Path Of Fury - Episode 1: Tetsuo’s Tower Review

If you’re a big fan of VR Exercise, VR Workout Games, or just VR Fighting games for any reason, then I’ve got a pretty solid recommendation to make for you this week. That’s Path Of Fury, or at least the first Episode titled “Tetsuo’s Tower”, which released this previous week.

Here I’ll help you out by giving you a brief overview of what the game is, how it feels to play, and why I think it’s a solid new VR Fighting game that’s worth your money and time.

Oh, and if you’d rather just watch a video about the game then check this one out about it on the Reality Remake Youtube channel.

What Is Path Of Fury - Episode 1: Tetsuo’s Tower?

The Path Of Fury - Episode 1: Tetsuo’s Tower Logo.

So here’s the gist of the game. You’re angry at a guy called Tetsuo. To be honest I’m not sure why, but you are his greatest enemy and he lives at the top of a big tower full of various goons and fighters that don’t want you to reach him at the top.

So this means you’ve got to fight hundreds of people to get to the top of the tower. They’ll be different sorts of people, different styles of fighter, and will go toe to toe with you in a variety of environements.

A solid premise for a Virtual Reality beat-em-up, and here’s what the actual gameplay is like.

In this Path Of Fury - Episode 1: Tetsuo’s Tower Review you’ll find that this is a very punching centric game.

Path Of Fury - Episode 1: Tetsuo’s Tower - Gameplay

The gameplay of this game is pretty simple as easy to grasp. You stand still and are moved through a part of the tower automatically and stop whenever there are enemies in your way. Targets will appear on those enemies that you need to hit with your hands. They are blue or red or grey. You’ve got a blue hand and a red hand. You deal extra damage by hitting a target with the hand colored the same as it, and hand color doesn’t matter for grey targets.

If you don’t hit an opponent fast enough and the target on them shrinks then they get a chance to strike you. You have to punch whatever limb they’re hitting you with to block the blow before they hit you or you take damage.

You’ve got to hit with some force though, and as the game goes on it gets harder and you have to strike faster and faster in order to knock your enemies down and avoid being hit yourself.

This boss absolutely loves to kick in Path Of Fury - Episode 1: Tetsuo’s Tower

There are levels with different themes and environments, and a boss at the end of each level. You get a score depending on how quickly you completed it and how few mistakes you made.

That’s basically it. The game also switches things up by having you punch different things like doors and objects to get them out of your way and progress, or choose which way you want to go. The entire game is basically an on rails shooter… except with punching.

Oh, and should you lose then you have to start from a previous checkpoint (which might be a very far way back). The game is a roguelite in that way, but is far less punishing than other games with a similar system.

Path Of Fury - Episode 1: Tetsuo’s Tower - Review

There are some crazy set pieces in this VR Fighting game.

The end result of all of this is a game that is very quick and easy to get into, but very hard to master because it relies so much on your physical speed and endurance.

You get a break at the end of each level so you won’t have to completely drain yourself to finish one, but the game does get very intense. While it doesn’t involve moving your legs and upper body as much as other punching games like Thrill Of The Fight, Path Of Fury does a great job at wearing your arms out and making you breathe heavily. You’ve got to do a lot of fast punching, and that makes it both very entertaining and a great workout.

The aesthetic of the game is that classic Playstation 1 style so commonly seen in indie games, yet not so much in Virtual Reality. It fits with the grungy setting and world.

Punching a Cop In Path Of Fury - Episode 1: Tetsuo’s Tower

The score is pretty decent with some great upbeat tracks, and in the end Path Of Fury relies on replayability, because it does have a roguelite format that may keep you stuck in a certain portion of the game. Should you actually complete the game though then there are also challenge modes to keep it interesting.

Still, even completing it once is quite the achievement, and even when you do there are multiple paths up the tower to take, and each time you can focus on completing the level faster and more efficiently. All while getting a fantastic workout.

It’s a fairly straightforward premise for a VR Fighting game that Path Of Fury executes excellently with a fantastic gritty look and feel. It is an absolute blast to work up a sweat in this game, and you don’t need a huge VR play space to enjoy it.