Supernatural is a Virtual Reality game created in 2019 by Canadian studio BigBox VR for the Oculus Quest. The game was released on April 3 rd, 2019, and it cost around $20. I hadn’t yet tried out an Oculus Quest when I bought this game, but I had played it on an Oculus Rift previously, so I knew what to expect.
Supernatural’s gameplay is similar to that of Beat Saber, where you have two virtual swords which you can swing around with one hand each, and there are obstacles flying towards your head which you need to cut through with the correct sword in order for points to be gained. The controls for this game are intuitive at first, but they become difficult as it progresses, especially when there are multiple objects flying towards you at once. This game includes a standard mode, multiplayer mode (up to four players), boss fight mode, challenge mode, time attack mode and practice mode.
Standard Mode
In the standard version of Supernatural, there are 25 levels that increase in difficulty as they go on. It starts off easy enough by introducing you to the gameplay with stationary objects, but by level 5 you’re already trying to figure out how to avoid obstacles while dealing damage. I found that when one of your hands gets tired, your accuracy and timing suffers for it, which makes the levels even more difficult especially during boss fights or when there are multiple flying objects.
Multiplayer Mode
In multiplayer mode, up to four people can play at once in one arena and fight enemies together, and they will all be teleported back in when someone dies in order to keep the game going. This is a good idea for parties where two or three people would prefer playing against each other rather than cooperating with their friends; however, this mode was not particularly my cup of tea because it is quite hard to hit the objects correctly when you’re fighting with four people who are all trying their best to keep going.
Boss Fight Mode
In boss fight mode, one person is pitted against a horde of demons that move towards them and deal damage if they come into contact. The player must kill 75% of the enemies before they can move onto the next level, which gets progressively harder as more enemies spawn in faster amounts. Time attack has you killing every enemy within five minutes, but this game mode was not particularly my cup of tea because it was too difficult for me to try and survive against the hordes alone. I feel like this game would be much better if there were up to two players cooperating together rather than pitting individuals against an army of demons.
Challenge Mode
The challenge mode is where this game shines the most, in my opinion. These are short levels that focus on a particular skill for success, whether it be dodging an attack or dealing damage really quickly while doing your best to not hit the objects around you. There are 12 challenges in total, which each one getting progressively harder as they go on, and I found them all to be very fun. Time attack has you completing four challenges within five minutes, but again I did not particularly enjoy this game mode because being pitted against everything alone proved to be far too difficult for me to try and complete.
Overall Impression
All-in-all, Supernatural is a decent VR brawler that can be enjoyed by all ages, but it can get rather frustrating at times if you’re not too great at the game. It is very fun to play with friends that are new to VR because they will be amazed when this game’s mechanics finally click in their heads and they’ll want to try it again. I think Supernatural would have been much better if there were more players cooperating together rather than pitting individuals against hordes of demons throughout the whole game, but I am still glad that I bought the experience despite its flaws because every single challenge mode playthrough was incredibly enjoyable for me. 8/10