ForeVR Games Inc. has released their third game ForeVR Cornhole. It has many of the features players have come to expect of ForeVR’s previous titles. But has the team successfully captured the fun of this backyard BBQ game in VR? Check out our review.
ForeVR Games Inc. had a successful 2021 launching ForeVR Bowl and ForeVR Darts. Both games were a great VR recreation of games I played while growing up, and the nostalgia was strong. Though, ForeVR Cornhole is almost a completely new experience for me. While I was aware of it being a popular game at BBQs and other events, I may have played it once before in my life. Does it hold up as a fun experience when compared to their first two games? This is our ForeVR Cornhole review.
When loading the game for the first time, many players should immediately feel like they are in familiar surroundings. The game lobby has almost the exact same layout as the previous ForeVR titles. Players can jump into a game using the main menu in the center of the room or scan around for the leaderboard, news, pro shop, and entry to the game halls.
With a few tweaks to the game settings, I quickly set up smooth locomotion and increased the turn radius to a point where I was comfortable moving around the environment. Unlike the previous two games where players unlocked only bowling balls or darts, the pro shop in ForeVR Cornhole has various bags and game boards. The bags range in cosmetic effects, from ones that make a disgusting wet splat when they land to a unicorn theme that leaves a rainbow as it arcs through the air. Trying a few of the different bag types, I didn’t notice a difference in weight or performance, so unlike the other two games, the choice of bags appears to be only cosmetic. The game boards also vary in themes, with some higher-end options looking quite good.
The gameplay of ForeVR Cornhole is great. It is a simple and fun experience. At the start of a match, players pick if it will be a game to reach 11 or 21 points. A coin flip determines who goes first. Players then take turns tossing 1 of 4 bags to land them on the board for 1 point or score cornhole for 3 points by sinking the bag in the hole. Once I got into a routine, I started losing track of time and found myself groaning or cheering when scoring a lucky toss or knocking the opponent’s bag off the board.
Environments in the game are what I have come to expect from ForeVR. They feel comfortable or cozy, depending on the theme. They are fun to explore and see what small interesting things might be tucked away in corners. I especially like the ForeVR 90s Arcade and being able to play some of the video games lining the back walls. While each game is a simple experience, it adds to the environment. The game launches with 5 unique halls, I am looking forward to trying them all as I rank up.
Adding to the immersive environment is the YouTube-powered jukebox in each hall. Players can adjust what is playing in the background easily. I found that this added more to the atmosphere compared to the other ForeVR games because of the player’s regular change in position at the end of each round. The music would shift from one ear to the other depending on where the “speaker” set up was within a game hall.
The game does have a few minor polish issues. While I didn’t experience any crashes or major bugs, the bag physics while mostly excellent was occasionally off. The most common thing I noticed was when I tossed a bag, and it interacted with one already on the board. Both bags could start to twitch repeated and took some time to settle. After one of my tosses, my bag landed on its edge and then proceeded to flip edge to edge down the board till it fell off.
Different AI challenge levels may also need to be tweaked. While I was successful at beating the first two opponent bots, there were a few points where they would go on a streak of perfect tosses. It was amusing to watch one toss several airmail shots during a match, sometime two in a row. To then have them overshoot the board suddenly to a ridiculous degree.
A copy of the game was provided for review.
COMPARE TO: ForeVR Bowl, ForeVR Darts
