Over two months into government restrictions surrounding COVID-19, Hotel R’n’R could honestly be called Lockdown R’n’R. As a man with two young kids who have been house bound this entire time, I can’t tell you how much fun it was to just put on a headset and smash shit up. This latest VR game from talented developer Wolf & Wood have created a destruction sandbox that is designed to let off steam.
The story is pretty basic, you start as a bingo hall rocker with zero fanfare. In order to gain fame and fortune you make a deal with the devil. The terms of that deal are that on your way to the top you have to create as much destruction in each hotel room you stay in as possible. Why? Because it’s fun, alright?!
Time is against you in the main story mode though. Try to destroy as much as possible before the staff get in and ruin the fun. There is no timer per se, but once you create enough noise, you alert the maid who will try to enter the room. Stopping her involves a mini game where you try to re-lock the door as she tries to enter. If you fail at this, you can simply punch her in the face as she opens the door.
However you deal with her, this will put in motion a chain reaction where she calls for the manager, who tries the same methods except more forcefully. Once you dispatch that loser, security gets called to take care of the situation once and for all. Once the maid is alerted the level will last another five minutes tops, so it’s frantic – but man it’s fun!
Hotel R’n’R isn’t just all mayhem though. When you first start a level you do have some time to quietly move items around and set the place up for maximum destruction. This tactical addition was one of my favourite aspects of the game and is open to a lot of experimentation. Almost everything in the room can be destroyed, right down to the walls, light sockets and doors.
Everything in the game can be used as a weapon, including your own hands – which damage in real time. However sometimes you need that little something extra. That’s where the games ‘Pawn Shop’ comes in. Here you can buy a variety of destruction inducing items including, but not limited to C4, tomahawks, a T-shirt cannon, a sawn-off shotgun and a dead fish. There are also modifiers like a glue-gun and a do not disturb sign.
It’s every bit as silly as it sounds, and it makes the game a crazy amount of fun. You only start with a foam finger, which is about as much use as an inflatable dartboard. But the more you play, the more you will be able to unlock – which adds to the fun and replayability. It’s a good loop and distracts from the fact that there are only a total of six hotel rooms to demolish.
Speaking of the hotels themselves, one disappointing aspect for me was the later levels of the game. At first you find yourself in some pretty modest rooms that are compact and lend themselves to total destruction – but later the areas are so much bigger which I didn’t feel worked as well. It’s not bad, but it’s noticeable when the best level design is front loaded.
The game utilises the move controllers and actually tracks pretty well despite the tech being in desperate need of an upgrade. Picking up and manipulating items is easy and responsive. Unfortunately the movement is once again based on swinging your arms instead of just pressing a button which is frustrating, but like with GORN I think it might well have been a design choice to add to the frantic situation.
One other downside was the trophy list and the dreaded no platinum that every trophy hunter wakes up in a cold sweat thinking about. Instead we have 1 gold, 5 silver and 5 bronze. It’s a tough list tasking you with completing all challenges as well as reaching a million damage. So you’ll be putting in a fair amount of work here to get the 100%.
Overall this is another great addition to the PSVR library. It fits in alongside titles like GORN and Drunken Bar Fight as mindless fun that can only be truly realised in virtual reality. It also serves as a decent workout, as despite the lack of weight behind what you are throwing/smashing, it burns some serious calories.
-Jock
A review code for this product was kindly provided by the publisher. Reviewed on PS4 Slim.
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