When comparing Hover Junkers vs Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, the Slant community recommends Hover Junkers for most people. In the question“What are the best HTC Vive games?” Hover Junkers is ranked 12th while Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes is ranked 16th. The most important reason people chose Hover Junkers is:
This isn't the type of game where you just press a button to reload or crouch. If you want to duck behind cover you have to actually do it. To reload you have to pop open the barrel, press the touch pad in a pattern and swing the controller to pop it back in. This makes the game feel more real.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Innovative and immersive experience
This isn't the type of game where you just press a button to reload or crouch. If you want to duck behind cover you have to actually do it. To reload you have to pop open the barrel, press the touch pad in a pattern and swing the controller to pop it back in. This makes the game feel more real.
Pro Huge variety of weapons
There is now a huge variety of weapons, well designed and also well balanced.
Pro Strategic loot based gameplay
The loot earned in the game can be found out in the wasteland inside of shipping containers. The player needs to use their welding gun to shoot them open to then gather the loot. Strategy comes into to play as it takes time to haul the loot in, which leaves the player vulnerable to enemies, so it is bet to wait to do this in until an opportune moment arrives. Once the loot is obtained, some can be used for cover on ones ship, making their ships stronger, the rest can be used to earn a higher score in the game.
Pro Fun multiplayer
Hover Junkers was one of the first multiplayer games on the Vive, and remains to be one of the few multiplayer games available. Being multiplayer based it is fun to mess around with friends or to play seriously with them. Up to 8 players can play at the same time and in game voice chat is built in.
Pro Strategic weapons
This game has 3 weapons so far and has more planned to come. They each have advantages and disadvantages and learning to use them at the right time can make a difference.
Pro Hilarious situations arise as tension increases
Both sides in the game can not see what the other does, creating a situation of confusion that needs a good bit of team work. A ticking bomb adds the tension needed for players to spit out the first things that come to mind when describing strange symbols or patterns.
Pro Great for parties with friends and strangers alike
One person has the bomb on screen, and 1-5 "experts" need to consult the manual (either online or printed out). Thing is: the bomb defuser can't see the manual, and the experts don't see the bomb with its various modules.
The person who sees the bomb will have to precisely say what they see, and then the experts will frantically flip through the manual to find the instructions for that particular module. To succeed, you will all have to work together.
Pro Bomb defusal manual is easily accessible
The manual can be viewed as a PDF download as well as a static webpage, which gives easy access to any mobile device as well as PC. On top of this the manual can be printed out for those that would rather navigate tactically, which is often the easier way to go due to touch and ease of flipping pages (over a tablet or phone). Basically you are able to pull up the manual in any way you prefer, which requires little preparation, even on short notice.
Pro Great for quick games
Not a lot of setup is necessary, and a round lasts just a few minutes, so you don't need to commit to a lot of time before starting.
Pro VR minimizes cheating
The point of the game is that those with the manual are not able to actually see the bomb, this can be difficult to achieve when using a regular monitor to play the game, as someone could sneak a peak. Using a VR headset guarantees that no one with the manual will be able to see the bomb as it is only visible to the one wearing the VR headset.
Cons
Con Poor netcode
There can be lag during multiplayer, which can easily ruin ones aim and competency to shoot accurately.
Con Longer shots can be difficult
While not an issue in the shooting range, when in the meat the gameplay, enemies tend to be the same color as their ships making them difficult to see. This means that most shots need to be made in close quarters in order to visibly see who you are shooting at, which limits the gameplay a bit.
Con Limited and unpolished experience
The game while presented as a finished title (it is not in early access but is a full release) often feels unfinished. The guns in the game are limited to only three, the menus have frame drops giving an unpolished feel. The shooting mechanics often feel a bit too loose making them not very precise, which leads to more luck based gameplay over skill. The maps do not really feel all that different, giving a "same" vibe. Overall it feels like an early access game, but is being sold as a finished title.
Con Small amount of players online
Being this is a game only playable on an 800 dollar piece of hardware that only really runs well on an expensive gaming computer, as well as the fact that this is a fairly new game, there are not all that many players online to play with. Being that right now this a multiplayer only game, having few players is a bit of a problem (but that's not the game's fault).
Con Puzzles may become stale after repetitive play
Particular modules in the game may be seen after playing repeatedly, which will make for easier play and quicker puzzle solving. This will have a tendency to make the gameplay feel stale due to ones familiarity with the puzzles.
One example, is the Keypads module where the defuser will need to describe strange symbols. Part of the fun is struggling to describe something, or figure out what is being described and calling the other person an idiot for not getting it.
Con Morse code section difficult for those with dry or bad eyes
There is a morse code module section of the game that relays morse code through visual cues, in order to understand the code the player will need to not blink for 3 seconds straight. While for most players this is not an issue, those that have chronic dry eyes or any other condition that requires blinking a lot, the code will be difficult if not impossible to understand. An optimal solution would be a setting to change this to audio cues, but sadly that is not an option.
Con Number of players can determine whether you succeed or fail
Most modules can be worked on one at a time - you start describing one to an expert, and he replies right away telling you what to do. Some modules however require some time for the expert to decipher. For example, if there is just one expert and you get the Morse code module you are pretty much screwed as deciphering the Morse code takes a lot of precious time. If you had an extra expert, you could work on deciphering it while they worked on another module.