When I was a kid, I used to love Action Man, a lot of my older friends grew up with GI Joe and I always wanted to be a soldier because of this or even due to the movie Small Soldiers which starred Tommy Lee Jones as Major Chip Hazard, the developer at GINRA TECH saw this as a way to create something that felt like revisiting these types of stories.
Gamers, may I introduce you to Operation Serpens a VR arcade shooter where you can experience what it truly feels like to be part of the action! Shoot your way to glory in a single-player campaign or jump online with friends and take on enemies or even zombies! You can even take part in contests where you must shoot to the top of the leaderboards. Operation Serpens takes you on action-packed VR experience so let’s reload and roll out!
Chip Hazard, Reporting For Duty
Story
Welcome to Operation Serpens soldier! You have one mission and one mission only, help us take down the evil Snakes Organization! Do what you must to stop them, using a variety of different weapons! Can you complete this mission soldier? Do you have what it takes to be the best of the best in this elite unit?
I can’t hear you! Now we have to take down each member of the Snakes Organization, one at a time. Each boss is going to have backup so get ready to lay down some fire. Have each other’s backs and execute the target! Leave no witnesses, complete your mission to reach the man himself- The Levithan!
The evil mastermind behind it all! Take down each target to reach the boss and take down the Snake Organization once and for all! You have your mission, don’t just stand there move out!
I Love It When A Plan Comes Together
Gameplay
Operation Serpens is full of surprises, with multiple modes to choose from! The story campaign takes you on a journey as a soldier in an elite unit with a mission to take down the Snake Organization. Each target has a different setting making each mission different from the others.
Use any weapon you can get your hands on, shooting first and asking questions later as you take down hordes of enemies trying to stop you from reaching your target. Standoff with enemies in a lift as you progress towards their boss or protect a double agent as they run to your truck shooting enemies as you try to escape!
Each mission is unique and a lot of fun! You can choose multiple difficulties from easy to hard depending on how much of an elite you truly are! Contest mode gives you access to earning your name on the leaderboards, you have given 3 tickets a day to enter as you shoot mini characters from the game as they jump about all over the place in a moving shooting range.
The more points you get the higher up you will be on the board, currently, I am 12th in the world which was cool! Zombie survival mode has you standing off with hordes of zombies, where each round lets you choose 2 weapons to take on a wave of walkers! One part I must admit was I have never been shot out by the undead before and my god was it different but enjoyable as again it was fast-paced, be careful of the normal zombies who like to come out of nowhere and give you a heart attack, yep that happened to me!
Survive as long as you can and beat your score. Lastly, jump online and explore a map with up to 4 players as you take down waves of enemies as they spawn, work as a team to survive as long as you can, and explore to find new weapons and equipment. Guns in Operation Serpens are from handguns to sniper rifles, if you have trouble with aiming you can change your hand angle to get to a more comfortable angle when aiming.
Using both hands will reduce recoil by a lot. Reloading is not automatic or manual but there are two ways to reload, moving your gun to your belt or pressing one of the buttons on your controllers. This makes the fast-paced action faster and lets you spend more time shooting than reloading!
Other equipment includes grenades and flashbangs, a flashbang will slow everything down and give you bullet time kind of like Max Payne except you don’t dive onto the floor! You can always test the guns out in the HUB at the firing range to see what you prefer and if you’re sadistic like me use the pistol to shoot the little guys hanging about! Or even learn to fly and shoot the drone which was a really cool concept and in one mission you can use this as long as you want!
Action Man! He’s The Greatest Hero!
Graphics and Audio
Operation Serpens takes its art style from ’90s-based cartoons like Action Man, GI Joe, and even a few nods to the A-Team. You will also get a bit of a classic retro feel based on games like Freedom Fighters, Contra, and even House of the Dead!
I had the honour of talking to one of the guys behind Operation Serpens who is actually again the only person on the team and he did confirm this! I also felt like it had a very Time Crisis feel to it as well which I grew up watching my older brothers play on PS1.
Audio in Operation Serpens has a variety of different themes for the soundtrack which changes based on the mission, the sound effects for the guns and explosions are spot on! Voice acting in the game truly takes me back to older 90s retro games which was a nice trip down memory lane.
I’m A GI Joe and Nothing Stops A GI Joe, Nothing!
Options and Comfort
Operation Serpens currently only has a few settings such as choosing to be able to drop weapons or stay on ladders, and different comfort options such as teleport and smooth. Recommend you use smooth movement! Turning is being improved in an upcoming update to give better control adjustments and customisation options.
You can change the angle of your hand making it easier to find the perfect angle when aiming, the developers are fine-tuning the recoil dynamics which will come in the next update. Accessibility most of the game you are just standing and shooting it’s only near the end you will have to move around but again it depends on your comfort level.
Final Thoughts
Operation Serpens was a fun fast-paced VR experience that took me back into a retro era, the developer has really put their heart and soul into this game, it is impressive for something done by one person and talking to the guys behind it, truly shows how much he loves improving his game. All in all, it was exactly what it was aimed to be, and the ending really gets you excited for what’s next.
Now you’ve read the review, do you have what it takes? Stop the Snake Organisation That’s all soldier, load up and move out!
Operation Serpens is AVAILABLE NOW! On PSVR2, SteamVR, Pico and Meta Quest
GAMERHUB RATING: FOUR (Out of FIVE) JOYSTICKS
(Thank you to Lauri at VRKiwi and Itzik at GINRATECH for providing the code for this review)
