Harpagun Review: Colorful Arcade Action With A Compelling Story

Harpagun delivers a colorful VR arcade shooter-smasher with a compelling narrative. Read on for our full thoughts.

On-rails movement isn't the most exciting proposition for VR gaming these days, yet Harpagun shows such action titles can still get the job done. Following last year's work on the cozy puzzle game Toy Trains, Something Random's next title opts for a fast-paced arcade-style shooter. Despite a restrictive movement system and unpolished edges on Quest, the core action remains highly enjoyable.

Harpagun offers humorous sci-fi absurdity with a futuristic Soviet twist while you explore a post-apocalyptic world, weaving an intriguing narrative with a satisfying resolution. Playing as a 'Harpagun', our titular protagonist finds their comrades missing, with armies of mutant fungus ready to kill you. Guided by two dysfunctional leaders via a floating TV, this compelling tale explores what happened to this society that leaves me invested in our hero's survival.

The campaign splits into bite-sized missions with three difficulty settings, which is useful if you prefer playing in short bursts. You'll restart from a checkpoint if you die, though those are frustratingly absent during boss fights. Our goal is to find safe passage off this deserted planet and back to the mothership, armed with two gravity guns that let you shoot stuff alongside simply grabbing objects.

Standard gunfire does what's needed, but launching objects like rubble, chairs, doors, or even parts of an enemy we've torn off into these fungal foes is much more entertaining. Each level is littered with throwable objects for entertaining kills, though grabbing enemies directly and destroying them by throwing them into each other is also fun.

Timed supply drops helpfully provide extra health or limited ammo types for increased damage. Killing multiple foes at once as lasers bounce across each other feels good, shotgun-style ammo for heavy hits at close range provide useful crowd control, while electric upgrades charge a lightning ball that outright smokes these wild mushrooms. It's over the top, dramatic, and great fun all around.

I appreciate the creativity with some enemies too, and Harpagun offers a good variety as you advance through missions. For example, one foe requires you to pull them upwards with the gravity gun and use your other hand to shoot the bubble that soon appears. Another requires ripping its wings off, which sounds more brutal than it actually is. More advanced enemies and weapons gradually roll out at a good pace, though you'll always be equipped with gravity guns.

When enemies spawn nearly as fast as you kill them, this becomes a juggling act that can overwhelm you if you aren't careful. Throwing back a foe's projectiles with the gravity gun feels great during these moments, as does blocking them by picking up other enemies. However, all it takes is a few hits to kill you, so you need to keep moving.

Harpagun has a strong foundation, yet its design feels constrained, and that quickly becomes apparent when fighting these enemy waves. Teleporting to set points across the map usually works well until you're trying to dodge enemy fire, giving you limited options for where to move. You can typically strafe left, right, forwards, or backwards from the central area, and that's it.

Something Random evidently designed Harpagun's movement to prioritize comfort over immersion, which works as I've not had any issues so far even with minimal comfort settings. Still, several additional aspects could also use fine-tuning. Smooth camera turning is too fast, making it tough to be precise and unlike snap turning, the camera speed isn't adjustable. Long loading times are also present on Quest 3, most notable when booting up the game.

I've also found performance hiccups on Quest 3, and the framerate drops are evident in later levels when more enemies are onscreen. I also noticed some moments where the text bubble on screen from the leaders via the TV would jitter, which wasn't uncomfortable but your mileage may vary. I've yet to try the Quest 2, PC VR or PS VR2 versions, so I can't compare any differences right now.

The main campaign takes around five hours to complete, which neither feels overly long nor too short for Harpagun. Other options are available such as a convenient arcade mode for replaying individual levels beyond the campaign, alongside an Arena mode where you fight enemy waves. I'm not particularly compelled to keep replaying the latter, though it's a nice option to have.

What benefits Harpagun greatly on Quest 3 is the vibrant cel-shaded presentation, offering well-designed environments and an often unsettling array of enemies. The soundtrack suits the game relatively well, even if it's not anything too riveting, and it's great to see a choice of performance settings available for those who'd rather prioritize performance or fidelity.

Harpagun Review - Final Verdict

Harpagun continues a strong streak by Something Random after last year's Toy Trains, delivering an entertaining VR smasher-shooter with an intriguing narrative that immediately grabs your attention. Some rough edges on Quest dull its shine and the restrictive movement system limits combat, yet there's still plenty to like with its strong action gameplay. As such, it comes recommended.

UploadVR uses a 5-Star rating system for our game reviews – you can read a breakdown of each star rating in our review guidelines.