Colossal Co-Op Fun, And Solo Too

Titan Isles is an absolute blast in both co-op and solo play, offering a strong VR action adventure worth exploring. Here’s our full review.

You can quickly see the shared DNA between Titan Isles and its immediate predecessor, Windlands 2. Nearly seven years since Psytec Games launched its older hit, this action adventure takes us to the ruined world of Toska where you fend off colossal robots. Some intense motion means it’s not especially newcomer-friendly, but I’m greatly enjoying clearing through these ancient robots with friends across this bullet hell shooter.

Underpinning your efforts is a narrative-driven campaign, joining a small group of survivors as you uncover why these mysterious giant Titans have suddenly awakened. If you’re after a more cinematic adventure with a strong story, what’s here is functional yet bare. A helpful opening tutorial gives you the key details, but you can mostly ignore the ongoing story afterward and jump straight to the action.

Still, Titan Isles balances what is here well by offering just enough worldbuilding depth to hold my interest across this lighthearted tale, complemented further by decent voice acting. Some repeat voice lines when walking past characters in your hub, Cloud’s Edge, can get a little annoying. Normally though, you won’t be hanging around there for too long.

Instead of relying on one specific character type, Titan Isles splits your options between four well-designed Exo Suits selected in Cloud’s Edge before a mission. Each comes with a great range of unique weapons and a secondary traversal method – everyone still moves around primarily by artificial stick-based locomotion – that makes it worth swapping between them regularly.

My personal favorite is Storm, which benefits considerably from more agile gameplay and ranged attacks. This Exo Suit gives you wrist thrusters for quick evasive maneuvers, plenty of fuel for your jetpack, and a rifle that conveniently comes together when holding your motion controllers like you’re handling such a weapon. Offering long-range support for teammates while picking off distant robots, something that’s surprisingly easy to do even when moving at high speed, feels highly satisfying.

Other Exo Suits offer strong variety for different playstyles. Any Windlands fans will feel at home with Hunter’s grappling hooks alongside a bow and arrow. Goliath is less mobile but provides heavy-duty support with its cannon and a summonable shield, the latter proving particularly useful against the second boss. Otherwise, Blink gives you a useful triple jump, a viper bolt weapon picked up from your chest, and phase dashing that lets you defensively jump through enemy fire or lasers.

You can’t mix and match abilities between Exo Suits, though I’m pleased Psytec hasn’t limited this to one Exo Suit type per person in co-op parties. Should you wish, everyone can play as a single Exo Suit. Completing missions earns skill points for unlocking upgrades like enhanced weapons, creating a good incentive to try higher difficulties as clearing those awards more points. Though it’s a minor issue, I’d like an option to refund skills and reallocate those points.

Titan Isles offers several procedurally generated mission paths to pick from before starting, which also offer a good example of its VR-focused design. There are no laser pointers for selecting routes; every button pleasingly requires a physical press, while the screen displaying your choices can be grabbed by a handle and moved to better fit your height and angle. I also love the subtle touches, like Storm’s rifle having tiny lights to indicate available ammo instead of using a HUD.

Once you’re on the way, each mission is split into numerous subsections where you must kill every enemy before you can advance. Exploration isn’t your main goal, but thorough exploration is rewarded through collectible items, hidden targets you can shoot, and secret rooms. Which is nice because these levels are utterly huge and accommodate four players well, providing plenty of angles for your attack.

Exploration soon turns into light platforming as you cross these floating platforms, all while avoiding liquid hazards or bottomless pits. This can be tricky since your Exo Suit also builds up acceleration momentum, which feels particularly smooth on Quest 3. This experience remained comfortable for me even at its fastest with minimal comfort settings applied. Just don’t try going too far out, though. Invisible barriers will suddenly make themselves known and damage you.

While you’ve got a few enemy types across these missions, some more variety would be welcome, and that’s particularly true with boss fights. Every boss has some twist on “hit the orange panel, then strike the core,” but there’s enough stage variation to keep these fights engaging. One battle requires attacking a Titan’s giant robotic tentacle – two at once on harder difficulties – on a ship while avoiding incoming storm waves. Another involves zip-lining at speed to different vantage points, and so on.

These fights make you feel powerful for beating them on harder settings. When ‘Normal’ became too easy, I upped this to ‘Heroic’ and got a return ticket to Cloud’s Edge after exhausting my revivals, only to take pride in defeating them once I returned. Crucially for a co-op game, Titan Isles is great to play alone and doesn’t fall into the “it’s good with friends” crutch some multiplayer games fall into, though it’s certainly better with friends. Speaking of which, only the host’s campaign progress is saved in co-op but you’ll keep any earned skill chips.

Visually, Titan Isles looks great with its vibrant environments. Level design becomes a little too familiar at points even across different areas, though the art style works well. Performance runs smoothly even with the large environments, additional players, and often frantic encounters. That’s all underscored by a great soundtrack ranging from serene to suitably energetic when the action kicks off. Though I’m reviewing the Quest 3 edition, the Steam version holds up well too.

There isn’t a ton of extra content across Cloud’s Edge, though there’s plenty to do after clearing the campaign. Endgame missions can be selected with a “regenerate” option available if you don’t like the choices provided, or you can choose one of six racing mini-games with online leaderboards specific to each suit. Adding a podium players can jump onto after crossing the finish line is a lovely touch.

Races are a completely optional extra that opens up in Cloud’s Edge after clearing the initial missions. However, this area’s immersion is significantly hampered because Titan Isles displays ads for other VR games. Older Psytec titles like Windlands and Crystal Rift are present alongside games from other studios like Laser Dance, Unseen Diplomacy 2, and Roboquest VR. You can’t interact with them, so you’re not about to get sent to a store page. Tonally though, it’s just very out of place in this world.

As for the actual races, these are split into three different categories. Standard races are my favorite as I try finding new shortcuts across these environments at record pace; they are also playable alone or in co-op. Others involve collecting orbs or shooting targets across the environment before heading to the finish line. I appreciate the additional variety, though I don’t feel compelled to try them again.

Titan Isles – Final Verdict

Titan Isles delivers a compelling action adventure that’s equally enjoyable in co-op and single-player. While the bosses and stage design could use more variety and the racing area’s adverts detract from the immersion, it’s the most fun I’ve personally had with a VR co-op experience since Dungeons of Eternity. With its strong combat, versatile Exo Suit system, and great presentation, it’s a strong return for Psytec Games that gets my recommendation.

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