VR Gaming

50 Days of PS VR #5: 'Ace Banana' Makes You a VR Legolas... If Orks Were Monkeys

, & Jamie Feltham

8 October 2016

50 Days of PS VR #5: 'Ace Banana' Makes You a VR Legolas... If Orks Were Monkeys

5 days to go until the launch of PlayStation VR! We’re counting down to the release of Sony’s VR headset on October 13th by highlighting one game a day for its anticipated release. Today we’re raising our bow and taking on the monkey army with Ace Banana.

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You know, for a platform launch involving motion control, PlayStation VR has surprisingly few games that let you fire a bow and arrow. When Move hit a few years ago there were plenty, and you can already use the ancient weaponry in countless HTC Vive games, but you won’t have much of a chance to get your best Legolas impression on when PS VR hits next week. That is unless you pick up Ace Banana.

To be clear, Ace Banana doesn’t actually have a bow and arrow, it has a snake, or a weight bar, or any number of other items that are completely inappropriate for firing pointed objects at high speeds. That’s the kind of game this wave-based experience is; slapstick, colorful, and potentially heaps off fun.

In Ace Banana you’re going to fight off swarms of monkeys. You have a pile of delicious yellow fruits and the little chimps want to get their hands on them. You’ll take them out one-by-one by realistically pulling back on your bow and letting arrows fly. It can be tricky to aim, though there’s an assist to help you make perfect shots.

Enemies come in different shapes and sizes, many taking more than one hit to bring down. Boss encounters add to the challenge, with monkeys commanding huge robots that will leap around and steal your bananas in seconds. You’ll be able to warp around different points on a map to get the best vantage point too.

This isn’t going to be a revolutionary PS VR title, but it has a decent shot at being a fun one. When Ace Banana clicks you’re constantly at work firing arrows every second and feeling the pressure mount as monkeys arrive in swarms. If your arm starts to ache from holding it up for so long, that just means you’re doing your job right.

Ace Banana will be out launch day, October 13th, on PlayStation VR.