Budget Cuts Ultimate PSVR 2 Review. Neat Corporation’s oddball stealth game makes the jump from PSVR to PSVR 2. Discover if it’s worth heading back to the office in PlayStation Universe’s Budget Cuts Ultimate review for PSVR 2.
Budget Cuts Ultimate Review (PSVR 2) – A Cut Below
The latest PSVR game to shift up to the technologically superior PSVR 2 is Budget Cuts, a fairly well-received stealth title with a delightfully offbeat sense of humour. Budget Cuts Ultimate should take advantage of the leap, but it’s one of the more disappointing transitions I’ve played so far.
You are the last human worker at the Transcorp company. Everyone else has been replaced by robots and it increasingly looks like your own days are numbered. But one day a mysterious package arrives on your desk and so begins the fightback against a surprisingly aggressive mechanical workforce.
This is done in a variety of ways. Stealth is indeed an option, but to Budget Cuts’ credit, there’s other avenues to work your way through Transcorp’s deadly workforce from your office cubbyhole to the factory floor. The movement hasn’t changed from the PSVR version. It still utilizes a point-and-click approach to getting around, with a handheld short-range teleporter.
While it still works for the game, and I understand why it didn’t need changing; it feels a little backward compared to the high-end of PSVR 2 titles. This is mainly because it best suits the stealth approach, and instantly makes other options feel weaker. They aren’t actually weaker though, it’s just clear where the limitations lie.
The Office Sneak
The upside of such laboured movement is how considered it makes stealth and investigation during that. Throughout the game, there’s a need to find the right vent, keys for access, and even the weapons that can help you take down the robotic menace. Knowing it could be very difficult to escape if caught adds a bit of sweat to the PSVR 2 headband. When the oil does hit the extractor fan, having bullets whistle by your head and feeling that via the haptics is magical. Even if it has been done before, it’s still great when used like this. Given a preference, I’d much prefer this was always the way to play Budget Cuts, but some situations make this difficult.
Also making things difficult are the response levels of the controls. Something feels a bit off about the way Budget Cuts handles and I don’t think that’s anything to do with antiquated control schemes. It’s very much a technical issue that appears to literally drift in and out of existence. The hand movement occasionally drifts and drifts badly. For a game that’s already a tad finicky to control, it’s an issue that aggravates those shortcomings and takes away from the fun and games that Budget Cuts provides. It’s obviously something that could be patched out so at least it’s a fixable problem.
Could the same be said of the visual quality though? I’m not expecting Budget Cuts to suddenly become a bespoke diamond-encrusted technical gem just because it moved onto better hardware, but it doesn’t appear to have moved an inch forward from its PSVR presentation. It’s smudgy and bland in places and that can make it difficult to engage with a very tactile world.
Not Up For Promotion
These failings don’t prevent Budget Cuts Ultimate from being a worthwhile experience. The core game has enough individual shine to blot out some of the technical hiccups. At its best, it’s an inventive and enjoyable stealth action game that carries a sense of humor. It’s not a particularly great showcase for what PSVR 2 can do, but as a game, it at least still holds some joy in its transition.