• Title – Eclipse: Edge of Light
• Developer – White Elk Studios
• Publisher – White Elk Studios
• Platform(s) – PlayStation 4 & PSVR (reviewed), Nintendo Switch, Oculus Rift, SteamVR, Google Daydream, Oculus Go & Gear VR, HTC Viveport
• MSRP – $14.99
• Release Date – January 14th, 2020
• Review Code was Provided for this Review.
Eclipse: Edge of Light is a first-person sci-fi exploration game set in a mysterious planet with a past that you have to figure out. Eclipse: Edge of Light surprised me because I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did and although it’s not a perfect game, I thoroughly enjoyed more about the game than I disliked about it.
You awaken on the mysterious planet with no signs of a living activity for a long time. After your awakening, you find this relic called The Artifact that is the main thing that you rely on in your journey. The Artifact performs tons of different actions needed to continue the adventure you’re on.
To start off, let’s start with the story, it’s definitely one of the low points of Eclipse. It’s not too engaging and is honestly a bit boring. You further the story through these statues, items, signs, vases, and many more items scattered around the planet that give little tidbits of new lore. These types of things are fun in the beginning but get tiresome very quickly because it’s never switched up or expanded on. It’s not all bad, the only time I ever really got invested in the story was at the beginning of each act because of the sheer interest I had in those cutscenes. I wish these moments were less few and far between but they are.
Visually, I was extremely satisfied with Eclipse. It’s not the best VR game I’ve seen graphically but it’s pretty damn close if you ask me. I was in awe at the graphics that I saw in some parts, specifically the later acts in the game. Unfortunately, what the game has in graphics doesn’t translate too well to performance. The game stuttered repeatedly, it wasn’t every minute of the game but it was frequent enough for me to start getting a little annoyed by it by the 7th or 8th time it happened. The occasional frame rate dips are especially noticeable when you’re in the game for about 30 minutes to an hour. It doesn’t ruin the game for me by any means but it’s still a bit annoying to have to deal with in the 3+ hours you spend playing.
Gameplay is an essential part of making a video game fun and entertaining. Eclipse utilizes gameplay elements in many ways, the most intriguing to me is the puzzles. I love puzzles and I love the ones that require you to think a little outside the box. If anything I wish the puzzles in this game were more plentiful and a little harder to figure out, a little challenge never hurts anyone. I touched on the Artifact a bit earlier, it’s what makes the gameplay. There are many different situations in which it can be used, you can use it to open up ramps and fly up to it with your jetpack that you acquire early in the game. It may be used to open doors or destroy the heads of explosive shooting statues (yes, you read that right). The Artifact is used so effectively and contrasts to each time you use it and no certain minigame or type of obstacle overstays its welcome throughout the game.
For what Eclipse does right in its gameplay, it only does half right with its controls. The controls are simple to figure out and aren’t too messy, but if anything they are way too slow and stiff. It takes so long to walk and there are certain things control choices that have me shaking my head. For example, if you’re using a PSVR to play Eclipse, to turn you move left and right with 1 move of the joystick instead of 360° movement. It takes seconds to turn around when it should honestly take a millisecond. The Camera is really hit or miss in many times throughout the game, it could work perfectly at one point and then it could get stuck on things and not work the way it should at another point. These things may not seem like a huge annoyance, but it adds up after hours of gameplay.
I love VR games and ever since I’ve gotten a PSVR, I’ve played games like Blood & Truth, Astro Bot: Rescue Mission, and now Eclipse: Edge of Light. Some VR games are a hit and others are a complete miss, Eclipse is a definite hit for me. As I said earlier, it’s not a perfect game at all, but the problems I do have with certain areas such as the story and the camera aren’t completely unplayable or borderline frustrating, it’s just a bit of annoyance here and there. It’s also worth noting that the length for this game is perfect, it doesn’t go too long or end when you feel it could go a bit longer, it ends right when it should.
Eclipse: Edge of Light cements itself has one of the best PSVR games I’ve ever played. The Visuals, Gameplay, Certain tidbits of story, and so much other smaller elements make this game great for me. I didn’t think I’d enjoy it as much as I would because of the first impressions I had of the story about 10 minutes in, but the farther I got in the more I enjoyed it. It’s definitely a game that I can see being very divisive among people due to the certain style it has, but I would highly recommend giving this game a chance, also considering the fact that this game can be played outside VR on certain platforms, it can be very accessible for anyone to play. For the right price, length, and overall experience, Eclipse: Edge of Light is one of my favorite games to start off 2020 and one of my favorite VR games of all time.
Rating – 8/10
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