The first time I played TRIPP, an Oculus Quest game released by TreeFortress Games, I was hooked. It is still my favorite game to show off on the headset (that has yet to be topped by Beat Saber). If you think of what your mind can do when it’s free from wires or obstruction then that’s the idea behind this game. You move around with full freedom in a space where you touch one area and shoot out another. This alone makes for an interesting experience but TRIPP takes it one step further by adding in some puzzles and challenge areas. All culminating together into a truly unique gaming experience!
TRIPP starts the player off in a tutorial area that explains how to use your abilities and then moves into the campaign. The campaign has several stages that you complete by solving puzzles, fighting bosses, and eventually overcoming whatever obstacle is in front of you. Each stage is themed differently with its own look and feel it. For example, there’s one where you’re underwater and every time you touch an object it closes off another portal around you. Then there’s another stage where you teleport using circular pads similar to what we’ve seen in something like Tron (one of my favorite movies) and this stage also features a boss fight against some dangerous cubes/spheres/whatever they are. The gameplay is mostly fluid with no hiccups or lag. There are times where the portal you shoot out doesn’t go immediately to where you want it to, but this isn’t even a problem if you know how to compensate for it. The levels are well thought out and look amazing. I can’t name any other game on the Quest that looks as good as the stages in TRIPP. Enemies look detailed and menacing all while not popping too much when they show up on the screen.
All that being said, there are some faults with this game that bring its score down from perfect s s to simply great. For instance, the beginning of each stage has long paused between actions. This wouldn’t be an issue except you’re running around with seemingly infinite energy. You could likely run through the entire level without stopping which gets tiring after a while. The other issue I have is that the story seems lacklustre compared to what you actually do in-game. It starts off great with some mysterious people typing at computer screens creeping me out but then devolves into something much less interesting. There are also times where it’s not clear what you need to do next, or if there even is a path forward because there are no tips or help given to guide players along their journey. On top of all this, there are only 10 levels which will take most people about 4 hours to complete. Even though I found them entertainingly challenging and unique, once I finished them I was done playing the game.
Final Verdict: 8/10: TRIPP is a great title that I think anyone who has an Oculus Quest should own and enjoy! The movement mechanics are intuitive, the visuals are some of the best we’ve seen on the headset so far, and it will keep you coming back for more as you try to beat your previous high score on each level. While some people may find the story less than appealing and there could be more levels included this doesn’t take away from what TreeFortress Games accomplished here. TRIPP is available now on the Oculus Store for $19.99 (20% off with launch sale). So go ahead and grab it up before their promotion ends!