Augmented Reality (AR) is a word that sends shivers down many gamers’ spines. It’s a word that reminds them of a medium that has pretty much flopped and only substandard games that are often free. These games are normally pretty fun for a while, but ten minutes later you put them down and think, “Well, that was pretty cool.” That’s all you will feel, however, as these games so far have been pretty bad.
So here we have Fireworks, one of the free meal tickets that Sony have kindly offered as part of your Vita purchase. I am here to tell you whether it’s the sort of meal you should down whole-heartedly, or the kind of meal you pour down your dog’s mouth when no one is looking.
The graphics for Fireworks AR are sub-standard and nothing fancy. After all this is an Augmented Reality game so we would not expect too much here. Fireworks is the simplest of all the Vita AR pack-in games, there are a few modes on offer all based around the same premise. You have to set off fireworks by tapping the screen to score points and unlock new fireworks. These new fireworks get bigger and bigger. Some of them even have different shapes like stars or boxes, this adds to the enjoyment as you play more and more trying to unlock these news beauties.
You may use up to three of the supplied AR cards here, the higher the number of card the more points you can get and the higher the difficulty setting. Each card spawns you a house that the fireworks are shot from. These home owners must be rich as they shoot a lot! At first it looks pretty cool as you have a house sitting on your coffee table shooting pretty colours that go bang. It’s very easy to pick this game up and you will soon find yourself trying to get as high a score as you can and, eventually, you find yourself with three houses lined up all shooting fireworks.
As you play you unlock bigger and bader fireworks that really get you going. You can build up combos by setting off the fireworks when the crosshair is on the sparkle; this marks the sweet spot. The game ends when you miss three fireworks that have been set-off and you get presented with your final score. This score also gives you your world ranking on a worldwide scoreboard. This does add to the enjoyment as you try to become number one.
So the question is, will this game bring you hours of enjoyment? Well the simple answer is probably not. The only real replay factor here is the challenge of trying to beat the worldwide top scores. The game may well appeal to people of all ages. After all everybody loves fireworks don’t they? I enjoyed playing this game the most out of all the currently available AR games. However, I did not spend an awful lot of time here though; all the current Augmented Reality games available for your PS Vita are pretty small and don’t manage to grab your attention for too long.
REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Playstation Vita code was provided to Bonus Stage for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to press@4gn.co.uk.
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