Hands On With Virballs

Bolder Games’ Virballs opens with one of those wonderfully modest cinematics that you’d find in a PlayStation 2-era game. Here, a scruffy scientist is confronted by a pair of space cops while rocketing through a solar system. With little warning, the authorities open fire, rupturing the suspect’s vessel, and inadvertently releasing Virball’s eponymous spheres across six different planets.

You play as ORB, an Object Removal Bot who must gather these elemental-based organisms before they can wreak havoc across the ecosystem. Although the Early Access build only provides access to five different missions on a single planet, Virballs undoubtedly shows potential. Largely, exploration across an exotic locale blended with intense combat channels the delights of Insomniac’s first few Ratchet & Clank entries.

Like Naughty Dog, Before the Dreariness

ORB begins his roundup with a modest ranged weapon. But by using his grappler claw, the droid can pull in small adversaries, place them in his chest, providing ammo for new kinds of weapons. Later, ORB can combine two elemental-based enemies, creating different types of fusions. There range from fireballs that can be charged up, barrages of dirtballs, swarms of homing bees, and one attack that causes nearby foes to uncontrollably rock out. Since they’re loosely rooted in water, earth, fire, air, electricity and slime elemental categories, some ammo types are more effective against different enemies. Agreeably, every kind of ammo fires distinctively, injecting some variety into combat.

The one stipulation is that you can only convert diminutive enemies into ammunition. Larger foes will need to be attacked until they break into smaller ones. So, while confronting a small cluster of adversaries is engrossing, battling larger groups can get chaotic. Fortunately, your grappler claw produces a tidbit of damage. So, when things get heated, a combination of circle strafing and button mashing will help you survive until you’ve destroyed the nearby monster generator.

Jump, Shoot, and Gather

Although ORB’s walk speed is slow and the unlockable dash is rather anemic, navigation is precise. A combination of a double jump and a third-person camera perspective makes jumping across chasms stress-free. But even if you miss the landing, an assistive droid pulls ORB out of danger and places the droid back on solid footing. When it comes to conflict, your claw has an extended range, so plucking enemies from the midst of battle becomes an essential tactic. That said, your shots intermittently become stuck on the topography when attack from different elevations. Although ORB can roll into a ball, like Samus in Metroid, currently there are few opportunities to truly take advantage of the transformation.

At present, the end-of-stage boss battles can grow frustrating. Simultaneously stopping a barrage of subordinates while also triggering temporary stun states makes progress slow and slightly unsatisfying. There’s an attempt to balance these fights with health-restoring green crystals scattered about, but it’s evident that these showdowns need modification. Another issue is asset recycling. Not only do bosses make repeat appearances but you’ll trek through the same alien landscapes more than once when tackling missions.

These issues aside, fights are forceful, compelling players to prioritize targets and be aware of dangerous congregations of adversaries. Using the proper tool against enemies is crucial as well. Most enemy AI movement behaviors are largely simple, with foes taking notice and confronting as you draw near. But occasionally, Virballs pits you against a charging space dinosaur, which helps to offset tedium.

A Discrete GPU is Recommended at the Present

Performance-wise, Virballs is mostly solid. You’ll likely encounter the occasional bug, like when an NPC stops following you on an escort mission. If you own at least a moderately robust GPU, the game runs like a dream. With an RTX 3070, the game delivered an unwavering 60 frames per second. But for those with portable PC like a Steam Deck or ROG Ally, additional optimization is needed. On both systems, framerates would hover in the 40s but could sporadically drop to the mid-20s.

If you do own a robust enough rig, Virballs might evoke memories of action-exploration hits like Ratchet & Clank, Skylanders, or the 2018 Spyro the Dragon remake. From a mission selection screen where spirals of wispy purple clouds hover around a desert planet to arid ground textures and skies dotted with a soaring spacecraft, pleasing visuals are plentiful. Sure, there’s the intermittent instance of pop-in and reused architectural structures. But those who lived through the sixth hardware generation might appreciate the ubiquitous sheen applied to characters and the environment. Frequently, the title looks like a giant toy box. If the final build can capture the joy of play, then Virballs deserves a spot on your Wish List. But for now, there’s not quite enough content or polish to warrant the twenty-dollar price.