Games of the Abstract: VR Agent (2023)

 

Developer: 3MindWave

Publisher: Sega

One to Two Players

Originally for: Arcade

 

VR Agent, to my surprise as they are not visible on the arcade machine itself, is a Sega distributed work¹, which caught me off guard. The game itself was actually created by 3MindWave, a Hong Kong based developer, though the connection to Sega is there, as Shinichi Ogasawara, who worked in Sega’s AM3 department and worked on machines like the lightgun game The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), is in a Senior Game Designer position at 3MindWave². VR Agent itself is made in an era where you still thankfully get lightgun games but, in an era of new technology, which means that as gimmicked arcade are a timeless part tradition, you have new technology for this to work with. Unlike the curious re-adaptation of Taito's Elevator Action franchise, Elevator Action Invasion (2021), whose entire gimmick was a pair of mechanised elevators doors on the arcade machine, 3MindWave commit to bringing virtual reality to the arcades of nowadays without requiring the full head visor. Released in a time when the likes of the Oculus have been easily available for the home, virtual reality not the dominant format for video games but much more practical than in the nineties, 3MindWave wanted to take this further in a time of full scale VR rides being found in local British sea sides by removing the headset itself whilst retaining the full virtual reality.

The immediate concern is not even the game itself, but how the company even brought this about. You do not have a full VR head set, but attached to the gun itself, which descends down on cables when you start the game by itself, is a pair of goggles attached to the machine. Unlike the Simpsons joke where they do nothing, these work fully in this machine but with the practical issues of VR headsets in general, such as the fact I myself as others wear glasses, or the disorientation if you are not used to them. The former is not that bad thankfully, but would depend on your personal eyewear of choice, the later thankfully just not being used to these machines, and having gone through the entire game’s length, with no concern of nausea or anything of legitimate concern. These one have the additional issue, practically, that the rubber that completely goes around the eyes can be accidentally moved when using them which can distract you from the game in readjusting this, but this is just the practicalities of not having the full headset. The start button is even designed to recalibrate the gun back into focus if you accidentally have lost this, and even without the goggles on, the game plays onscreen too with the full virtual environment onscreen as you move the gun around.

The virtual reality is an achievement, as whilst the practicalities of these machines exists in the home let alone the arcade, this manages to bring it to more simpler equipment and also bring something unique to the light gun game in its simple mechanics, even if it is something as simple as having the proper ability to turn your head around a corner or look upwards diagonally to pick off goons. It does not emphasise the idea of full body motion, such as modern VR or in this genre the experiment by Konami with Police 24/7 (2000) with full body motion cameras, merely focusing on the advantage of turning your head around even behind you. No one tries to shoot you in the back, which is due to the practicalities of an arcade machine not sold as a full VR machine, and as this requires someone to keep an eye on your bag, does means we do not have a full 360 degree game field to play with even though the game encompasses little details behind you. There is enough within what it could practically do, so I found myself looking around the corner in a nice turn for the genre.

Where the game does suffer for me is a lack of personality, so much so a feature to make the game more family friendly actually appeals to me more than the full bloodied version. In the original version, there are grunts you are against and even blood, but the alternative I played turns them into robots, which is odder as they still have the same bodies but only the heads are replaced. With some of these characters wearing suits, it is a game with some of the most dapper robots I have encountered, and that sets up the issue of my personal taste that, with a lot of the modern 2020s games I find in arcades, I appreciate their aesthetic but they are lacking something memorable to run with their aesthetics and new technology. I do not even mind how the levels are generic realistic as that in itself has an almost liminal space nature in context to the virtual reality – barring its final level being a boss battle that is only unlocked when everything else is finished, the game is structured by a series of stages by difficulty between liminal space locations like a hotel to a warehouse that can be played in any order. The issue is that lack of sparkle that a Sega developed lightgun game might have add, and the sense that, for a game with complete emphasis on the virtual reality gimmick, there is no story whatsoever for this, and thus no cut scenes or anything even unintentionally adding a sense of spark to this.  

This is one of my issues I have found going to certain games, which they have all the advancements now in tech, but a complete lack of interest in more than the basic game play as an amusement ride. Yes, the games of the past can be comical in their voice acting and over-the-top mannerisms, trying to bolt simple plots on these lightgun games, but that has actually become one of my favourite things about them, so much so I am looking with regret on my more negative view of some other games in this area. Something like thing like Razing Storm (2008), effectively a Gears of War inspired lightgun game with Five Finger Death Punch music on the soundtrack, and an unintentionally melodramatic dude bro tone for a Japanese game clearly wanting to sell to the West at the time, is now a game I look to with great affection nowadays. There is a sense of personality, where a lot of the lightgun games of the past even when cheesy having mirth to them beyond perfunctory shooting gallery structures. VR Agent has no power ups or health pickups, and gun changing only happens for you in specific level selections, but you have dynamics I appreciated in its core gimmick which could be expanded upon. There is a sense of fun to this, robot headed goons jumping off from large heights with axes directly into the gun sight, or having to search for enemies on high warehouse structures or in driver seats of parked cars, but this feels like a mere template for something grander, making this less interesting to actually ever go back to. 

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1) VR Agent's page on Sega Arcade.

2) Interview: Shinichi Ogasawara and Pang Shy on Sega Amusements, Apex Rebels & 3MindWave, written for Arcade Hero and published on May 9th 2024.