Timberman VR is a remake of a casino themed VR game about logging that has potential in the virtual world.
Timberman VR was made by GameFormatic S.A. as the developer and PlayWay S.A. as the Publisher. It was released in early August of 2022 as a virtual reality game and so it requires a virtual reality headset in order to play. This game brings players out into the wilderness where they start off in a lodge with logging equipment and a home screen on one of the walls. The detail to the 3D world is wonderful and it is like being dropped into a cartoon. Timberman VR is a casino style game that was made for the virtual reality world.
You are given a machete and an axe right away where you practice chopping wood. This home space has a menu screen that is clever in how it is made, but not entirely intuitive. It may take a minute to realize you have to chop the logs on a table in front of you to select options on the screen ahead. You are unable to move around the space, but because of this being a casino style game it is not truly necessary to explore.
With your axe and machete, you are placed in front of a tall tree that you must chop in specific sections. There are arrows that tell you which direction you need to cut, and there are barriers that show up on many of the sections that you must chop away at before chopping the section down. While doing this you are timed as well as scored on accuracy. The barriers may slow you down in Timberman VR, but as you are playing you will receive alerts on skills you have reached.
As wilderness locations are completed, more are unlocked. Then, as you enter new places to chop more trees there are more obstacles that you come by. There is always something new to do or some place new to be, but no matter what you are always chopping at a tree, and you do have the opportunity to practice before the actual round starts.
Timberman VR may not be very realistic, but it does expose some truth to logging. As you chop down large trees you will see birds’ nests fall to their demise, squirrels die, and beehives are chopped down. While this is a fun way to play at those issues, it is also very honest in how wildlife is impacted by their homes being torn down. No, there is no blood or gore. In fact, the critters are basically statues that fall off of the branches which makes it a little funny.
Even though it is not necessary to move around much in this game, it is a little frustrating not being able to explore the nicely designed cabin or the various campsites. One joystick can allow you to move a few inches forward or a few inches back, but that is the range of motion available. Once you move those few inches you cannot move any further.
If you truly want to try and explore the cabin, you must walk around in your physical space as far as you can, turn around, use the right joystick to turn back to where you wanted to go then proceed to keep walking. Then you may repeat that in order to look around. This method is very tedious and not exactly fun.
The axe does not always respond to what you, as the player, are trying to do. This makes it difficult to get the results you want in the game. Even if you craft a nice swing, the axe will often turn and flop in your virtual hand and hardly hit the section you aimed for. Or there are times when you might try to bring the axe to the other side gently without swinging so you can hit the section at a different angle, but your virtual axe will swing away and hit the section the wrong way. This lack of accurate response can be disheartening.
Timberman VR game is alright but could be better with some improvements. If the home lodge where the main menu is located were crafted to be more explorable, that would add quality to the game. Also, if the axe were more accurate and responsive to your moves, then the game would be a lot better to play.
Timberman VR does feel a bit repetitive and that may get old for many players. Looking around campsites, there are stacked logs in the distance, and it would be cool if you could walk over to those to play another version of chopping logs but still in the casino style. This would make the game feel less repetitive. The game does have promise.
You may find this game both on Steam VR as well as on the Oculus. And, thank you for coming by and checking out this review. You can see more game reviews, or check out the latest gaming news.
