth, eventually you do get the ability to fly further and by god is it such an invigorating feeling. The first time you get to barrel around the solar system is pure beauty, and I can only imagine it looks better with VR. Planet Earth is not a completely accurate representation, and while there are some buildings and monuments of note it is mostly simplified metropolises. Missions are adequately shown to you, so you can happily waste some time flying around and exploring. There is a hint given that exploration will pay off however I have yet to find out the truth in it.

I can only really find one fault here, and that is the lack of options. While there are plenty of options for VR, including preventing tumbling in case it will make you feel sick, options are minimal for controller play. Particularly there is no option for turning speed meaning you are stuck with the chosen speed which feels way too slow. Also travelling too quickly means you are stuck with little loading screens, however this only happened twice to me. Graphically the game loses its polish when you get real close to the ground, but that is part of the parcel of being able to travel across the planet quickly.

In the end, Megaton Rainfall exceeded all my expectations, while a few more options would be appreciated for controllers, the gameplay itself is solid and gives plenty of replay value. Even getting it for the ability to fly like a superhero in VR is a solid reason. I would like to see this game supported with updates and content as it would be a shame if this concept is done once and left aside.

Plus this game is only 1GB. In the era of 60GB+ games that’s a miracle in itself.